The Siena Piano – that was a World War II booby trap, a beehive,
an incubator and a butcher’s refrigerator
Looking through some old treasured LPs the other
day, I came across two volumes released by one of the early budget
labels Saga: Music in Miniature Vols 1 (Saga 5361) and
2 (Saga 5393). Music in Miniature was the name of a programme
on the old BBC (radio) Home Service. The programme enjoyed a remarkable
popularity and it ran for many years surprisingly so in view of
its nature for it consisted of half an hour of uninterrupted instrumental
and chamber music and songs.
Volume 2 included Anatole Kitain playing two
Bach pieces: Sheep May Safely Graze (arr. Egon Petri) and
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (arr. Myra Hess). Kitain used
the so-called Siena Piano for these recordings.
I was astonished to read this hilarious account
of the history of this incredible instrument:-
"This unique instrument is an upright of
enormous size (the wood is supposedly five inches thick) with
a multitude of bizarre legends surrounding it. Whilst it is unlikely
that the wood came from the pillars of Solomon’s Temple as reputed,
its intriguing history (too long and involved to report here)
makes one wonder! It is thought to have been made in Italy before
the turn of the 19th century and every inch of its
surface is resplendently carved with cherubs and lions and multifarious
rococo designs. It has been in the possession of kings and princes
and was reputedly played by Liszt. Somehow or other it found its
way to North Africa where it accompanied Rommel’s army during
the war. Left behind in their retreat, it was found thickly encased
in desert-hardened plaster and clogged with sand. Unrecognisable
as a piano, it was nearly blown up as a suspected booby-trap.
Afterwards made serviceable again, but still with its immovable
plaster case, it accompanied a group of entertainers with the
Allied armies through Sicily and Italy. Before eventually ending
up on the Tel Aviv city rubbish dump, it saw service as a beehive,
an incubator and a butcher’s refrigerator. The plaster case was
finally removed with 24 gallons of acetone by Avner Carmi who
spent three years restoring it and finally taking it to America
where he wrote a book about it. A unique instrument with a unique
history - and a unique sound"
Ian Lace
see also THE
IMMORTAL PIANO A recollection by Willem Verster
The book by Avner Carmi appears to
be out of print in English.
Bookfinder.com
found 11 second-hand copies
A German impression is available from
Amazon.de
April 2008
Bernard H. Merems writes:
I thought you might like to know that
the item on your fine website about
the Siena Piano, penned by Ian Lace,
is almost entirely spurious, the perpetuation
of a legend about a piano actually created
by Avner Carmi and self-perpetuated
in a book under his name published some
50 years ago. Extensive reserch shows
that virtually none of the so-called
facts in the matter check out.
Yours for accuracy,
Bernard H. Merems
June 2014
I disagree with the opinion of Bernard H. Merems regarding the Siena Pianoforte. I have had email and phone conversations with Mr. Merems regarding this and suddenly he turned against the piano for no reason explained to me. Mr. Lace’s commentary is a little far-fetched, if one bothers to read Carmi’s book, so I can understand the 2008 comment. The Siena Pianoforte is currently privately owned and in Tel-Aviv. I think the world needs to persuade the owner to have the piano soundboard wood carbon dated to settle that controversy. I have requested persons of interest to allow the piano to be evaluated, but no response has been forth coming.
Jim Westerhouse
Student of Avner Carmi