Description
Book Synopsis“An exceptionally fine book: erudite, digressive, urbane and deeply moving.” —
Wall Street JournalTrade Review"Beguiling.… Limpidly written, effortlessly learned, copiously illustrated, Chopin’s Piano is a perfect illustration of how the best histories often emerge from left field." -- William Boyd - Times Literary Supplement
"A sweeping story.… In graceful prose, Kildea explores developments in the history of piano-making, changes in the ways pianists have approached their craft, and, most luminously, the music of Chopin." -- Jonathan Rosenberg - Christian Science Monitor
"This fascinating and beautifully written book will delight music lovers." -- Roger Kamien, author of Music: An Appreciation
"Highly readable." -- Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim - The New York Times Book Review
"Original, constantly interesting.… Kildea writes fluently about Chopin’s work." -- Jonathan McAloon - Financial Times
"Captivating and intriguing,
Chopin’s Piano will most certainly entertain both novice and hardcore music historians." -- Michael Thomas Barry - New York Journal of Books
"Even those who are not musically inclined will find themselves reading this book to its very end.… [G]ripping." -- Phyllis Meras - Providence Journal
"An episodic, picaresque tale, woven confidently.… [Kildea] writes knowledgeably and approachably about music and sympathetically about his cast of characters." -- Alan Rusbridger - The Spectator
"In tracing the history of the Bauza piano and the lives of those who played it, Kildea achieves a combination of performance and reception history that makes one listen more closely to the music." -- Anna Picard - Times Literary Supplement
"An impressive feat of wide learning intriguingly deployed.… [G]iddily well-informed.… Kildea finds illumination in the detail." -- Jonathan Gaisman - Standpoint
