The Injured Hand

This was a most traumatic event in my life.

I was ready to go on tour to South America, with an appearance scheduled for the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, when the injury occured. After that moment, and for a few years, I would not be able to practice more than 15 minutes with my left hand without the wrist swelling. The tour was cancelled and I faced an uncertain future.

I was discouraged from going to a medical doctor, as I was told horror stories about pianists who lost their ability to play through surgery. I went to chiropractors, who didn’t harm me but didn’t help me, either.

My solution to this problem was to take on the repertoire for one hand. I got a hold of pieces written for the right hand, as well as the left hand, and I started learning them. This culminated in appearances in recital , as well as in another series of shows in Estudio 54, on Mexican TV, where I wrote a series of 5 half hour shows called “In Spite of Everything”, in which I performed all the music.

This lead to the first recording of my career, which was actually recorded in an analog system and was later converted to digital. The name of the CD was Piano Music for One Hand.