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A review by emiged
Alice's Piano: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer by Reinhard Piechocki, Melissa Mueller
4.0
Alice’s Piano is a straightforward, chronological biography of Alice Herz-Sommer’s amazing life. It was originally published in German as Ein Garten Eden immitten der Holle (or A Garden of Eden in the Middle of Hell), which perfectly describes what she created, along with the other Jewish musicians who were imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. They produced operas, choir performances, orchestras, chamber concerts, all on the most ramshackle of instruments, often from scores reproduced from memory. They refused to give up their humanity in the face of the great inhumanity that surrounded them.
Alice loved music from a young age and showed great promise as a pianist, performing with the Czech Philharmonic at the age of 20 and winning numerous competitions and accolades. Music pervaded every part of her, body and soul, and she loved it deeply. When her piano teacher suggested that she didn’t need to practice for four hours every day because “an hour or two would be quite enough to make progress with your talent,” she replied, “But it gives me so much pleasure…There is nothing lovelier than learning a new piece.”
That love of music sustained her in the concentration camp. She performed more than 100 concerts entirely from memory during the almost two years she was at Theresienstadt, and rotated through several programs that included challenging pieces by Beethoven, Schumann, and Smetana. A highlight of the book was the detailed description of her performances of Chopin’s twenty-four Etudes. Each Etude itself was described, as well as Alice’s performance, often in the words of other survivors who were present or through reviews written at the time. And each Etude was also matched with the story of a friend or compatriot of Alice’s in the concentration camp, some of whom survived and many of whom did not. These brief sketches of just a few of the millions of lives lost in the Holocaust provide a poignant reminder that these were unique individuals, not faceless numbers.
Alice and her son Stephan were liberated from Theresienstadt in 1945. Alice’s husband, Leopold, had been transported to Auschwitz after about a year in Theresienstadt, and then later to Flossenburg and Dachau, where he died. Alice tried to recreate a life for herself and her son in Prague, but found it unwelcoming and inhospitable to Jews after the war, so she emigrated to the newly formed country of Israel, where she spent 25 years as a professor of music at the Jerusalem Conservatory. Finally, in 1986, she moved to London to be closer to her son, now a celebrated concert cellist. Though he passed away in 2001, she continues to live there today.
There are a few awkward phrasings in Alice’s Piano, not uncommon in a translation, but that does not diminish the beauty or power of Alice’s story. It’s truly affecting to read of this woman’s inspiring strength and optimism.
Read more on my blog Build Enough Bookshelves
Alice loved music from a young age and showed great promise as a pianist, performing with the Czech Philharmonic at the age of 20 and winning numerous competitions and accolades. Music pervaded every part of her, body and soul, and she loved it deeply. When her piano teacher suggested that she didn’t need to practice for four hours every day because “an hour or two would be quite enough to make progress with your talent,” she replied, “But it gives me so much pleasure…There is nothing lovelier than learning a new piece.”
That love of music sustained her in the concentration camp. She performed more than 100 concerts entirely from memory during the almost two years she was at Theresienstadt, and rotated through several programs that included challenging pieces by Beethoven, Schumann, and Smetana. A highlight of the book was the detailed description of her performances of Chopin’s twenty-four Etudes. Each Etude itself was described, as well as Alice’s performance, often in the words of other survivors who were present or through reviews written at the time. And each Etude was also matched with the story of a friend or compatriot of Alice’s in the concentration camp, some of whom survived and many of whom did not. These brief sketches of just a few of the millions of lives lost in the Holocaust provide a poignant reminder that these were unique individuals, not faceless numbers.
Alice and her son Stephan were liberated from Theresienstadt in 1945. Alice’s husband, Leopold, had been transported to Auschwitz after about a year in Theresienstadt, and then later to Flossenburg and Dachau, where he died. Alice tried to recreate a life for herself and her son in Prague, but found it unwelcoming and inhospitable to Jews after the war, so she emigrated to the newly formed country of Israel, where she spent 25 years as a professor of music at the Jerusalem Conservatory. Finally, in 1986, she moved to London to be closer to her son, now a celebrated concert cellist. Though he passed away in 2001, she continues to live there today.
There are a few awkward phrasings in Alice’s Piano, not uncommon in a translation, but that does not diminish the beauty or power of Alice’s story. It’s truly affecting to read of this woman’s inspiring strength and optimism.
Read more on my blog Build Enough Bookshelves