The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts

One of our Young at Heart Book Club members at Havelock North Library asked the group, ‘When you hear ‘Siberia’ – what comes to mind?’ Our answers varied,  including ‘harshness', ‘tundra’, ‘penal colonies’, ‘sent to Siberia’, and ’40 below, snow and freezing cold’. Strangely, not one of us mentioned pianos...

Then we heard the story of Sophy Roberts' newly released book, The Lost Pianos of Siberia. There is another side to Siberia, where traditionally, music, theatre and the arts have been held in high regard by Tsars and others in power.  After the  1917 revolution, pianos were distributed all over the country, with an association  of piano tuners to support them – to give musical education to Russians who otherwise would never have had access to instruments.

Pianos are still scattered around the country often in startling places, protected and loved by the everyday people who use them– pianos brought to communities, yurts and penal colonies by cart over perilous mountain trails and rivers, or on the Trans Siberian Railway.  Often the only way to find a piano’s story is through the serial number inside – sometimes going back over 200 years.

The author began her journey trying to locate a piano for a brilliant Mongolian pianist, and takes us with her to places we could only dream about, and through Russian history – music, murder, incarceration and revolution in an accessible and uplifting way.

It comes highly recommended. You will love reading The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts.

Catalogue link: The Lost Pianos of Siberia

Posted by Young at Heart Book Club