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Carhart, Thaddeus.

The piano shop on the Left Bank : the hidden world of a Paris atelier / T.E. Carhart. - London : Vintage, 2001. - 256 pages ; 20 cm

Originally published: London: Chatto & Windus, 2000.

By the 19th century pianos everywhere: they shrank in the heat of the colonies, swayed on steamships and sang in the drawing room of every genteel home. Some of these old pianos have become treasured family heirlooms, some just firewood. But others have led a more itinerant life, occasionally finding their way to a secret, glass-roofed workshop in Paris where they are lovingly restored by a piano repairer with a passion for his job. When T.E. Carhart came upon Luc and his atelier, his life changed. As he explored the Eldorado of pianos in Luc's back room, absorbed Luc's wisdom on life and music and finally found the baby grand of his dreams, he rediscovered his deep love for this most magical of instruments. In this atmospheric book, full of Parisian life, the story of a musical friendship and a mutual obsession is intertwined with reflections on how pianos work, their history and the people who care for them, from the most amateur pianist to the tuners and craftsmen who make the mechanism sing.

ISBN: 0099288230 9780099288237

Nat. Bib. No.: GBA1Z1866 bnb

Subjects--Topical Terms:
Piano--Maintenance and repair.--France--Paris
Piano technicians.
Piano--History.

Subjects--Geographic Terms:
Paris--France

Index Terms--Genre/Form:
History.

Dewey Class. No.: 920