I sort of got past page 65, one of the most scary pages I've ever seen. And I didn't escape unhurt though. I swear the skin of my fingertips have become thinner. I am talking, of course, about Rach 3. The more I play it, the more I'm convinced that I suck. And the more I'm convinced that people who can play it are freaks (this includes Ash, Lubey, Horowitz, Rach himself and a whole lot of other pianists. Freaks.)

But page 65 is hardly the most difficult page ever though. For those who don't know, on page 65 there is such a huge mass of demisemiquavers that they seem to be printed on black paper. Just for fun I tried playing the last few bars of part 3 and I almost died. It may look innocent - some crotchets and quavers here and there but I'd rather take page 65 anyday.

Here's why: it involves both hands playing chromatic scales - in octaves - and at a speed of 6 beats per second. It is like having a seizure. And just when you think the worst is over after hitting the last note of the scale, you realise that you have to play D major chords, alternating between both hands, at a speed of 8 beats per second. I lost as much sweat playing the last 16 bars as playing the whole of part 1.

Sigh. I don't know if I can finish the whole thing by the end of O Levels! It's only 67 days away. 12 pages may not seem like much but this is Rachmaninoff we're talking about! Not some crap Canon in D which everyone can sightread.