"Steinway Saga" review

[Don_Mannino@yca.ccmail.compuserve.com]

John Musselwhite wrote:

>I'm not sure whether anyone from Steinway is actually reading the list yet,
>but your message has been forwarded to Michael Mohr (who does not yet have
>email access)... I'll post a reply when I get a response.

>BTW, has anyone read "The Steinway Saga" by D.W. Fostle
>yet?

I think they've been reading the postings from the Piano
Page. I was criticized by someone unnamed for mentioning the
Japanese government inquiry into the Japanese Steinway
dealership.  Michael Mohr told me in Albuquerque that he'd
be getting on soon.

I started the Steinway Saga book on the airplane going to
ABQ.  I haven't gotten too far yet - about 1/4 of the way
through only. So far I have mixed reactions - there is a lot
of detail about the early activities of the family, but some
of the arguments and conclusions drawn therefrom by the
author are ludicrous.  For instance, he concluded from some
weakly presented circumstantial evidence that most of the
Steinway brothers from 1860 into the late 1800s must have
had substantial high frequency hearing loss, therefore that
was why Steinway pianos at the time were sometimes
criticized for being too bright and harsh in tone.

It's a good read, but one must be a little skeptical of
someone trying to sensationalize the lives of people so long
dead.  There is a long section on the actions of Henry
Steinway's wife after Henry died (1865?), and I suppose it
was in character with the style of the author's writing. I
thought he tried too hard to make more of a scandal of it
than was justifiable, though.

Don_Mannino@yca.ccmail.compuserve.com