Anyone can play Brahms in a big anniversary year like this one, the centenary of the composer's death, and call it a tribute.

The girls were all in the living-room, and Minette was playing Brahms on the piano.

Maybe I was not ready, physically, to play Brahms, but I haven't changed that much since.

The project teaches that playing new music is as central to what musicians do as playing Brahms.

If, on the other hand, I took piano lessons for years and had an understanding of music, playing Brahms may be elementary to me.

Somebody who is at the end of his life and plays only Beethoven and Brahms, that's a different story.

"It's not exactly relaxing if you are struggling to play Brahms," she explained.

"Vazsonyi plays Brahms with subtlety and understanding, giving the listener the feeling that the pianist gets right inside the composer's mind."

"Instead of saying good evening," she later recalled, "we sat down and played Brahms."

"When you're playing Brahms," she told her interviewer, "you're completely transported."