During the following days Wolfgang was often doing vocalizes. How that? He was training his voice to make an audition for the conductor of the choir of the Stadttheater Würzburg on 1st October. I was only used to give the notes for his exercises. And in the end he was accepted for the "extra choir" of the opera house. The first production was planned to be Tannhäuser of Richard Wagner and the rehearsals should begin soon though the premiere was scheduled for 20 March 1993.

Early in October Wolfgang was travelling alone for a week. He played on an old Petrof concert grand (280 cm) in a vulcanic cave under the earth on the Canarian Island Lanzarote. The touristic specialist Manfred Pahl with whom Wolfgang had visited the touristic trade show in Berlin had organised this event in cooperation with the government of Lanzarote.

His seniour group was already booked and he sold the rest of the tickets on the free market on the island which he knew for many years. Wolfgang showed me a poster which I loved to look at and which showed this marvellous concert hall:

Fotos: Inselregierung Lanzarote

An extremely nice family came visiting us on 12th October: Denis and Monika Mayne with their kids. Denis had been "discovered" by Wolfgang in the pedestrian zone of Würzburg some time where he used to play on his rolling piano. This was decorated with some brick-wall like cover and had a heater mounted on the side so that Denis could play even at rather cold weather.

Both had become friends, Denis had got Wolfgang´s old tails and had learnt a bit from the professional pianist. Now finally they came to Leinach, tried me and were happy about my sound and the music. But soon they had to quit because Katharina, their daughter would have to go to school next morning in Schweinfurt where they wanted to perform.

The mobile home of them is absolutely worth being mentioned: He got an old chassis of a canadian truck and took railway rods as parts and put them together as walls, perfectly restored to shiny wood. The interior is sufficient for their family with three kids.

At the front and back end two high beds, in the middle the kitchen, the playground, the reception whatever. Definitely comfortable! He had worked full nine months on that vehicle without being able to work and make money. Now it is working very well, the piano has its own compartment in the back where Denis can also practise. When he starts out for the street he just rolls it down a little rail, its that easy!

Bride´s dresses

Middle of October I could go into the other fine hotel in Würzburg, the Dorint-Hotel. A vogue presentation was planned by the store of Mrs Obitz. The GMD (chief conductor) Jonathan Seers and musicians of the theatre were performing. Especially the soprano Veronika Diefenbacher was a pleasure to accompany. She looked beautiful with her red dress and not only her voice was enchanting the scene. From our start at the hotel until the first notes played in the house in Leinach it took us only 60 minutes! The newly refinished transportation way worked that well.

We had to rehearse quite a lot for this recital with Heidrum Plesch, soprano, Joseph Muhr, clarinet and the dutch flutist Jacqueline Dekker whom we know from the rose garden pavillon. They prepared for the big recital for IBM in the residence in Bad Urach south east from Stuttgart. At the first rehearsal the musicians criticized Wolfgang not to have music stands. For the next rehearsal he had already bought two heavy quality ones for optimal working conditions.

My arrival was in the morning and the transport went well. In the afternoon the piano tuner came from Tübingen and tuned me very fine. Then we could put our notes into the ears of the audience and they walked over to the hotel where they got a nice menu.

As a good memorization for this event they got a CD or MC of Wolfgang´s Klavierabend produced with the SE computerpiano. The whole event was so perfectly organized with security guys and everything but nobody did´nt notice anything about that!

pianoplan having problems

Pianoplan told me of a heavy duty transport he had to do in early November. A grand piano about of my size had to be taken down the third floor at the castle above Würzburg. The elevator was too small so they had to go over the stairs which were wide enough although that alone took half an hour. From there the piano was taken to the city center in Grombühl, part of Würzburg.

A stair outside was rounded and pianoplan hit it with his body a bit. From that moment on the platform could not be moved any more and the balance was out of control. For good luck the position of the platform was close to the middle, so that the piano could be put on the stage with the help of some men standing around.

Only several days later Wolfgang could go to north Italy to repair this. The problem was caused by a single screw which had fallen inside the electric engine! And for that the whole trip!

Pianoplan made another demonstration for a spediteur. He drove two grand pianos up to the second floor in the "Greysingsäle" some concert halls in the center of Würzburg. The spediteur was so happy about it, that he bought a pianoplan.

Why do they often hesitate so long to buy a pianoplan? Who ever has heard the cracking sound of a spine column of a worker carrying a grand piano would no longer as necessary let his people carry by hand where the machine could do it. Having pianoplan would not only cost a little bit but make good publicity for his company and get him more orders through his "high-tech-image". Also the staff would be more motivated and work with more joy.

The fifth course

In December there was a doctors course again! Loading me a screw of one of my legs broke. Wolfgang was in a hurry but managed to get a new screw in Würzburg. Then he had to make a grand piano transport in the theatre and get a lady doctor from the main station of Würzburg. Then they took up a brown small grand piano and went to Aub where we all were set up. My place was the dining room again which I liked very much.

The mid-age lady doctor was a total beginner and she learnt three pieces by Diabelli with four hands in three days and interpreted so intensively that the audience were enthusiastic about her progress in such a short time. Unfortunately after the course she was told that her 23-year-old daughter had to get a complicated operation with small prospective for success.

A colleague brought her viola with her. At last some chamber music with other instruments. Another participant was a virtuoso and played very difficult pieces. He also told that he gave international organ concertos. Wow, what some doctors do in their spare time!

Well, now comes a story which I do not like to tell very much. When Wolfgang and I gave that open-air recital during the youth festival in Bayreuth he met a lady from the conservatory of Bratislava in Czech Republic near Vienna. She liked it and planned a one-week production with a recital, a workshop and an orchestra concert, all with Wolfgang and myself.

As fee there was not much to give because of the valuta differences between eastern and western valuta. But Wolfgang would get the rights of recordings from these events to make some CD production. Well you already guessed that it did not work out! On his way to Bratislava Wolfgang risked a second time to get me confiscated by the customs because of my ivory keys.

After the first notes in the auditorium of that conservatory we felt that the athmosphere was very cold. We were playing like against an icy wall. At the reception after the concert the director was not even present and someone told Wolfgang that he could go home.

They have such a rigid school tradition of counting like a metronome that our romantic style was horrifying these professors. Well, what damage could have been made to the students to listen to something different for one week?

It was as if two fronts would have had a severe collision. Or like a different picture from the opera "Meistersinger" from Wagner: At the end of the first act the old masters throw out Walther von Stoltzing who sings free style. But later in the third act he wins the great prize!

This trip has not resulted in any fee and no tape at all. But impressions of poor conditions of an eastern country as well of the mentality of some people. And a loss of 1.500,00 DM.

After this shock Wolfgang could get the small grand piano from Aub to bring hime back to the store because he only nearly was bought by a lady doctor but her family was against it.

So he got another idea and talked with a friend who is lawyer whom he knew to want only a brown piano. So he offered hime to just put it in the living-room to see how it would look like. But the friend said no on the phone.

Two hours later after his lunch break he called back again and said his wife "would like to see that". Thus the small piano went to Schwaigern, was set up and played, and after all sold! The old piano of that family was brought to other friends in Schweinfurt right away, what a service!