Free Vienna Secrets by Frank Tallis Page A

standing on the sideboard. She patted her hair and positioned her necklace more centrally.
    “He’s interesting, isn’t he?”
    “Asher, yes, although he did go on a bit about his play. Didn’t you think?”
    “No, I meant the other one. Gabriel.”
    “I didn’t really understand what he was saying: symbols, dreams…”
    “And very intelligent.”
    “Did you”—Olga rested her hand on her friend’s arm—“ like him?”
    The question contained a hint of alarm.
    Anna shrugged. “I did find him interesting. Why? What is it?”
    “I don’t think they’re the right type.”
    “Right type?”
    “They’re intellectuals, too preoccupied with their work.” Olga assumed a piqued expression. “Did you notice when I sat up straight?” She repeated the movement, lifting the fulsome weight of her breasts. “They didn’t even look!”
    Anna laughed and squeezed her friend’s arm. She had noticed, and she too had been surprised by the Kusevitsky brothers’ indifference.

13
    F ROM THE JOURNAL OF Dr. Max Liebermann
        Have recently been playing through the complete Chopin Studies, but am quite dissatisfied with my overall performance. Especially No. 12 in C minor. The left-hand part is extremely demanding, and I lack the necessary strength and flexibility. I was in Schott’s and discovered a book of intriguing five-finger exercises devised by Professor Willibald Klammer, a hand surgeon and amateur pianist from Munich. Apparently he is the world’s leading authority on strains and breaks and has been consulted by many virtuosi including Caroline von Gomperz-Bettelheim.
    The Klammer Method consists of sixty-two exercises executed at the piano and a supplementary set of twenty-four exercises that can be practiced anywhere (finger stretches, contractions, wrist rotations, and so forth). In his introduction, which is copiously illustrated with finely produced anatomical drawings, he fancifully compares his method to the ascetic disciplines practiced by the fakirs of India.
    I asked Goetschl if any of his other customers had found the Klammer Method useful, but he couldn’t say. He only had the one copy. Needless to say, I bought it. I plowed through the exercises and then attempted the C minor again. It sounded much the same. Even so, I think I will persevere.
    As I was playing through the exercises, I kept on thinking about the incident on Professor Friedländer’s ward: Baron von Kortig and the priest. Did I do the right thing? I think so. Yes, I did do the right thing. The young baron was not a man of strong character, and the appearance of the priest would have filled him with terror. That is no way for anyone to die.

14
    R ABBI S ELIGMAN DID NOT leave the synagogue after the service. He stood alone at the back of the building, deep in thought.
    The Alois Gasse Temple was a modest building. It did not have the vast, overwhelming majesty of the “Central Temple,” or the ornamental charm of the “Turkish Temple;” however, its manageable proportions were pleasing to the eye. Late-afternoon sunlight fanned through the arched windows. Through this shimmering haze Rabbi Seligman could see the newly restored ark, the cabinet containing the sacred Torah scrolls. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, a gilded tower decorated with intricate carvings: columns, vines, flowers, and urns. The middle panel showed a crowned eagle with outstretched wings, and at the very top, two rearing lions supported a blue tablet on which the Ten Commandments were written in Hebrew. In front of the ark was a lamp—an eternal light—burning with a steady, resolute flame.
    “Rabbi?”
    Seligman started, and wheeled around.
    The caretaker was entering the temple through the shadowy vestibule.
    “Kusiel? Is that you.”
    “Yes, only me.”
    The caretaker was in his late sixties. He wore a loose jacket and baggy trousers held up with suspenders. His sky-blue skullcap matched his rumpled collarless shirt.
    “What is it,