Saturday, September 10, 2022 - Hitting the road
Spending the night at my parental home in Herent, Belgium, has given me a head start of one hour in the right direction. But now it’s off to my first real stop: Haslach an der Mühl, a little town in Oberösterreich or Upper Austria. I arranged to stay overnight at the home of an old friend, the harpsichord and clavichord maker Martin Pühringer.
7:30 am. Ready for a long ride to my first stop: Haslach an der Mühl, a little town in Upper Austria. There I’ll meet up with an old friend, the harpsichord and clavichord maker Martin Pühringer.
Touching base with an instrument maker—Martin has himself just made it back from Sienna, Italy, with several harpsichords—feels perfect. We talk about instruments and about our lives around them.
Most importantly, Haslach puts me a comfortable three to four hours northeast of Vienna. I can leave the piano in the van, secure in his courtyard.
Seeing Martin’s workshop brings back special memories: he once made the beautiful Leydecker harpsichord I used for my Haydn recordings. Is it me, or has his workshop become messier over the years?
A perfect ending to a successful first day: local trout and Apfelschorle.