Wild Harmonies: A Life of Music and Wolves

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 256 pages
• Published by: Riverhead Hardcover September 7, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1594489270
• ASIN: B000S9D5N2
• Book Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 10.4 ounces

From Booklist
A renowned classical pianist, Helene Grimaud explores life with passion, stating, "I have never had the feeling of a paradise lost, but of a paradise to be found." Her islands of bliss are classical music and the sanctuary she created for wolves. Growing up in France, her talent for the piano was evident early on, and at 13 she became the youngest student at the National Conservatory of Music. A determined prodigy who shouldered responsibility for her path even when she stumbled, she shaped her musical gift in her own way. She met her first wolf in Florida, and the intense recognition seemed to be mutual. Grimaud's deep friendship with the wolf and her owner, Dennis, inspired her to establish a wolf sanctuary in upstate New York and to become a wolf advocate. As Grimaud celebrates both the transcendental power of music and the beauty, spirit, and significance of wolves, her eloquent and inspiring reflections embody her love for and total involvement in her work and nature. Pamela Crossland
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Description
A celebrated French pianist's poignant story of her journey from her early days as a student in Paris to her life as the founder of a wolf conservation center in upstate New York.

A gifted pianist from a young age, Hélène Grimaud made her first recording at the age of fifteen and won the French equivalent of a Grammy at sixteen. She is a classical music star whose concerts continue to draw sellout crowds all over Europe and North America. But it wasn't until she met her first wolf that she discovered there was something missing in her life.

Late one night in 1991, Grimaud encountered a wolf-dog hybrid in Florida and felt an immediate, instinctual connection to the animal-one that the wolf also seemed to share. Determined to do what she could to protect this threatened species, she committed her time and resources to becoming certified to found her own wolf preserve on the grounds of her home in New York State. Today, the master pianist acts as a tireless advocate for wolves, a species she believes has been unfairly demonized throughout history. In turn, the animals have given her a sense of freedom that she has never before experienced, even as an artist.

In a gorgeously rendered personal story that weaves the tale of a musical prodigy's rise to stardom with one of an animal lover learning to communicate on a level as primal as music, Hélène Grimaud touches, astonishes, and delights with her remarkable insight and passion. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Wild Harmonies: A Life of Music and Wolves (Hardcover) I like the format of the book; the way Grimaud alternates between the myth, legend and folklore of wolves with her own individualistic musical biography and how the two come together at the end when she meets her first wolf in the flesh. "I have found my equilibrium... located between the wolves, the wildest form of nature, and the most refined music between heaven and earth." I admire her desire to do things her own way; learning English by watching hundreds of subtitled movies, dropping out of formalistic conservatory training against the advice of nearly everyone in favor of self-teaching through master classes, armed with a freedom and fierce individuality that female performers as Fanny Mendelssohn and Nannerl Mozart were never allowed. One of my favorite moments in the book is when told by teachers, "Don't come back to class unless you can play the required program," Grimaud disappears from school to teach herself Chopin's Second Piano Concerto, only to be chastised for doing so. "Oh, so I had taken the statement... (too) literally?" The book is excellently translated by Ellen Hinley, so it is a pleasure to read and savor the words as well as the story. Comment | Permalink | (Report this)