The actor discusses the power of Mozart, duetting with his wife and taking up the clarinet late in life.

Music has touched me in so many areas of my life, going right the way back to being a teenager. My brother formed a jazz band at school and in the holidays he and his mates used to come to our house and play trad jazz. He was a great musician, my brother John. He played the clarinet, trombone, violin, the piano – everything. He was a natural musician. I was not. Anyway, I learned to play the drums. So my introduction to music, to use the classical term, would be as a percussionist.

It was only later on in my life, about the time of my 40th birthday, that I actually took up an instrument. I decided that I loved the sound of the clarinet. I was deeply moved one day on hearing Mozart’s clarinet concerto while I was on my way to the theatre – I think I was playing Iago in Othello for the Royal Shakespeare Company. I remember hearing the slow movement and having to stop the car because my emotions overtook me. When...