I needed all my strength to come out of the ‘mincing’ suffered last month (v. February) in São Paulo, and gasp for air, I did! I’d best jot it down as ‘a week-which-never-really-happened, or in the better-forgotten category. Taking a week off I decided to go to the town where I grew up: Rio de Janeiro, the most beautiful in the world! I will forever miss being there >my real home among all homes < and that feeling is unrivalled! Alone but, hey: what’s new? Life for anyone thriving for quality of achievement and recognition in the public eye can hardly be any different! I spent time with family and friends, got plenty of sun and exercise by walking along some of Rio’s beautiful beaches. For the 1 st time in my life I followed a Trio Elétrico – a typical phenomenon in the Carnival season: a “barge on wheels” playing really loud pop-music while inching its way, engulfed by a huge crowd of young-and-old happy people, out for the fun of dancing and singing. In order to ‘save’ my ears a bit I had moved down to the shore and through a pleasant haze of warm, sultry sea-mist, I still fell under the magic of this unique spectacle! Brazil’s football and carnival could arguably be considered at best, weapons of soft-power against terrorism or other disgraces in the world!

Back to Europe and a rushed visit to Paris to see my eldest daughter who was about to embark on a new chapter in her young life and had chosen to go and live … in Rio: fateful trading of places!

I know she’ll love it! “Boa sorte, Neném!”

A word on cancellations

It never ceases to annoy me when soloists pull out of dates, illness excluded. At times, they just haven’t got round to preparing new repertoire or simply prefer to break the run of excessive demands: these flavour-of-the-moment-freaks have a ridiculous amount of dates to choose from, their fees often so totally disproportionate to the artistic merit ... On the other hand, if the agent can’t place another client instead, “good-bye” commission for the work done beforehand (sometimes to great personal sacrifices): all for nothing! A disheartening consideration.

A coincidence or what?

When an offer came for me to take over 4 performances of Brahms 2, in Rotterdam, although ‘naturally’ tempted -- unlike the defaulting pianist I had no concerts at all this month -- after some consideration, for the 1 st time in my life I turned down the whole lot. Let me tell you that it felt absolutely great: by putting my friends, ahead of business I felt I had at last grown out of slaving!

As I was musing whether I would ever find out who ended up by playing those concerts, that same morning I received a carefully worded email, followed by a timid telephone call from Chris Elton, in London, most apologetically inquiring whether I’d consider stepping-in at very short-notice for a Master Class, at the Royal Academy of Music (something which for years I had cowered away from doing) scheduled to be given the next evening by the pianist (as luck would have it) who had been called to …yes: Rotterdam, to play the 4 Brahms I had refused! Isn’t that the funniest?!

Without any of the worries (about teaching in public at the RAM!), I had a field day: the pleasure of working on material like Rach 1, a Mompou ‘’jewel’ and Rach 3: “ yum-my”, I had a fann-tastic time!

“Thanks Chris, for the chat and the delicious supper afterwards: it was fun!