For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of Mozart. Of his music, but also of him as a person. I’m sure I liked his music nearly from the start – I was lucky enough to enjoy plenty of musical education & appreciation during my ‘formative years’, but my earliest memory of my obssession with Wolfie is from my Mount Anville days. Mum and dad went skiing in Salzburg, and amongst the many things they brought back was a cuckoo clock, which cuckoos the number of an hour hourly, and once in-between hours. (I don’t think I ever remember it cuckooing *on* the hours & half hours, because it needed the weights reset fairly regularly, and that just never happened, despite mum’s best efforts.)
But more importantly for the little bookworm I was, they brought back a book about the life of Mozart, with the most wonderful illustrations, and all kinds of esoteric (to a seven year old) facts. And this is where my memory comes in – playing down by a shed, or prefab, or something, in Mount Anville. But I didn’t want to play “Nest” or British Bulldog, or any of those other games – I wanted to play Mozart. It’s little wonder really that when mum turned up at school one lunchtime, I asked her if she’d stay and play with me – no one else would!
Much more recently, I was introduced to the music of Jacques Loussier. He’s a French jazz pianist, who’s most famous for his jazz interpretations of/variations on Bach classics. He’s absolutely amazing – granted, he’s no Bela Fleck, but his music just warms my heart, makes me feel good. I love it.
And the final link in this chain is that it’s a mere two weeks until my 21st birthday!
So on the U-Bahn on the way home from a girlie movie night with Bari & Katie, I was considering what I wanted. Various people have asked for suggestions, and as I’d much rather get a gift I liked than one I didn’t like, I’ve been trying to figure out what I really want. One of the things I have in my head is that I’d like to get something a bit Mozart’y. My 21st birthday is his 250th, so I wanted to mark that in some little way, and had already intended on going to *some* kind of Mozart event on the day, even if it was just small and on my own. Colm’s flying in that evening, and I wanted to still be able to pick him up from the airport – so anything in the evening was a bit out…
Then it came to me. I’d love a CD of Jacques Loussier! I had a vague feeling I saw one when looking at music with Dad over the hols, and figured it was something Colm wouldn’t mind getting me.
Then, in Münchner Freiheit, I changed from the U6 to the U3 – and saw a poster of a whole programme of events for Mozart’s 250th birthday (it’s a really big thing here). I had a bit of time to wait, so started reading, looking for stuff in the early afternoon… There was nothing much really – until I saw the concert at 9pm… Jacques Loussier & his trio, playing Mozart!
Cogs whirled all the way home, and one brief conference with Colm later, my birthday present was decided – he’s bringing me! Yipee! 
It’s kinda appropriate too, because I brought him to see Bela Fleck, as his birthday present (not on the day, sadly, but still!). Oh joy! I’m happy