Readers Endorsements
JJ Hollingsworth, 5/5 stars, Mar 17 2020, Real life story of a touring classical pianist: I highly recommend this book to anyone who performs music of any genre, any instrument, or who attends concerts, or enjoys recorded music, or who likes history or non-fiction. Blood, Sweat, and Tours: Notes from the Diary of a Concert Pianist is the autobiography of concert pianist Rami Bar-Niv who was born in 1945. This book is a gripping story of survival, challenges, and overcoming obstacles and tragedies; but is also relatable, and peppered with humor.
The author lists the people he has met along the way, whether famous or not, giving a sense of authenticity and glimpses into his daily and personal life. Alongside the account of daily life are chapters of reflection and musings – both philosophical and musical. With 238 letter-size pages, photographs abound on nearly every page making the stories almost cinematic. In a charming theme, he mentions the movies he saw during his journey and the reader – no matter the nationality – will recall the era and general mood through cinema. As the title instructs us to expect, it’s a lot like reading a diary with retrospective commentary and musings on a full life, well-lived.
His parents fled Europe just before WWII broke out and immigrated to Palestine where they met, married and had two sons. Not all of Rami’s relatives were so lucky to escape the Holocaust and, as is the norm of Israeli children born during this time, Rami Bar-Niv is a child of the Holocaust. The early chapters describe the newly founded state through the eyes of a child: vivid memories of his Tel-Aviv neighborhood, the daily rhythm of life, sights, sounds, childhood friends and games, and of course music. His father was a violinist and composer and his mother was a pianist and piano teacher. He was surrounded by classical music, not only from his parents, but also in the culture. His contemporary countrymen include many of the greatest musicians the world has known like Izhtak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Schlomo Mintz, and Daniel Barenboim.
Growing up in the early days of the State of Israel has instilled in the author a remarkable grit and self-directed determination, and the necessary background to develop into and survive as a lifelong concert pianist.
Rami Bar-Niv is one of Israel’s most acclaimed and sought after pianists, he travels extensively and has become an international citizen, concertizing all over the world.
As I said before, I highly recommend this book.
Michael Wulf, 5/5 stars, Apr 1 2020, Excellent Autobiography: Once in awhile, a really different type of book comes along. This book is informative, honest, appealing, imaginative and true. This is the story of a concert pianist who loves the piano, music, family and friends. Rami Bar-Niv share with us his struggles, his joy and his rise to fame amidst many obstacles. His dertimination, talent, hard work and his amazing sense of organization and purpose give us a wonderful glimpse into his unique life which is rarely ever a dull life. Rami has a great love for people. His large personality shines with every page of this large book, enhanced with beautiful photos of his life both on and off the stage. He leaves a large legacy to us, the readers . If you like piano, music and an interesting story…this is the book for you. Enjoy!
M. Degani, 5/5 stars, March 17 2020, Fascinating Life story of a Concert Pianist: This book, although written in the form of an Autobiography, is much, MUCH more than just the personal story of a Concert Pianist. This Life Story interleaves mundane, every-day events with some totally-unexpected, out-of-the-Blue twists and turns that certainly captured my imagination. For example, Bar-Niv narration about his experiences being the one-and-only Israeli Pianist to ever perform a Gov-sponsored concert in Cairo/Egypt is a fascinating story that can fill an ‘Adventure’ book all by itself. The narration covers Travels and Performances in most parts of the world, meeting and performing with some ‘interesting’ people, risks he has taken and endured, Music in general and Piano Music in particular, Loves, and Tragedies. To top it off, it’s also a History book, mostly Israel’s History.
Alex Blakemore, 5/5 stars, Apr 14 2020 Fascinating chronicle of a musical life traveling the world: Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2020 First a disclaimer. I’m not unbiased. I’ve known the author for 20 years and study piano with him whenever his travels bring him near my part of the world. I also read a draft of the book as it neared completion as one of several reviewers. Given that disclaimer, I highly recommend his autobiography.
Rami was born in Israel after WW2, lived and studied music in New York as a young adult, and has toured the world as a concert pianist, master teacher and composer for over 50 years. Rami is an exceptional musician and a gifted teacher and author. He makes his living traveling the world venues of all sizes performing and teaching, living with the locals and making friends from all walks of life from New Zealand, Europe, the US, Israel and the Mediterranean. His lifestyle could be described in many ways as a musical version of Anthony Bourdain — immersing himself with the people and music in his constant travels, making friends, finding joy in life, sharing music with all and capturing the moments in readable stories. If there were pianos in Antarctica, Rami would be holding master classes there each year and then eating and drinking with the local people.
He was the first Israeli pianist to perform in Egypt after the peace treaty with Israel, and has made close friends in Germany despite being the grandson of Holocaust victims. Few people have the opportunity to see so much of our world in their lifetimes. You also get a glimpse into the real-world joys and hurdles facing anyone who devotes their professional life to music or the arts. Rami has a concise witty and kind writing style. Reading the book gives you some insight into life in Israel in the early years after WW II, and then expands its focus as he spends more and more time traveling.
This isn’t a book on piano technique (see his excellent book on piano fingering). But musicians will appreciate the short interludes – a page or two – concisely discussing important musical concepts. There is a wealth of hard won valuable experience distilled into brief sections on musical topics that delightfully segment the chronological narrative of the main chapters. He mentions hundreds of people by name as he describes his life story. I expect that citing events with friends throughout the world could start to become uninteresting to some people, but that approach also moves the story forward and explains the ties he has made with his exceptional life. I found the autobiography a joy to read and hope others do as well.
Nrb, 5/5 stars, May 6 2020, A Delightful Read: I have rarely enjoyed reading a book more than this one. We are constantly aware that we are in the presence of a living breathing human being – one with immense talent and accomplishments, who has over the span of a long life interacted with a vast array of famous people ranging from Leonard Bernstein to Bill Clinton to the Lubaviche Rebbe, and who has personally endured life’s greatest sorrows and earned life’s greatest joys. The innumerable color photos and the clear, concise, humorous, yet undeniably idiosyncratic writing contribute to the pleasure on nearly every page.
Robert Cunningham, 5/5 stars, Jun 6 2020: Perhaps the most remarkable figure I have come to know in the classical-music world is the celebrated Israeli pianist and composer, Rami Bar-Niv. I first knew of him as the author of an excellent and very popular book on fingering (The Art of Piano Fingering: Traditional, Advanced, and Innovative), which has been published in four languages since it first came out in 2012. Later I interacted with him online through the Piano Technique Discussion Group, which is just one of several Facebook groups where he serves as chief administrator. Then, within the last three years, I attended two of his celebrated piano camps for adult pianists and came to know him much more personally. Rami has not only has been instrumental to my development as a pianist, but also tremendously supportive of my work as a composer. Yet I knew only a few tidbits of his personal life.
So naturally I was eager to see this new autobiography, which came out in late February. Rami was born in Tel-Aviv in 1945, so he is just a few years older than me. Both of his parents had fled from Eastern Europe to Palestine before World War II, his father under especially harrowing conditions described in the opening chapter. One is acutely aware of the shadow of the Holocaust over those times.
Rami was surrounded by classical music as a child, and began piano lessons with his mother at age five. At 18 he entered Tel-Aviv’s Academy of Music, studying both piano and composition. One of the photos in the book shows him taking a bow before a visiting Leonard Bernstein after playing Prokofiev’s Second Sonata. As one peruses the lavish illustrations in this book, one gets the impression that Rami Bar-Niv’s life has intersected with most of the top musicians – and many other cultural figures – in Israel, the United States, and many other countries.
In 1966 he received a scholarship to the Mannes School of Music in New York City, flying there in September. (This part of the book definitely gave me a sense of déjà vu, since four years after that I myself flew to New York City to study at Juilliard.) At Mannes he studied piano with Nadia Reisenberg and theory with Carl Schachter (a Schenkerian analyst with whom I also would consult many years later). By the time Rami graduated in 1968, he was performing in numerous concerts – both solo and chamber music, and including live, radio, and TV appearances.
The decades that followed included endless tours of countries across the globe. In 1982 he decided to drop teaching and accompanying commitments and concentrate full time on his concert-pianist career. He began practicing ten hours a day to build his solo and concerto repertoire further, and promoted himself relentlessly. In the years that followed he did concert tours in Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. He even performed in Egypt following the peace treaty between that country and Israel. His appearances with orchestras received rave reviews. Then in the 1990s he became a pioneer in the use of the Internet to make his music known and develop further contacts.
But readers should be forewarned that this book is not all about success and acclamation. There are also moments of bitter tragedy, at least one of which brought me to tears even though I already knew the basic outline of the story.
The author basically tells his story year by year, but his narrative is leavened by a number of interludes along the way in which he muses about everything from technique, musical interpretation, and composing to matters of health and general observations about life. He even shares with us his favorite musical jokes, which thankfully are both witty and unpretentious. As the title of this autobiography indicates, Rami Bar-Niv is never one to shy away from a good pun.
I highly recommend the book to pianists and musicians everywhere, but especially to those who are curious about just what it takes to develop a successful concert career.
