Maestro

In 1975, Paul is stranded in Europe between piano competitions. He attends performances by pianists like Brendel and Badura-Skoda but finds himself unable to enjoy their music because he is envious. To fill the time and make extra money, Paul takes a short-term piano tutoring position in Krems, teaching bored and untalented students. In the isolation of his cold room, Paul’s thoughts turn to Keller, particularly the haunting image of him sheltering under his grand piano during the cyclone. Driven by curiosity, Paul begins writing letters to musical institutions and acquaintances in Vienna, hoping to piece together more of Keller’s mysterious past.

One day, Paul receives a response from Joseph Henisch, an elderly cellist who played trios with Keller before the war. Excited to learn more, Paul quits his tutoring job and travels to Vienna to meet Henisch in person. In their conversation, Henisch reveals that Keller once played private performances for Hitler, hoping to protect Mathilde and Eric from the Nazis. However, despite Keller’s efforts, the Nazis took them anyway. Feeling intense guilt, Keller sewed a yellow star onto his clothes and voluntarily registered as a Jew, which led to his deportation in 1942. According to Henisch, Keller died during a forced march near the end of the war.

Paul, shocked, tries to convince Henisch that Keller survived the war and had been his piano teacher in Australia. He mentions specific details, like Keller’s missing finger and love for composers like Bach and Mozart. Though Henisch remains skeptical, he does admit that Keller once said that he would start cutting his fingers off piece by piece if he ever felt the urge to play piano. One day, a Nazi tried to force Keller to play while he was in the concentration camp, so Keller cut off part of his little finger.

In a final attempt to prove his story to Henisch, Paul plays Beethoven’s Arietta, a piece Keller had taught him, hoping to demonstrate the depth of Keller’s influence on his playing. Despite Paul’s impassioned performance, Henisch remains unconvinced, insisting that Keller’s students played with more emotional depth. He gives Paul one of Keller’s last recordings as a parting gift, leaving Paul confused as he tries to reconcile his understanding of Keller with what Henisch told him.