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Mourning de Pachmann - The Quest for the Spirit of Chopin (Paperback)
Loot Price: R1,196
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Mourning de Pachmann - The Quest for the Spirit of Chopin (Paperback)
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Total price: R1,216
Discovery Miles: 12 160
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In January 1933, widowed Canadian psychiatrist Charles Flemming
traveled to Rome to deliver a paper at an international psychiatric
meeting and to further research the career of the eccentric
Ukranian pianist, Vladimir de Pachmann, for a biography he has
always wanted to write. En route, he learns of a young, virtually
blind Polish pianist, Agnieszka Lipska, who will be giving several
recitals in Rome. She has familial retinitis pigmentosa and her
specialty is the music of Chopin. Charles and Agnieszka are
introduced by Simon Williams, a music critic assigned to review the
recitals. Her beauty and talent enraptures the heart of the lonely
doctor and a romance develops. Shortly after arriving in Rome,
Charles discovers that a manuscript containing aspects of de
Pachmann's life has been stolen from his hotel. This along with
other complications, including a near-drowning in the Tiber River,
ultimately involves the scrutiny of Mussolini's fascist police. At
her final recital, Agnieszka resists the restrictions of the
government by playing the Polish National Anthem as an encore
disguised as an anonymous Polish mazurka. However, a music critic
recognizes the piece and the lovers are forced to flee Rome with
the help of the Polish ambassador. They travel to Krakow, where
Charles meets Agnieszka's family. Before leaving there is concern
over Agnieszka's abdominal pain, which appears to require
gynecologic surgery. On his ship back to Canada, Charles opens and
reads a disturbing letter written by Agnieszka's mother about her
daughter's past - a suppressed memory. The truth is revealed later
on his return to Toronto. Written for a mature audience with
interests in music, history and mystery, Mourning de Pachmann
investigates the subtleties of love, guilt and forgiveness,
ambition and ego, as well as the rewards of a personal adventure of
a lonely, middle-aged man and a younger woman. In this historical
novel the reader will learn much about the career of the real-life
de Pachmann, who still mystifies musicologists and critics; life in
fascist Italy where it is illegal to sell condoms and dangerous to
deny the wishes of Il Duce, Benito Mussolini; and Europe on the
verge of another world war.
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