Dental trouble was very unexpected and painful – but having already had trouble from that same tooth while sitting in the jury of that ‘eventful’ HK Competition two years ago, I shouldn’t complain since it left me untroubled for a long time. Well, let’s say it’ll no longer bother me.

Sunday the 8 th came-- that was the day I was to drive with and in my husband’s car down to the south of France, stopping on the way, to have lunch with our younger daughter, in Paris: that’s one way of seeing her!

We were then to continue the journey downwards and had fixed to stop for dinner plus a subsequent sleep-over at the house of very dear friends. Oh, but you might remember, guess who that was? Werner Herbers, my Dutch congenial oboist of last September’s “C*O* et ses amis Festival”, a great musician, plus jazz-arranger, bass-player, piano improviser, a freak-biker, you mention he does it, or is! Together with his delightful Leonie, they are two of the most gentle and wonderful friends anyone would wish to have, absolutely!

Two weeks of supposedly working-vacations started with emotional trouble which I could have done without... an unnecessary exercise in the life of anyone! Let me be thankful for the fact that I have my Music and at times like this, IT takes over completely, stronger than ever!

Soon after having come out of that hassle, my trip started badly when, arriving at the airport to check-in, besides a strike of ‘ground-staff’ although my flight wasn’t cancelled like so many others, it was delayed by at least two hours which meant of course, that I’d miss my ongoing International connection to São Paulo, unless there was miraculous handling by the airline in question... Of course, no chance of that!

It’s awful to remember what I went through... I finally arrived there, what felt like some 48 hours later on a horribly rainy and miserable morning, without trace of my luggage, at 6am now, on the day of my scheduled recital... recital ???? I was ready to die!!

My bags did eventually show up – amazingly enough, following that dreadful disaster in São Paulo’s domestic terminal a day earlier, on that evening TAM, the disgraced airlines operated two flights from Paris to São Paulo: had my luck somehow changed? Hard to believe!

I played that evening not knowing what had hit me — I don’t mind playing on the same day I arrive, if I’m mentally prepared for it: I wasn’t and it threw me completely! I won’t say it was my worst recital – still it was billed as the high point of that year’s Festival by the inelegant critic – but it remains one that I’d prefer to forget!

Giving a Master Class in Campos, turned out to be a great experience: plenty of lovely, eager and receptive students – seeing how many came backstage at the end of the recital, queuing up to see and talk to me, shouting out their proposed repertoire for the next day, I felt quite sorry, and tried to imagine how they were to be chosen?! Then I had the brilliant idea to offer to stay over longer and teach more MasterClass, to the delight of everyone. But because the students were helping to close the festival by giving a concert of their own, only one day was available.

Therefore it was arranged that I would move onto the beautiful farm of a couple I must admit I had never dreamed existed, let alone be such welcoming people:

“Eliane and Paulo Gala, you are bliss, in disguise!”

So generous and down to earth, unbeatable in their ways! The students would be ‘brought to me’ by mini-bus... I must say, we all had a great afternoon I think, working very hard but also laughing (apparently I do not coach: I “grill” people); that reminds me, they even had a delicious snack prepared for them. At the end of the evening they never wanted to let go or leave, and just kept embracing me, made me play on and on, amazed-crazy at some passages in Brahms’ Concerto no 2 or Ravel’s “Jeux d’eau”: they’d call me “a witch” or would joke: “it must be the rings on her fingers that allowed those passages to be played so well...”

“Thanks, all; I hope that you learned to listen more to how you play, read the scores better in order to find out what the composer wants; or at least that I inspired you a little.”

I then went into the ‘interior’, to stay with my dearest cousin Ude (the one to whom I dedicated “Prece” from the Alma Brasileira CD) who so inspires me with her inner strength and positive attitude in life. Those were two fabulous weeks in my life, so needed at the moment.

“Thanks, my dearest Ude: não tenho palavras para agradecer o amor que você causa em mim!”