The Pianist: the Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw by Wladyslaw Szpilman

The Pianist: the Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw by Wladyslaw Szpilman

The 75th Anniversary Edition of the memoir that inspired Roman Polanski's Oscar-winning film, with a new introduction by Szpilman's son, Andrzej

On September 23, 1939, Wladyslaw Szpilman played Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor live on the radio as shells exploded outside--so loudly that he couldn't hear his piano. It was the last live music broadcast from Warsaw: That day, a German bomb hit the station, and Polish Radio went off the air. Though he lost his entire family, Szpilman survived in hiding. In the end, his life was saved by a German officer who heard him play the same Chopin nocturne on a piano found among the rubble.

Written in the immediate aftermath of the war, The Pianist conveys a shattering immediacy found in few books about that time and stands as a stunning testament to human endurance and healing through compassion.

This edition includes a foreword by Andrzej Szpilman, extracts from the diary of Wilm Hosenfeld, and an epilogue by Wolf Biermann.

Szpilman, Wladyslaw: - Wladyslaw Szpilman was born in 1911. He studied the piano at the Warsaw Conservatory and at the Academy of Arts in Berlin. From 1945 to 1963, he was Director of Music at Polish Radio, and he also pursued a career as a concert pianist and composer for many years. He died in Warsaw in 2000. The film version of his memoir, The Pianist, was the winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780312263768
ISBN 10	0312263767
Title	The Pianist: the Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw
Author	Wladyslaw Szpilman
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Pan Macmillan
Year published	2000-09-02
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.