Richard Pennycuick wrote: >For some time, B&W speakers has used a photo of Alfred Brendel in an >advertisement that appears on the back cover of Gramophone and elsewhere. >I've seen it many times but have only just noticed that the index and >middle fingers of each hand are taped. Could this be a legacy of a nasty >accident at the barbecue or is it standard practice for professional >pianists? He apparently wore them for protection, making a bilingual pun, when he said that he performed best when he was "plastered", the word "Pflaster" (i.e., plaster) being the German for adhesive bandage. Walter Meyer