He became one of the founding partners of the Oppenheimer fund. His wife’s money and social connections would enable the couple to buy their way out of Hitler’s Europe and sail for New York City. A decade later, Mayer was struggling to make ends meet, while Simon had settled down with a woman of questionable background but considerable means. The brothers were inseparable and it’s hard to tell them apart in the sepia photos where they posed together in uniform. They were both supreme ladies men and bon vivants, famously engaging in hot dog eating contests and generally enjoying everything these glittering cities had to offer. Not long before, Mayer and his brother Simon had been gallivanting throughout Vienna and Berlin in their handsome Prussian World War One uniforms. Judging by later photos of happy, well-dressed Stern children with their nannies, Mayer did achieve at least the semblance of prosperity. Mayer and his wife had come to Berlin from Poland in the mid 20’s in search of a better life for themselves and their future family. With the exception of my mother - these people that I never knew were alive to me and I was remembering them distinctly even though I had never met them. Sometimes a piece would suggest their sad fates, or perhaps it was their story that evoked a deeper poignancy.

They seemed close in those moments and inextricably mixed with the music. At times when the recording process became difficult, I would silently ask for my family’s help. That is why I decided to come to the Brussels Conservatory of Music in July of 2013 to record an all - Chopin CD in his honor. I do know for certain that his forte was Chopin. The family would come here regularly to see Norbert perform,and although I can’t be sure, it is likely he played the same pieces that I was now recording. Seventy years ago, they had been here in this very same concert hall in a world that still held promise, before the war. But inevitably my thoughts returned to my family - my grandparents, my mother, and most especially my uncle, Norbert Stern. As I played Chopin on the new Yamaha 9’ concert grand I was focused on balance, tone, tempi, and the multitude of aesthetic decisions that piano playing requires.

Teo gertler