In JUNE I had to worry a bit about something quite out of the ordinary, but which only happens every 4 years? You guessed it: the World Cup! And how very exciting!
Already in the first week, as I was preparing for my first date in Switzerland, I was doing an ALL Brazilian recital, and reliving my roots with Brazil's sounds and rhythms HAD to mean victory! (more of that later). The second recital took me to Tallinn where in the programme I included some delightful short pieces by E.Tubin, Estonian composer: it's always useful to discover music. A touching surprise was the presence in the audience, of a most talented (native) conductor, Vello Pahn, whom I had met recently in Paris: whenever a colleague appears at a concert of mine, the fact that they make the effort makes my evening: why on earth should any musician, on his or her day off, want to go to a concert?! It is such a treat and performers go through some strangely lonely experiences, sometimes left to walk alone to the hotel. Can't you believe this? Well, do!
Then in the last week, I was off to Fort Worth, home of the Van Cliburn Competition (of which I was its 3rd Gold medalist hundreds of years ago!): I had finally agreed to give 3 Master Classes at the TCU's Cliburn Institute, as part of their Summer Faculty as well as playing a recital. I must say that in recent years, teaching has taught me so much that, including Master Classes in my trips, is now almost a necessity !
And what a week it was: I had the time of my life, getting to know a bit about each young person, making them listen to their own sound, the use of pedal, strict respect of the score, all "con molta passione"! But the best, came when Brazil became World Champions for the 5th time! You couldn't really expect any lesser result after last time's flop, could you?

Any music lover out there who also enjoys a good World Cup? It's only once every 4 years! Anyway, I was happy for Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho … oops! So-r-ry, England!