If I told you, I would surely die mysteriously, such is the rigour with which the EIF embargo is enforced.

But let me say one thing, although I will say it only once, obviously. What I am optimistically looking forward to is the opportunity for a totally immersive experience, where the work of one era/composer/writer/artist is given a thorough going-over and I can emerge from the three weeks with a revised and enhanced understanding of that time or his/her/their work.

I am still kicking myself for failing to take the opportunity to hear all of Haydn's string quartets at the EIF when Brian McMaster programmed them some years ago now. It was a lesson I took to heart. His successor Jonathan Mills took a very brave line in launching his tenure with seasons of unfamiliar early music, but it quickly transpired that he had read a direction of public taste and musical curiosity very accurately indeed; the concerts were extremely popular and both musically and educationally exactly what a festival should be about. At the 2005 festival, DruidSynge saw the esteemed Irish company present the entire canon of playwright John Millington Synge – an oppourtunity many theatre-lovers were wise enough not to let pass.

This weekend Glasgow Royal Concert Hall will pulse to the music of Steve Reich, and last weekend I travelled to Perth, where James Waters had assembled a company of fine singers and instrumentalists to explore the music of Gabriel Faure. Listen out for it on the radio because the BBC recorded much of it for future broadcast on Radio 3.

While this strategy works well in a live context, however, I am less convinced by it on the radio, where I enjoy the Beeb's diversity. The current Baroque Spring event contains some wonderful music, but I confess to being relieved to find that it was not a 24/7 commitment in the manner of the Bach Christmas of a couple of years back, which put me off Bach for months. The word "festival" is already overused, and programming devices that are an essential part of its best expression should be limited to where they are most effective.