Customer Reviews

My Life with the Great Pianists

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am sure Mr. Mohr is a wonderful human being and certainly an excellent piano technician but that is not why I purchased this book. I have read numerous books over the years about pianists, most notable Harold C. Schonberg's survey but I found this book a disappointment. The book's title, My Life with the Great Pianists and the pictures of Horowitz, Cliburn and Rubinstein on the cover makes one think we will be hearing many wonderful stories and asides. This unfortunately is not the case. What we have here are a few anecdotes and they are mostly nothing new to the reader of other such books. More so we are subjected to a steady stream of Born-Again preaching with the usual bible passages. I thought I was back in college trying to be sold into Christianity by the persistent Born-Agains. You would think that after tuning Horowitz's piano for more than 20 years he would have some interesting stories or even experiences about the many concerts. The whole chapter on Gilels is about how he gave him and his wife a bible. Then we are subjected a few chapters on how he tunes the piano and how the 440 tuning fork can be related to the bible. We also learn how he became Born-Again. There is a very short experience with Rubinstein so why is his picture so boldly on the cover. This was all misleading and unnecessary. No surprise to learn that it was published by a Christian publisher. Perhaps a fourth and larger picture of a bible would have been more apropo for the cover.

I am a piano technician myself. If you are reading to get technical information for a piano, don't waste your time. If you want a life story about a wonderful man who is full of tact and can understand what people aren't telling you, this is a great book. The book is excellent until it comes to his personal religeous beliefs. If you are a born-again Christian, then you'll probably enjoy his viewpoints. It you're not, then those sections will annoy you. The book is excellent except for his rambling on about his views of Christianity. The rest of the book is priceless. You actually feel like you know him personally. You actually feel like you know the artists. His chapter about growing up in Germany is worth the price of the book alone. Please buy it and enjoy it.

My Life With the Great Pianists is a wonderful book. Franz Mohr writes with much wit and humor while giving the readers an inside look at the lives of all the great pianists of the day. Franz Mohr also shares his faith with the readers and the pianists, in addition to giving information about pianos themselves. Humorous anecdotes add to the appeal of the book. This was a very well-written book written by a very Christian man whom I admire, along with the great pianists he tuned for. It is a wonderful book for all ages.

Mohr's book is full of insights into the personal sides of many great pianists: Horowitz, Rubinstein, Cliburn, Gould. He provides perspectives on the pianists as people, a side few people ever have had a chance to see, and he also shares some of the personal musical styles of the pianists--how (or even if) they practiced, rehearsed, etc. Mohr also gives a rare view of the Soviet Union--from within--which few have ever seen.
The unfortunate part of this book is Mohr's heavy emphasis on his Christianity. At times it provides anecdotes of interesting interactions with the pianists, or in the case of his time in the Soviet Union, his involvement in Christianity and the Bible leads to amazing descriptions of experiences in a country nearly rid of religion by the Communist leadership. However, at times Mohr goes on at great length about religion, and to such a degree that it heavily detracts from the wonder of the intimate look at the artists.
Overall, this book is certainly worth the read, and the stories about the pianists are an utter delight! However, his religious digressions sometimes reach a point of just skipping over them entirely, which is unfortunate to the flow of the book.

As the title states, this book is about Franz Mohr's life and less about the great pianists. A more appropriate title would've been My Christian Life with the Great Pianists, or at least subtitled.
The writing wasn't stellar, but the stories amused me. Franz Mohr is quite a character. If you're not a Christian you can still enjoy this book as it is a remarkable show of character. At times, it's almost comedic because you can sense, or sort of imagine how the pianists may've felt once Mr. Mohr started with his biblical stories. Like watching a train wreck. Then again, these pianists are geniuses, so who am I to analyze what they were thinking? Eh-hem, Mr. Mohr, we don't really know what they were thinking. Do we?
But... I admire Mohr's dedication. The book seems to have been written with heart and purpose, though I know it can be annoying to people who weren't raised by parents who encouraged or enforced, if you will, the belief in Christianity.
I've read many books about the Great Pianists. I like the different perspectives from those who worked with them. I loved the stories about Howowitz, Cliburn and Rubinstein. The tuning parts were interesting. I'd say, it's definitely worth a read.

Franz Mohr has spent more time over the years with great pianists than one can even comprehend. As a result, this book could have been a home run of stories, and anecdotes that the world never knew - except through Mohr's storytelling. Instead, Mohr touches on just a few choice stories about a handful of musicians leaving me to want more.

My guess without actually doing the research is that at least half the book consists of Mohr's preaching to us his religious views. It felt very out of place in this context and I could have done without it. His co-author, Edith Schaeffer, didn't help matters with her overly frilly prose. Her additions reminded me of walking into a store that sells incense and soaps. Read the book for the great pianist stories he tells - but expect to be jarred with the rest of the contents as well.

_My Life With the Great Pianists_ is an excellently written, humorous, and educational book. Franz Mohr worked with Horowitz, Rubenstein, and other great pianists, serving as their piano tuner. Here he reveals their idiosyncrysies and nervous moments. Mohr also writes about himself, telling of the ghastly destruction of his hometown in Germany during World War II, and gives his personal testimony of the hand of God in his life.

This is book truly fascinating and well written. It is light and funny in the humerous stories and "inside" facts. But it also has a more serious side in the story of his early life in Germany and his unshakable faith in the Lord. It is easy and enjoyable reading for anyone and everyone interested in the performance of piano, great figures of piano, tuning of the piano, and the list goes on! I recommend it for the young and old.

I am surprised and even alarmed a company as reputable, well established and sought after as Steinway would let this man be one of their chief representatives, especially to their top esteemed clientele. In an age of political correctness where even today people openly will not hire a Jahovas Witness for a nanny position inviting them into their home and dealing with them leafleting and pep-preaching, Steinway and Sons had no issues whatsoever with him telling their most important client, "I overheard you have finally accepted Christ in your life, I have been praying for you and for this for quite some time, and I pray this is true, no one more then Christians understand the importance of the Jewish people". A foreward by Henry Steinway one can conclude endorses the fact they were aware he was more then just a kind man of faith who carried a bible for personal use in his pocket; the pocket of a coat with the ever present Steinway logo displayed on the cover, atop the bait, 3 portraits of three prolific pianists of the 20th century, to lure the reader into a 200 pg plug for Steinway and Sons, and born again christianity. When you eliminate the "tangents", much like cutting the ads out of a magazine, the actual base content, his life WITH the great pianists, borders on a some measly 30 pages, some in which is certainly worth a read.
I feel bad, even remorseful, Mr Mohr seems like a very nice man. He has lived a life worth telling, to lose loved ones in war, and to experience it firsthand. To wrestle with such subjects as politics, love, faith and purpose, and to have such a career rubbing elbows with the greatest musicians alive. I know people who have had work done by Mohr, they insist the way he was in person was not as "forceful" as he appears in his book. Perhaps this christian publisher had some sort of alternative agenda.

Franz Mohr recites memories and personal stories that only a Piano Tuner would know about such greats as Cliburn, Gilels, Rubinstein, Horowitz, and Michelangeli. Moreover, Mohr gives a behind the scenes glimpse into Horowitz's historic return to Moscow, details that can be found nowhere else.