I have had a wonderful experience. It was like old times – better in fact because of the novelty and sense of restoration that I could not have had before the pitch changes began to alter my musical perception and to undermine my consequent appreciation.

I was listening to the early morning programme on BBC Radio 3 (available online at any time of day). Mozart’s 23rd Piano Concerto in A major’s final movement was the next item on the playlist. It started vigorously in A major. ‘Ok’, I thought, ‘this won’t last. How long till B flat major arrives?’. On we went with no hint at all of any shift. This was strange. What was going on? I thought back to the announcement – a fortepiano performance with Michael Chang. Perhaps the performers including the fortepiano were playing in the pitch of Mozart’s time, significantly lower than modern concert pitch. Holding an A in my head, I went to the piano and played an A. Not the A they were playing – it was a sharper version. They were in 18th-19th century concert pitch.

I settled down to enjoy uninterrupted A major, knowing that there was no chance of any shift taking place. I could enjoy each modulation, every return to the tonic key. Freedom! Rare joy!

Please will someone invent a hearing aid that auto-translates music to a pitch that my brain will interpret as the original key. Or it is period performances for me if I crave a ‘retro’ experience. That limits the eras I can retro-fit sadly, so it is not a complete answer.