The secret piano
Subtitle: from Mao's labor camps to Bach's Goldberg variations
By: Zhu Xiao-Mei ; translated by Ellen Hinsey
Contributors: Hinsey, Ellen, 1960-
Publisher: AmazonCrossing
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Las Vegas, NV
Language: eng
Number of pages: 316
ISBN-13: 9781611090772
Subjects: Personal narratives; Pianists; Biography; History
Work titles: Rivière et son secret
Description: Zhu Xiao-Mei was a child prodigy on the piano, taught by her mother, and she immersed herself in the classical masters. With the onset of the Cultural Revolution in 1966, life as she knew it ended abruptly. This book tells Zhu's story through her difficult early years, longing for the comfort of playing piano, through to her emigration to France, where she was able to fully embrace her passion.
Notes: First published in 2007 by Editions Robert Laffont as La Rivière et son secret.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-314).
Table of contents: title: China. The solemn hour; title: Mother's library; title: First teacher; title: Downfall; title: From Mozart to Mao; title: This piano was acquired by exploiting the people; title: A bonfire of Bach; title: A revolutionary; title: Departures; title: Camp 4619; title: A piglet and five kittens; title: A friend arrives; title: The "Villa Medici"; title: From Mao to Mozart; title: A seagull in Hong Kong; title: The West. The land of freedom; title: A western master; title: With Oliver; title: An act of love; title: The power of emptiness; title: Dreaming of Paris; title: Starting over; title: The Goldberg variations; title: A haven; title: The tree of Mama Zheng; title: Life starts at forty; title: A wounded life; title: Music, water, and life; title: Wisdom and non-being; title: Return; title: Aria.