So far I have spent all of 2026 with the company of a fever, body aches (some severe--a literal pain in the butt), and the various foggy states that come with the flu. I have also been fortunate to have the company of Michael, who seems to have avoided getting it. We both got our vaccinations at the same time, but it seems that his worked to protect him.
I'm doing everything you are supposed to do: herbal tea, lots of water, chicken soup (home-made), and rest. But I'm getting tired of not being able to go outside, not being able to sit at the piano for more than half an hour, not being strong enough to practice violin for more than a few minutes at a stretch, and not being able to sit in a chair to even attempt to compose.
[The seat cushion I ordered from one online retailer was lost, and the one I ordered from the company that makes the product isn't coming until Monday.]
My friend Martha recommended a Korean series on Netflix from 2000 called "
Do You Like Brahms", and I have been able to watch it on my iPad while sitting on a foam chair that has a decent mix of support and softness. I have made it through almost ten of the fifteen episodes.
The series is set in a Korean university, and the lead actors are all musicians. Much of the playing is dubbed, but all the motions are real. They use mostly Henle editions, though there is an International Music Company presence here and there (represent!). The main characters are shown practicing, talking about practicing, eating in the cafeteria, planning to eat in the cafeteria, walking with instruments on their backs, and talking about their careers or the careers of others. That is a nice slice of realism, though the practice rooms are far nicer than anything I have seen in America, even at Juilliard.
I have seen one of the violinists (her name is Song-ah) carry at least twenty different purses and bags in the first ten episodes. The lead pianist (his name is Joon-Young) always carries the same backpack: a nice leather number with room for all of those Henle editions. Nobody carries a laptop, and nobody uses a cellphone case. The books that people carry are small and light. In offices people use colorful hard-bound notebooks.
The music is kind of limited in scope: well-known pieces by Rachmaninoff, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Franck, Ravel, Schubert. Except for the opening episode that includes a full orchestra, I have seen nary a wind player, a brass player, or a percussionist. I don't even know if there is a violist anywhere. But there is a luthier (a main character). With so many string players in town, I imagine he is never short of work to do.
The core cast are all people who are either thirty or turning thirty. There are a bunch of birthday parties. These thirty-year-old musicians have the kind of emotional depth that one would suspect from people in their thirties when it comes to matters of love (emotions run very deep, and manners remind me of those Jane Austen elaborates on), and the kinds of professional worries that thirty-year-old musicians with advanced degrees have. But in many ways they seem very young. Many of the characters live at home, which could be either a cultural norm or for economic reasons. Maybe both.
There are also interesting matters of social and economic class, teachers who play power games with their students (rather than teach them about the music itself), and beautiful camera work that captures the excellent acting of the consistent and disciplined actors. Well, I'm going to check in on my friends in episode 10. So far the two love interests have never played together. The violinist, Song-ah, is supposed to be the worst violinist in the school, but she sounds fine to me. I hope that she and Joon-Young do play together, and that it is an exceptional and meaningful experience for both of them.
As I remember, that’s what music students who are in relationships do.
