LDV86

Anne and I were on a musical cruise lasting almost a fortnight, during which we became inseparable. We used to go ashore together. In Tangier, we went to visit the souk. A young man was following us and Anne asked him why. He replied that he was the son of the chief of the Tangier fishermen and that he wanted to marry me in exchange for a few kilos of gold and four dozen camels. Anne, thinking that the number of camels was far too small, took it upon herself to handle the negotiations – which were never concluded . . . For the final concert of this cruise, we decided to play a Mozart sonata for piano four hands. Ever since that time, we have managed to come back regularly to the four-hand repertory, the symbol of family music- making, sometimes playing pieces for two pianos. These concerts have punctuated the years like so many milestones in a starlit itinerary begun on the night we crossed the Equator beneath a sky of ideal beauty. DANA CIOCARLIE & FRIENDS 37