A bravura history of the House of Steinway, whose name has remained synonymous with fine pianos for well over a century. Drawing on previously untapped records and private papers as well as secondary sources, Fostle, a journalist and documentary filmmaker, provides an absorbing generation-spanning account of a German-American family that earned fame and fortune in the New World. At the heart of the exhaustively detailed narrative is the story of William Steinway (nÇ Steinweg) who, in 1871 at the age of 35, took control of the family's 18-year-old Manhattan-based firm. With technical assistance from brother Theodore, the enterprising William showcased the immensely profitable company's prize-winning instruments in concert halls and secured the endorsement of world- class artists like Ignacy Jan Paderewski. An imaginative industrialist and prominent civic figure, he was less successful in his personal life, plagued by marital unhappiness and rheumatoid arthritis. Despite a tradition of fractious labor relations, the multinational concern prospered well into the 20th century under the stewardship of the maestro's less aggressive heirs— ``custodians, not architects,'' Fostle calls them. Over time, though, wars, a global depression, imports, and rapid changes in the state of the entertainment art (the pianola, radio, TV) took a steady toll. By 1972, CBS Inc. had acquired the much diminished firm, only to sell it off in the 1980s for the mercantile equivalent of a song. The buyers—a group of arguably unmusical MBAs—have not fared all that well with their leveraged purchase, in part because the vast majority of the roughly 200,000 Steinway grands built in the US during the past 100 years play as well as a new piano fresh from the factory. Fostle occasionally offers tedious particulars on the auditory afflictions of supporting players and other curiosities on which his research has shed light. This cavil apart, a gloriously complete chronicle of a dysfunctional dynasty whose renown has long since outlived its actual participation in the music trades.
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-684-19318-3
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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