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Pianomania
Dec. 30th, 2022 08:06 pmBook Review: The Lost Pianos of Siberia, by Sophy Richards
A slightly odd and serendipitous provenance for this one. I had just finished my previous reading and saw a Facebook post from Ian Visits highlighting some Kindle history books on sale; none were on my to-read list, but this one stood out as worth a speculative purchase.
First and foremost, this is travel writing. Like Michael Portillo's various Great Railway Journeys is more about people and places, and only lightly connected to the trains, this is only lightly, yet essentially, connected to pianos. A chance encounter in Mongolia leads Richards to research the importing of European music and culture, and especially the nineteenth century mania for pianos, into Siberia. Reasonably enough, she divides things chronologically, into Tsarist Russia, the USSR, and the post-1991 Russian Federation. But this is only one axis; the geography is more complicated. For centuries, Siberia has been a place of exile from European Russia: but often the well-to-do would be able to take possessions with them, and there are stories of the Decembrists and others taking pianos with them, as well as governors and officials. Later sections deal with the passage of the Romanovs through the region, the distribution of Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony, and "fire sales" in the 1990s. Richards travels to all corners of Siberia, documenting pianos and stories. Many of the instruments are now in museums, one or two in theatres, concert halls or schools, and some in private ownership. Written during a period of cooling relations - though nothing like what happened in 2022 - there are some challenges with the authorities. The book is clearly well researched, but is nonetheless straightforward to read.
A slightly odd and serendipitous provenance for this one. I had just finished my previous reading and saw a Facebook post from Ian Visits highlighting some Kindle history books on sale; none were on my to-read list, but this one stood out as worth a speculative purchase.
First and foremost, this is travel writing. Like Michael Portillo's various Great Railway Journeys is more about people and places, and only lightly connected to the trains, this is only lightly, yet essentially, connected to pianos. A chance encounter in Mongolia leads Richards to research the importing of European music and culture, and especially the nineteenth century mania for pianos, into Siberia. Reasonably enough, she divides things chronologically, into Tsarist Russia, the USSR, and the post-1991 Russian Federation. But this is only one axis; the geography is more complicated. For centuries, Siberia has been a place of exile from European Russia: but often the well-to-do would be able to take possessions with them, and there are stories of the Decembrists and others taking pianos with them, as well as governors and officials. Later sections deal with the passage of the Romanovs through the region, the distribution of Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony, and "fire sales" in the 1990s. Richards travels to all corners of Siberia, documenting pianos and stories. Many of the instruments are now in museums, one or two in theatres, concert halls or schools, and some in private ownership. Written during a period of cooling relations - though nothing like what happened in 2022 - there are some challenges with the authorities. The book is clearly well researched, but is nonetheless straightforward to read.