Keith Jarrett's 1975 Köln Concert, how it almost didn't happen, and how one formidable German teenager, Vera Brandes, breaks ...

Her fifth concert involves her taking an enormous gamble: she books the 1,400-seat Cologne Opera House for a concert of improvised music by Jarrett. All does not go to plan.

The Köln Concert, 50 years old this year, is the stuff of legend. A mix-up meant that the jazz pianist Keith Jarrett nearly didn’t take the stage at the Cologne Opera House on the night of ...