THE PIANO TUNER

Daniel Mason combines Britain’s attempt at pacification of the Shan states in 1886 with one man’s mystical journey. The British War Office sends piano tuner Edgar Drake to Burma to tune Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll’s rare Erard grand piano. Drake’s long trip from England to Burma is fraught with strange meetings, bandits, and tribal uprisings. Deeply affected by the florid, tropical landscape and a beautiful woman, Drake is lulled into Carroll’s visionary dream of peace through music and art. Mason’s delicate prose ensnares. Richard Matthews delivers an astonishing performance. His characters are as meticulously crafted as Burmese-carved ivory miniatures. Matthews handles Asian pronunciations without hesitation in accents absolutely convincing. The dialogue soars. Mason’s plot fascinates and surprises, while Matthews’s performance is a tour de force. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB / MAR 03]