pianomania: EVENINGS AT HARTMANN'S / Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum

Bryce Morrison's famous quote on the Husum Festival
is everywhere, including the Festival bistro.

The concert has ended but the night is still young. Summer nights in Husum are mild and never chilly, but an evening of piano music really whets your appetite for something to fill your stomach. Hartmann's Landküche (Hartmann's Country Kitchen) is the watering hole and bistro where the audience and performers repair to after the music has stopped.

Located just five minutes' stroll from the Schloss, it is invariably filled when the pianist, accompanied by festival director Peter Froundjian and his wife Annette, arrives. There is a hearty round of applause and toasts are offered all round. The busy but efficient waitresses take orders for drinks, and then comes the Maestro of the kitchen himself, Klaus Thiem, who looks every bit an artist himself. He takes the orders himself for soups and entrees, and within mere minutes, these are served to astonished and hungry guests.

Over drinks and food, alcoholic or teetotal, friendships are made and unions are formed. Rarely is piano music ever discussed, and there is no piano in sight. This is the warmth shared by pianophiles, and even strangers from the Far East are welcomed into the fold. The spirit of Husum does not just exist in the music and repertoire, but also the music-lovers who make their pilgrimage every year.

Three generations of the Jones:
Martin with his son and grandson.

An Afri-Cola and beer, and that's what
a real hamburger looks like (just 2 hours from Hamburg!)

Chef Klaus Thiem makes his rounds while
the Froundjians and Jonathan Plowright place their orders.

Ludwig Madlener confirms the items on Cyprien Katsaris'
recital programme, which is then pasted onto the
festival notice board on the next day.
Cyprien Katsaris is a raconteur extraordinaire too.