A Long Way

The harpsichordist and ensemble leader William Christie could quite easily be mistaken for a patrician, 1960s-era CIA operative out of Norman Mailer’s novel Harlot’s Ghost. Yesterday morning, he was wearing a fitted black suit, blue shirt, beige pocket square, and polka dot socks, and spoke in aristocratic American English that clearly recalled his days studying at Harvard and Yale. We went to the bar of Berlin’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, where he was staying, and looked for a table. Saxophone Muzak sleazed in the background. “It’s not annoying, but destroying,” he said. We went back to the lobby. At one point towards the end of the interview, I asked him if he still had time for one last question. He answered, “The minute my team arrives I’ll drop you like a hot potato.”