Every day is a good day for remembering and waking up old memories, but at hive, Saturday is maybe the best day to do it. Why do I think it? Well, that's because of one nice person, 
Fingers faster than the camera can catch...
This memory of mine, that will come in this post is for sure one of those that brings back some special moments. A unique day! One concert, one very special piano, and one great family I had the opportunity to meet... I, almost a decade younger, but it feels as it happened yesterday. I will probably never forget this event, and the feeling to play the same piano, that was played by great pianists! You would say, nothing exceptional, as of course, one piano is played by many different players, if the instrument is not strictly used just in one's house and that person is not allowing anyone to play it. This piano IS situated in one private house, it has ONE owner, but in the past, the keys of it were touched by fingers of some piano giants. The strings of it made heavenly music, almost a century ago. And I am not exaggerating anything here, if I pronounce great pianists, you have to think about the BEST ones that lived it this planet we call Earth. Yes. And I played on the same piano. It is almost unbelievable to write down to following words, but I played on the same piano as once, back in time, Rubinstein played too. Rubinstein who? Arthur Rubinstein, who is recognized to be one of the greatest pianists of all time!!!
I got to meet the person, who has this piano in his house here in Spain through a mutual friend. We are all from the same profession, ie all playing the same queen of the instruments, the piano. Although we can see that I had one challenge to share in this corner with all of you, playing an instrument that I supposedly don't play, and received some interesting traction already. Well, everyone is invited to try the same and have some fun ;) But back to the serious topic, this PIANO is an exclusive one, indeed. Rubinstein, making music on the same instrument in 1924, and signed by him.
This piano was also played and signed in 1926 by Alexander Brailowsky, a Russian-born French pianist, also, one of the leading pianists between the two world wars. Javier Alfonso a Spanish pianist made his signature in 1948, as well as Egon Petri, (I was not able to read the year when he played and signed), Emil Sauer (signed in 1924), Nikita Magaloff (signed in 1943), and others I could not read well the name. It was a huge honour for me to touch the same keys those pianists did, I still can not believe it happened.
Still unbelievable, but it happened. We recorded the whole concert, also documented with some photos the preparation time and the performance too. Place? A private house, in a small village, in a coastal area of Spain. A nice family, who gave us many other nice moments and days spent together with them, as the mutual respect after this day became very strong. That day, I spent the afternoon "knowing" the piano. It is like getting to know a person, knowing slowly the finesse and details of the other. It was that feeling of exploring the way of a touch of this beauty and how to get the most of me through the sounds it can produce. The sounds I can produce through it. Interesting afternoon, and memorable for sure.
There was a huge glass door that the owner of the house removed for the concert. The chairs, only plastic ones, from the garden. Not luxury ones, but it was not important. The people who came to listen to me were neighbors and friends of that family. An intimate atmosphere, I could say. And that made me feel so comfortable, I was not nervous (maybe just a little bit) and enjoyed every single piece I performed. A good thing is that before the performance, I absolutely got used to the piano and the place. I was looking at the scene from the perspective of the audience, and I think it also made me relax.
Still, before the concert, I spent a few moments with the special piano. Our children were running around in the garden, and I was enjoying the moment. Soon, people will arrive, in that late summer evening. The performance was scheduled for 10 p.m.
Magic and piano and me and people listening to those sounds... That is what happened that evening. The music that helped to bring the atmosphere was made up of a set of compositions by J.S Bach, G. Faure, F. Chopin, C. Franck, and C. Debussy. Maybe the respect for that piano, signed by those great names of the classical piano world, also made me play it with a different heart and mind. Who would know?
