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Street Muse

Daily Pic: 
37

A Russian accordionist playing at the Piazza Navona in Rome.

The piazza is featured in Dan Brown's book "Angels and Demons", in which the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (the "Fountain of the Four Rivers"), a piece of which can be seen in the background on the left side, is listed as one of the Altars of Science.

The girl in the picture is playing a rare Royal Standard accordion, made by Zuleger & Mayenburg from Brunndobra, Germany in the 1960s (I did quite a bit of research to figure this out). This thing weighs about 9 kg - even more than my photo backpack. Pretty and strong - she must be a gynoid!

When my twin brother and I were 6, we went to a music school, having this weired notion that accordion is a fun instrument. They told us straight that we were too weak to handle it, and suggested that we switch to something lighter, like a violin maybe. I immediately saw the wisdom of it and said ok, but my brother decided to wait until he was strong enough to pick it up. He came back in a year and practiced for a few months (my teacher, who did not know I have a brother, was very impressed that I played two instruments), but finally even he realized that this instrument is no joke, and switched to an oboe.

I have nothing but deep respect for the accordion players - they literally carry music on their shoulders. Check out this guy playing Bach Toccata and Fuga in d moll on bayan.

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