2382. Concert pianists
© Bruce Goodman 21 March 2022


See that dear little old lady sitting in the front row? She’s always there when the twin pianists Andriy and Raahim Karpenko are giving a concert. I wouldn’t miss their concert for the world, but that little old lady is priceless. She reads a book and seems to take no interest whatsoever in the music. She even looks a little bored at times and yet she comes to every concert. You’d think she was their teacher or something and she’s heard it all before.

It’s amazing to think that Andriy and Raahim Karpenko are only thirteen years old. They’re child prodigies. And I would imagine they were pushed hither and yon by ambitious parents. Nothing ruins talent more than pushy parents.

Oh my goodness! That little old lady has put her book in her handbag and has taken out her knitting! Knitting! She’s knitting! Knitting, while two child prodigies play Olivier Messiaen’s Visions de l'Amen. What a scream! I don’t know why that little old lady even bothers to come, and I would imagine, unlike me, she has no interest at all in classical music, given her knitting.

There! That’s over. They’re getting a standing ovation, and deservedly so. That little old lady has stood up but she’s not applauding. She’s too busy stuffing her knitting back into the handbag next to the novel. Oh-oh! Andriy and Raahim Karpenko are coming down into the audience. They’re going over to the little old lady.

They’re speaking to her! They’re announcing something! I don’t believe a word of it. Not a word! I don’t believe that little old lady is their mother, chauffeur, and piano teacher. Impossible! I heard that their mother is the Professor of Music at the Conservatory. Pshaw! That old knitter ain’t no Professor of Music nor their mother. If she was she’d show a lot more interest.

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