Of Cats and Kuerti

We can learn a lot about diplomacy from animals.

My wife and I recently adopted a one-eyed cat named Heather. We already have an ol’ timer named Grizzly who will soon be 17 years old. Despite his name (both animals were adopted, so we didn’t get to choose), he is a mostly peaceful individual and quite affectionate. That being said, he is master of what he perceives as his domain and if you violate his territory, you may find some teeth marks on your arm. He creates his own terms of engagement, and you learn his rules or pay the consequences.

Heather is young, sweet, naive, and curious. She is having no trouble adapting to her new environment – it is simply another adventure for her. Both cats are curious of each other, but thus far Heather is more keen on developing a relationship, whereas Grizzly is still dealing with her as some sort of occupier. For the last few days he has confined himself below our kitchen table, coming out every now and then for a snack or a drink of water, checking the furniture and floors for Heather’s scent. We suppose he is trying to “size her up” before deciding on his next move. Despite the terms of engagement he has developed with us, he has not shown any sign of aggression towards Heather.

It seems many animals – but especially cats – are quite conservative in their diplomatic relations, and when I say “conservative”, I mean that they don’t generally go looking for trouble. If it comes to them they deal with it the best way they know how – with caution.

Perhaps human relations are far too complex (we adapt, but we also manipulate) for us to learn anything from this, but I did my best while watching them slowly approach each other as I was cooking in the kitchen last night. Have you ever tried preparing Texas chilli and a gourmet omlette while acting as a feline chaperone?

Such a setting requires the right soundtrack and I chose some Beethoven. I can’t recall the piece right now, but it was a performance by the renowned Anton Kuerti:

Anton (Emil) Kuerti (born 21 July 1938, in Vienna, Austria) is a Canadian pianist, music teacher, composer, and conductor. Since his performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Boston Pops Orchestra at age 11, he has developed international recognition as a solo pianist, particularly focusing on the works of Beethoven. Kuerti studied music at the Longy School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music and the Curtis Institute. His teachers included Arthur Loesser, Rudolf Serkin and Mieczyslaw Horszowski.

Kuerti strongly criticized Israel’s invasion of Gaza in early 2009. He was quoted as saying,

“The unbelievable war crimes that Israel is committing in Gaza … it makes me ashamed to be a Jew. The servile way in which Canada is supporting the U.S. position – basically it’s all Hamas’s fault because of missiles that they throw over in desperation – I think this reluctance of Canada to use its influence makes me ashamed to be Canadian.”

One doesn’t normally associate classical musicians with social justice activism, but Kuerti has a history of standing up for social justice. On 9 May 2004 he performed a special benefit concert for Mordechai Vanunu with cellist Kristine Bogyo at Willowdale United Church in Toronto. Vanunu was imprisoned for revealing to a London newspaper that Israel is producing nuclear weapons. Anton Kuerti, considered by many to be Canada’s leading pianist, has corresponded with Vanunu and written articles about his case.

“Mr. Vanunu’s (and my) position is not against Israel but against nuclear weapons whose very possession is, itself, an act of terror that dwarfs even the dispicable events of 11 September 2001. No matter who creates, deploys or ignites them, they represent an intolerable threat to humanity that trivializes any evil they are meant to guard against. Indeed, the only hope for Israel’s long-term survival is to negotiate the total removal of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons from the entire Mideast, for no country is as vulnerable as the tiny Jewish state,” said Kuerti.

The music of Beethoven also helped Vanunu through his endless ordeal. In one of his letters to Kuerti, Vanunu wrote:

“I have heard a lot of classical music… here in prison, especially Fidelio, and of course it was like Beethoven wrote it especially for my case, but I am here 15 years waiting for that great wonderful, heavenly Finale still to come…. Beethoven without the Finale helped me here to stand firm and strong by his great strong music Fidelio….”

The 2004 benefit concert featured music of Beethoven, including the Sonata in A Major for Cello and Piano. Mr. Vanunu was invited to attend but the restrictions placed on his movement by the Israeli government denied him this opportunity.

If you need some peace and perspective in this messed-up world of ours, try listening to Kuerti while contemplating the years of solitary confinement of someone like Vanunu. If you cannot find any CD’s by Kuerti at your local record store, you can order here or download the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas (10 CD’s) using the links I found below.

Beethoven – The complete piano Sonatas by Anton Kuerti

CD-1:
Sonata nº 1 F-major
Sonata nº 2 A-major
Sonata nº 3 C-major

CD-2 :
Sonata nº 4 E-flat major op. 72
Sonata nº 8 in C-minor op.13
Sonata nº 12 A- flat major op 26

CD-3:
Sonata nº 5 C-minor
Sonata nº 6 F-major
Sonata nº 7 D-major
Sonata nº 9 E-major

CD-4:
Sonata nº 10 G-major op.14
Sonata nº 13 E-major op.27
Sonata nº 14 C-sharp minor op.27
Sonata nº 15 D-major op.28

CD-5:
Sonata nº16-Gmajor op. 31
Sonata nº 17-Dminor op. 31
Sonata nº 18-D flat major op. 31

CD-6:
Sonata nº 11 in B-flat Major, op 22
Sonata nº 22 in F Major, op 54
Sonata nº 23 en fa mineur, op 57
Sonatina nº 25 in G Major, op 79

CD-7:
Sonata No. 19 in G Minor, Op. 49
Sonata No. 20 in G Major, Op. 49
Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53
Sonata No. 24 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 78
Sonata No. 26 in e Flat Major, Op. 81a

CD-8:
Sonata nº 28-A major op 101
Sonata nº 29-B flat major op 106

CD-9:
Sonata nº 30-E major op 109
Sonata nº 31-A flat major op 110
Sonata nº 32-C minor op 111

CD-10:
Sonata nº 27-E minor op 90
Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli Theme