The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by Thad Carhart Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier
Book Review: A Pleasant Read
Summary: 3 Stars
Contrary to some reviewers, I do think this book will appeal most to those who play and love the piano. The human story of relationships between the author, the piano shop owners, piano teachers and other characters is well told and interesting and so is the feel for the real Paris (from a resident's perspective) that we get. However, there is a lot of technical information about pianos as well as a good deal of history of the instrument. I have played and loved the piano for nearly 35 years and really enjoyed those parts, but I have to believe they would be rough on someone who doesn't love or appreciate the instrument, its history and its musical repertoire.
The book does make me long for the day when I can buy a home and finally buying the grand piano I've always dreamed of.
Book Review: "Play is the Soul of the Machine"
Summary: 5 Stars
In Thad Carhart's engaging memoir, "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" (2001), Carhart, an American writer who lives in Paris, describes how his love for the piano was rekindled upon finding a quaint piano repair shop in Paris and its eccentric owner, Luc. At one point after Carhart purchases a used piano from Luc, a baby grand made by a defunct manufacturer called Stingl, Carhart learns that he needs to make a repair to the instrument's pedal mechanism. Luc encourages Carhart to do the repair himself and instructs him how. When the repair is not fully successful and Carhart returns to Luc for more advice, Luc delivers the line that is the title of this review. In the double-entendre, Luc was reminding his customer of the need to avoid too much tension in the pedal mechanism if it is to work properly. But the advice, and the words "play", "soul" and "machine" are at the heart of this book and speak volumes about the piano and about music. How has a large, heavy and clumsy instrument become the way to capture music, beauty and passion in the hearts of many pianists and music-lovers?
Carhart's story begins when he chances upon the piano shop and makes the acquaintance of its owners. He soon decides to take up the piano again, which he had studied as a child years before, and purchases the used Stingl baby grand. We learn a great deal about the author, about Luc and his circle, and about Paris and its customs as the Carhart's story undfolds.
But mostly we learn about the piano and its magic and about music. There are chapters in the book where the author recollects his youthful music lessons and the piano teachers he finds in Paris after beginning to play again. There are fascinating chapters involving the manufacture and tuning of the instrument, the way the mechanism works, and lore about past and present manufacturers of the piano in France, the United States, Germany, Japan, and elsewhere. An excellent chapter near the end of the book describes the manufacture of the Fazoli piano, probably the most expensive and best piano now made, in Italy. Carhart describes the schola cantorum, a small private music school in Paris where Claude Debussy once taught and where the author enrolled his children for music lessons. During one of the most enjoyable scenes of the book, an elderly tradesman at Luc's shop sits at the keyboard and enthralls his listeners with the performance of a Scarlatti sonata. In addition to Luc and Carhart, a host of characters come to life, including the alcoholic tuner Jos, Luc's ladyfriend, Mathilde, Carhart's teacher Anna, and the pianists Gygory Sebok and Peter Feuchtwangler who appear in the book as leaders of master classes. Luc himself, part hard-headed businessman and part lover of the piano, falls in love successively with many of the instruments that come through his shop, Steinways, Erards, Pleyels, Gaveaus, and others. As Luc evocatively says at the end of the book, "You can never have too many dream pianos".
I studied piano as a child, stopped during college and law school, and returned to the instrument when I went out on my own. I haven't left it since then. I took lessons for an initial few years and then, regrettably, have tried to learn the instrument by myself. The piano has meant a great deal to me over the years.
This book will appeal to any serious student of the piano or to lovers of the inexhaustible literature of the instrument. The book will also make a wonderful and unsual gift to those on your list who love or who work with the piano.
Robin Friedman
Book Review: Interesting information, but no real story line
Summary: 2 Stars
After about 2 chapters, I thought, "Okay, I can't wait until I'm done reading this." Carhart does include interesting information about the history of the piano, but other than that, the book is really boring.
I feel I can best sum up my thoughts like this: The Piano Shop on the Left Bank could have been Joe's Mechanic Shop on the East Side. The story in this book seemed analogous to a story about a guy searching for his dream car and recalling personal and "deep" anecdotes along the way. Yes, a piano is unique in many ways, but I don't think Carhart writing 268 pages about this uniqueness was justified. It could have been rewritten as a short story, with all of the interesting facts about tuning, piano history, etc. in an appendix.
Again, the entire time I was reading this, I was anxious to finish it because it was so boring.
Book Review: Boring
Summary: 1 Stars
This book was boring. I read it for a book club, and it has been the only book so far that I was tempted not to read. Book Review: Press Key, Hear Sound
Summary: 4 Stars
"Press key, hear sound - the multiplicity of sounds and subtleties, even in my unpolished playing, overwhelmed me all over again."
The basic storyline, and it really is a basic storyline, is of a man rediscovering his love of the piano brought on by his regular visits to a piano repair shop located in his Left Bank neighborhood in Paris. As he goes through the process of finding a piano, having it delivered and tuned, taking piano lessons, attending seminars, and listening to others play, he is reminded of his childhood experiences with the instrument.
As he learns about pianos from Luc, the shopkeeper and others he runs into in his travels, we learn with him. The strange business methods of the shop and the series of crazy characters he meets throughout his explorations add color to what could have certainly otherwise become rather dull.
This is an interesting read for those who would like to rediscover their love of music later in life, particularly those who grew up with a piano. A unique and lovingly-researched work!