Clara Bishop had a love-hate relationship with her piano teacher, Madame. From a young age, Clara was viewed as a prodigy and Madame became the mentor who could tap into that talent. When Clara was 19, a tragedy changed the course of her career and her life. Performing at a festival in Poland, a tribute to the composer, Aleksander Starza, a fire broke out and Clara was trapped in the basement, screaming for rescue. She could hear Madame in the corridor, but her teacher never came to help her. Clara sustained severe burns to her hands and arms that ended her career.
Clara has never forgiven Madame. She’s now 30 and living in Austin, Texas, working as a bartender at The Andromeda, run by Julian, who has become a good friend. After a mail snafu, she’s had her mail sent to the bar. The invitation she receives is on cardstock as thick as fabric. She’s invited to the final concert bring given by Madame, her full name Zofia Mikorska, at her home in Chicago. Despite her misgivings, Clara books the trip and goes.
There’s no concert. Madame died and what Clara and the others have gathered to hear is the reading of their teacher’s will. An orphan with no surviving relatives, Madame leaves her valuable possessions, including a Guarneri violin, a Steinway piano, and her collection of musical manuscripts, to several of her pupils.
To Clara, she leaves an antique metronome, and not just any metronome, but an ornate one with a storied, some might say, criminal history. Starza, a contemporary of other musical greats like Chopin and Beethoven, was killed in his studio, hit over the head head with a metronome, possibly the one that is now in Clara’s possession. The murderer? One of Starza’s pupils, a talented young woman named Constantia Pleyel.
In Madame’s note to her beneficiaries, she stated: “Each of you should understand why you were selected for the bequest you received.” Clara knows that she’s a distant cousin of Starza. At the concert in Poland, she planned to play perhaps his most revered piece – “The Fire Concerto” – which, became prophetic. What, however, was Madame’s plan for Clara and this metronome? Figuring that out will require Clara to travel back to Poland to look into the lives of Starza, Constantia, and many others.
Along for this journey is Anthony – Tony – Park, who was one of Clara’s rivals. Finding out more about Starza and the metronome could give his career the boost it needs. Clara was once attracted to Tony, but now she doesn’t trust him. When he offers to finance their trip to Poland, she reluctantly signs on.
Clara discovers she has something in common with Constantia who badly injured her hand when she fell from a horse. Trapped in an unhappy marriage with an opera singer, Constantia’s hopes revolved around her lessons with Starza. Their relationship, however, was complicated. Was Starza the tyrant many thought he was? Or were those bouts of anger caused by syphilis? Trying to discover the truth involves approaching Constantia’s descendants who are determined to protect her reputation. What Clara finds, however, will make sure that Constantia is finally given the respect she deserves.
Sarah Landenwich, herself a classically trained pianist, has written a novel that reads like nonfiction. Even though Starza is a fictional character, she based him on real people like Chopin, who was polish, Robert Schumann, thought to have died from complications of late-stage syphilis, and Brahms, who was insecure about his talent and often threw drafts into the fire, as Starza was known to do. According to Sarah, Constantia “Is an homage to real female musicians of the nineteenth century,” who have been overlooked. They include: Constantia Gadkowsk, a Polish soprano, Tekla Badarzewska-Baranowska who, despite her talent was never considered a serious composer, and Marie Moke Pleyel, to whom Chopin dedicated his op. 9 Nocturnes.
The Fire Concerto
Sarah Landenwich
Top photo: Bigstock
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