The toy piano featured in a concert programme titled Wunderkammer, or «wonder room», where artists Pascal Meyer and Xenia Pestova Bennett performed on two toy pianos. Here, the instrument becomes an inspiring constraint: tiny, with far fewer keys, its range is inherently limited.

Hilda Paredes wrote her piece rainy days especially for the premiere – a kind of game «that can be played on rainy days or sunny days to remember the rain». Another work by Nina C. Young didn’t just involve two toy pianos, but also a pair of desk bells, the kind you might ring to summon a hotel receptionist. And then there’s John Cage’s Suite for Toy Piano, one of his most playful compositions – and perhaps a slightly ironic one, given that it calls for dynamics a toy piano can never quite deliver.

As for the toy piano, one mystery remains: how did that little stool end up cracked? The performers were perched on those fragile seats, wooden legs trembling as they clunked away at the keys. They could’ve placed the toy piano on a table and be seated in a regular seat. But that would take away the restrictions. And thus all the fun.

This year, the rainy days festival returns under the theme «heat». Curator Catherine Kontz brings together a varied programme centred on heat and energy, from the feel of summer and sauna rituals to actual «hot topics». See you there!