Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Largo for non-pianists, Andante for the rest of us, 17 Oct 2001
By A Customer
Non-pianists may dismiss Carhart's paean to the piano as excruciatingly slow, but friends of the instrument, whether listeners or players, will find much to enjoy here. There are patches, such as when the piano is moved into Carhart's apartment, where even professional pianists such as myself are moved to cry, "So what?" But for understanding the beauty of lemonwood or ash instruments and for learning the subtleties which distinguished the French instruments (Gaveau, Pleyel) from the German (Steinway, etc.) and the American (Chickering, Mason & Hamlin), this is an unbeatable source.
Carhart's odyssey of pianism moves at a gentle andante. Ostensibly it charts his growing familiarity with a Paris atelier run by the capable, enigmatic Luc, filled with old pianos. Carhart maintains the pace by toggling between the real characters and "slice of life" anecdotes (all bound by love of pianos), and the many differing aspects of his subject.
Along the way, he takes in the history of the piano, piano workings, tuning, and technology - including everything from spruce woods to metal brackets, strings, frames, etc. We are also treated to descriptions of lessons - and piano teachers - from beginning to masterclass level. Carhart vividly communicates the influence of Madame Gaillard, Miss Pemberton, and Anna on his learning abilities and his technique. The differing approaches in the masterclasses with Peter Feuchtwanger and Gyorgy Sebok are of particular interest.
Pianists will empathise with Carhart's horror of playing in public, but in sharing this book with us he has laid his musicianship, ability and perceptions on the line. It is full of good descriptions and homespun philosophy, atmospheric and didactic. The courtyards and quaint corners of Paris are lovingly rendered. It is above all a work of appreciation. The hero of the book is the piano.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Elegant, charming and artful, 4 Dec 2003
This was an incidental buy for me. One of those books you pick up because you happen across it whilst browsing. I thought it might be one of those journey-reads or a holiday book. The immediate attraction came from having lived in France as well as being an adult who recently returned to playing the piano after buying one.
It works very well on a number of levels. In part, it's a travelogue -- a memoir of Paris and the difficulties for foreigners in one of the world's most breathtaking cities. It's also a guide to trying to set up home in a new country and the challenges presented by that, particularly in France! And then there's the piano itself. Carhart has to undergo an intiation. To actually achieve a meaningful visit to the atelier he needs an introduction, for that he needs a contact with the right connection. With this done, he needs to find his piano. It's almost like adoption or choosing a pet, and here we have the detailed descriptions of models, sounds and mechanisms. And histories of piano houses. Alongside this the backdrop of Paris throws up the characters: Luc at the atelier, his introducer, his piano teacher, his fellow students, his family.
I was ultimately sorry to put the book down. It's written with poise and verve, and is an intimate portrait of an internally expressed desire offest by the larger concerns and mores of the environment in which it is articulated. In a way, it's wonderfully romantic and could serve as the tale of a love affair, with the piano and the City of Light.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pianissimo All the Way, 9 Sep 2000
By A Customer
T.E. Carhart's first book is an autobiography of his experiences as an expatriated American in Paris. An accomplished pianist, he longs to own an excellent piano -- bought at an affordable price -- for himself, as well as for his young family to practice upon. He becomes obsessed with the idea when he stumbles upon a strange workshop in a Paris backstreet. Used pianos are rebuilt behind a forbidding door, located behind a studio front. However, its owners are indifferent to him, when it comes to making a sale. In fact, they appear hostile to the idea. Carhart must obtain references from one of their clients, and spend many hours visiting, before they lend him an ear. How he gets his wish is the slim story in this book that is as soft, gentle, and tasty as a merinque. This book is a Moonlight Sonata, played by an expert. His writing is simple but beautiful. "The curved side of the cabinet was extravagantly voluptuous, the richness of the wood brightened by the long baroque undulation of the box." Carhart includes memories of his years as an eight-year-old student in Virginia, where dreamy trees and gentle manners compare favourably with his Parisian experiences. Perhaps he carries this sense of peace solidly within him, wherever he goes. It would appear so. In the course of this 242 page memoir, we learn much about the workings, history, and magic of piano. It is a love statement to this wonderful instrument that once graced everyones parlour.
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