The Piano Tuner
{{short description|2002 novel by Daniel Mason}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox book
| name = The Piano Tuner
| orig title =
| translator =
| image = The Piano Tuner.jpg
| caption = First edition
| author = Daniel Mason
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| genre = Historical fiction
| published =
| media_type = Print (hardcover & paperback)
| pages = 368 pp (hardcover)
336 pp (paperback)
| isbn = 9781400030385
| oclc = 53051198
| pub_date = 2002
| publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
}}
The Piano Tuner is a historical novel by American author Daniel Mason, set in British India and Burma. It was first published in 2002 when Mason was 26 and was his first novel.
The Piano Tuner was the basis for a 2004 opera of the same name (composed by Nigel Osborne to a libretto by Amanda Holden). It is also due to be released as a film directed by Charlie Stratton and produced by Mulberry Films LLC, Latitude Media & BCDF.{{Not verified in body|date=January 2025}}{{When|date=May 2024}}
Synopsis
The novel is set in 1886, in the jungles of Burma. The protagonist, a middle-aged man by the name of Edgar Drake, is commissioned by the British War Office to repair a rare Erard grand piano belonging to a Doctor Anthony Carroll. Carroll, who is the root of many myths, had the piano shipped to him as a means to bring peace and union amongst the princes in Burma in order to further the expansion of the British Empire. The extreme humidity of the tropical climate soon rendered it useless and horribly out of tune. Drake's "mission" thus becomes vital to the Crown's strategic interests. In a series of sub-plots and intrigue the surgeon-major (who?) is charged with treason. When the piano tuner goes to meet the surgeon-major against the wishes of the military staff, he finds himself suddenly surrounded.Barrett, Andrea (29 September 2002). [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/29/books/a-few-strings-loose.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm "A Few Strings Loose"]. New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2012
Reception
The book has been thematically compared with Conrad's Heart of Darkness.{{Cite news |work=The Guardian |title=The Lost Chord |last=Lee |first=Hermoine |date=17 January 2003 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/jan/18/featuresreviews.guardianreview14?INTCMP=SRCH}} Andrea Barrett, in The New York Times, called the book "thoroughly engaging" and said that the character of Drake was its greatest achievement, though both she, as well as Hermoine Lee in The Guardian, said that the historical digressions in the book were "clumsy" or "sat stiffly".
Adaptations
The novel was adapted into an opera by Nigel Osborne, to a libretto by Amanda Holden, which premiered at the Linbury Studio of the Royal Opera House in 2004.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/the-piano-tuner-linbury-studio-royal-opera-house-london-543729.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/the-piano-tuner-linbury-studio-royal-opera-house-london-543729.html |archive-date=2022-06-18 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The Piano Tuner, Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House, London|date=14 October 2004|website=The Independent|accessdate=21 December 2018}}
References
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Category:Novels set in Myanmar
Category:Novels set in the 1880s
Category:American novels adapted into operas
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