Robert Roper's biography of Everest climber and professor of philosophy Willi Unsoeld contains the following thought-provoking quote from the great mountaineer: "In the Outward Bound programs parents would ask us, 'Can you guarantee the safety of our Johnny?' And our response would usually be, 'No, we certainly can't , ma'am. Fact is we go the other way and and guarantee you the genuine possibility of his death . And if we could guarantee his safety, the program wouldn't be worth running - do you see?'" This important wisdom can be paraphrased as follows: "Concertgoers would ask the music director, "Can you guarantee I will like everything in your program?" And the music director should reply, 'No, we certainly can't , ma'am. Fact is we go the other way and and guarantee you the genuine possibility that you will hate at least one work. And if we could guarantee you will like everything, the concert would not be wort...
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Some possibilities: Glenn Gould on a cheesey Casio home keyboard (with or without auto accompaniment); Art Tatum on prepared piano; or Rubinstein on a badly tuned upright with sticky keys, rusted strings and a dysfunctional damper on middle C?
S, tig