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Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung
Piano Lessonsis Noah Adams's delightful and moving chronicle of his fifty-second year--a year already filled with long, fast workdays and too little spare time--as he answers at last a lifelong call: to learn to play the piano. The twelve monthly chapters span from January--when after decades of growing affection for keyboard artists and artisans he finally plunges in and buys a piano--through December, when as a surprise Christmas present for his wife he dresses in a tuxedo and, in flickering candlelight, snow falling outside the windows, he attempts their favorite piece of music, a difficult third-year composition he's been struggling with in secret to get to this very moment. Among the up-tempo triumphs and unexpected setbacks, Noah Adams interweaves the rich history and folklore that surround the piano. And along the way, set between the ragtime rhythms and boogie-woogie beats, there are encounters with--and insights from--masters of the keyboard, from Glenn Gould and Leon Fleisher ("I was a bit embarrassed," he writes; "telling Leon Fleisher about my ambitions for piano lessons is like telling Julia Child about plans to make toast in the morning") to Dr. John and Tori Amos. As a storyteller, Noah Adams has perfect pitch. In the foreground here, like a familiar melody, are the challenges of learning a complex new skill as an adult, when enthusiasm meets the necessary repetition of tedious scales at the end of a twelve-hour workday. Lingering in the background, like a subtle bass line, are the quiet concerns of how we spend our time and how our priorities shift as we proceed through life. ForPiano Lessonsis really an adventure story filled with obstacles to overcome and grand leaps forward, eccentric geniuses and quiet moments of pre-dawn practice, as Noah Adams travels across country and keyboard, pursuing his dream and keeping the rhythm. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Rezensionen (4)
Publisher's Weekly-Rezension
"It is my dream, when I touch the keys, to release the notes. It is music waiting there," writes Adams in this delightful recreation of the year he recently spent trying to learn to play the piano and, most specifically, trying to master Robert Schumann's Träumerei. The experience may have been frustrating for the author, but he is such an unself-conscious raconteur that he catches the reader's sympathy and amusement at his befuddlement as to why he, a 51-year-old, would be so foolhardy as to suddenly spend $11,375 for an instrument he neither knows how to play nor, given the pressures of his job as host of NPR's All Things Considered, has time to practice. Figuring that he has only 20 minutes a day to devote to activities unrelated to his work, he sets out to become a pianist, first studying with a computer program, then a sight-reading system on tapes and finally, in the most captivating episode here, at a 10-day adult music school in Vermont run by the family of the saleswoman who sold him his Steinway. Adams interrupts his practice sessions throughout the book to reminisce about pianists he admires, educate us about keyboard instruments, tell us about his domestic life with his wife, Neenah, and about his job and related travels. At year's end he feels confident enough to play the Schumann for his wife as a Christmas present. A piece Horowitz could play in two minutes and 32 seconds Adams needs 20 minutes to complete. No matter, for his performance brings his audience of readers to its feet with shouts of "Bravo!" (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus-Rezension
A report on surviving the midlife crisis while tickling the ivories. The stereotypical yuppie drives a Volvo, vacations in New England, has a really fulfilling job, and listens religiously to ``All Things Considered'' on NPR. Noah Adams, we learn in this rambling journal, drives a Volvo, vacations in New England, and has a really fulfilling job cohosting ``All Things Considered.'' This book documents a year in Adams's life spent pursuing a dream: to become proficient at the piano. Freaked by the thought that he's 51 years old (``I have outlived Schumann by six years,'' he frets), Adams is even more shaken up when he reads the obituary of Lewis Thomas, only to learn that they both shared a passionate desire to learn how to play the piano--only Thomas didn't live long enough to fulfill his dream. Goaded into action by the shadow of the big ``D,'' Adams scrapes up enough spare change to purchase a new Steinway (although, he assures us, it was the cheapest one on the lot), along with some fancy computer software. His position as a radio talk meister gives him the opportunity to interview a slew of keyboard wizards, from popsters like Tori Amos to the classical prodigy Leon Fleisher, who, after losing the use of his right hand due to a repetitive-stress injury, has made a new career as a one- handed recitalist. However, Adams has little background in piano pedagogy or performance, so much of what he relates is pretty basic. Meanwhile, he flits from system to system, now attempting a mail-order course in improvisation, now dipping into a week-long intensive course in Vermont. The book (and year) ends triumphantly when Adams surprises his wife with a Christmas Eve recital. Warm and fuzzy reading from a warm and fuzzy guy; just be happy that you don't have to hear him play. (Author tour)
Booklist-Rezension
In his last book, Adams chronicled a year in his life as host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered. Here he describes the year he decided to learn to play the piano. Why would a busy, successful 51-year-old subject himself to such a humbling experience? The answers emerge as he recalls how he finally convinced himself to purchase a piano, how he chose a computer program for his first teacher, and how practicing became part of the nurturing aspects of his time away from work. As Adams charts his slow but self-pleasing progress, he shares curious snippets of the history of piano-making and telling anecdotes about famous composers and pianists, such as Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Dr. John, and Tori Amos. He visits the Falcone piano factory, attends piano camp, and, ultimately, is grateful for how his time at the keyboard increases the quota of beauty in his life. Go ahead, follow a dream, Adams suggests, it is liberating. --Donna Seaman
Library Journal-Rezension
There must be thousands of adults who have always wanted to play piano but just never got around to it. This book is by one who did. It's part autobiography, and, since the author is host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, the result is a look into an interesting life. It's also part journal of Adams's first year with the pianobuying it, practicing and not practicing it, and various attempts at learning to play it, ranging from the solitude of the Miracle computer system to the companionship of a stint at the ten-day Autumn Sonata workshop in Bennington. This thoughtful book is sprinkled with history of the piano and pianists, and there are also excerpts from on-air interviews with pianists ranging from Lew Fleisher to Tori Amos, from Dr. John to Lorie Line. An absorbing book for anyone who's ever played piano or just wanted to; highly recommended. [Previewed LJ 12/95.]Michael Colby, Univ. of California, Davis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.