Piano? That is precisely what the author of the book The Lost Pianos of Siberia cannot play. All the better that this travel journalist writes so well. In a gripping account of her travels through Siberia, searching for pianos, reading it feels as though you are there. You discover each piano, you feel the biting cold…
One of the advantages of this book is that, thanks to author Sophy Roberts, you have almost travelled to the most vast, inhospitable country in the world: Siberia. It captures everyone's imagination. Roberts was fascinated by it and yes, one thing led to another. As a travel journalist, attracted by the story of pianos in the Russian Federation, she ventured through the wintry cold of Siberia, part of Russia.
Roberts not only tells about the pianos she found, in whatever condition, in the most unimaginable corners of that infinite expanse. She also tells how the piano conquered Russia, how the country became one of the world's greatest piano manufacturers, why pianos ended up everywhere, and how, following the collapse of communism and the ensuing years of total chaos, this did not bode well for the love of pianos.
You don't even have to be a lover of classical music in general and the piano in particular to devour this book. It is certainly not a novel. It is history from then and now in a country that has not long been democratic and is not yet accustomed to it. Fortunately, the piano has regained importance.
Sophy Roberts is very objective and takes no stance regarding the politics of the past and present. She mentions everything as it was in a particular period and names things as we know them now. This is to make it simpler for the reader, whoever they may be, without being dismissive. It makes the book all the more enjoyable. You also learn much about all sorts of circumstances since the piano arrived in Russia. In a way, one could say that the piano is the red thread running through Russian history of the last 250 years. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that captivated and drove the author? That an instrument, in whatever form and wherever, can be co-determinative for political and cultural significance, is unthinkable in our country. In Russia, however…
For a moment I considered giving away some enticing details from this remarkable story, but no: after careful thought, I will not. I might spoil your reading pleasure by lifting the veil here and there. Do you know what you should do, after reading this brief review? Do what I did: get the book and read it. Moreover, in this wet, cold spring, it is an ideal way to pass the time. Better than watching television. Yes, really?
Sophy Roberts is a British travel journalist, specializing in extreme destinations. She studied at Oxford University and Columbia University. She writes for Financial Times and Condé Nast Traveller. The Lost Pianos of Siberia is her first book.
- WHAT: The Lost Pianos of Siberia
- AUTHOR: Sophy Roberts, translation into Dutch by Robbert-Jan Henkes
- PUBLISHER: Ambo/Anthos Uitgevers
- ISBN: 9789026355059 | 416 pages | publication date: 13 April 2021
- PHOTOS: © Michael Turek
