The story of the white piano

Back in February when my 55th birthday was coming closer my generous husband Per asked me if I had some special wish, a new car perhaps? Or a nice party? I told him I had been thinking about a piano for our new house Alegria…

In my childhood the piano was the most valuable item in our house in Rakvere. My parents were fond of music; my mother had an exceptionally beautiful voice (she dreamed of becoming an opera singer) while my father often sat at the piano playing his favorite melodies or accompanying my mother. Lot of them where energetic pieces as marches inspired of the communist era but also soulful melodies about our small country with its picturesque landscape. I was always fascinated when the cover was taken away to tune the piano – the inside looked exciting with all soft hammers that hit the strings.

Also at my school in Rakvere, located in a beautiful white building of thirties, the grand piano was standing at the place of honor in the beautiful sunny auditorium. The piano was always carefully covered, I remember my fascination the times the piano was uncovered and the big lid was open. Music had an important place at my school, we had several choirs led by our enthusiastic music teachers. Arvo Pärt, a world famous composer of today, was a pupil at my school and has started his musical life growing up in my hometown Rakvere.

Also Per’s childhood home has a piano and the clear sounds of it can be heard in the whole big house when his sister is playing. Also he, as well as me, took piano lessons as young and we both regret that we did not put more effort in it. Therefore we were delighted when Clara and Elsa started to take piano lessons, and even more now when Elsa has taken her piano playing to a higher level, training every week with a brilliant Russian piano teacher.

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I cannot tell exactly when the piano seed was sown in my head. I was reading about the craft of piano making in Estonia and accidentally checked the Estonia Piano Factory homepage. Estonia has a long tradition of skillful piano makers who also worked for famous factories in Russia and specially in St Petersburg, the town of culture. Many of them opened their own manufacturing and, when Estonia became independent 1917, started up their own production in the home county. However during the soviet era all the factories were closed down, except for Estonia Piano Factory that became a very prestigious factory exporting to many countries. The Estonia Piano Factory was purchased by the employees when Estonia regained its independence in 1991. A lot of effort was put to redesign the instruments collaborating with leading piano experts in Europe to create grand pianos of the highest level. I learned also that the factory now was owned and managed by Laul family including Mr. Venno Laul, the famous choir leader and important person in the music life of Estonia.

I really liked the idea of having something extraordinary from my little motherland! Something that daily reminds me about my background, something to be proud over. So I dropped a question through the homepage regarding retailers of Estonia piano in Spain.

I got a surprisingly nice answer from Mr Venno Laul himself with an invitation to visit the factory and get a private demonstration of the mini grand piano that would be our choice for the house in Spain. I was excited – it felt like an adventure…

On March 27th at 13:56 I parked my car at the backyard of the piano factory, following the detailed instructions from Mr Laul, turned left to Kungla street and walked until I found the entrance. I pushed a button saying ”director” and soon a friendly voice gave me further instructions where to find the office. Finally Venno Laul, an elderly tall and stylish man, welcomed me and introduced his son, pianist Indrek Laul, who guided me through this exciting building with its many production premises.

A new world opened up for me… It was thrilling to see how much knowledge, technology and fine craftsmanship is needed to produce one grand piano, regardless if it is modeled for a living room or a concert hall. The Estonia piano holds many different quality parts; for example the Renner action, manufactured in Stuttgart, means that the instrument is on the same level as a Steinway, the most known piano in the world.

One of the most important final stages is the tuning. Only a small amount of people qualify for this work, that needs absolute pitch hearing. A piano can be set to more soft or more brilliant tones and Estonia piano is known for its warm romantic sound.

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In the demo room Indrek Laul demonstrated the piano of model 168, the smallest one in the production of Estonia piano factory that would suit our living room. I was overwhelmed when he started to play The Dying Swan of Saint Saëns – one of the ballet solos Elsa has done on the stage…

I felt me treated like a queen during my visit and the whole atmosphere in the factory made me impressed so when the tour and demo was over the decision was not hard to make: we would have a white Estonia mini grand piano for Alegria, our Spanish home. Luckily I had an OK from Per with me…

Our nice and friendly email contact with Mr Venno who was a real gentleman lasted through the whole production process. I was always welcome to the factory when I visited Tallinn, to follow the progress. In May I visited the factory together with my brother in law Valdo to get instructions for the installation and in June, a short time before the piano was going on its long journey through Europe I visited the factory once more together with Elsa and her friend Louisa from California.

We came by ferry from Sweden through Finland and hurried to the factory. Mr Venno met us in the silent factory – it was the day before Midsummer eve, a state holiday, that meant half working day. There were only the director and one craftsman left who wanted to work instead of going to party. Mr Venno seemed to have no hurry – he showed us our white piano with great enthusiasm and told about all the parts inside. We were enchanted and amused. This visit was an amazing experience that stays in our hearts!

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Only some days after our visit the white piano, being tuned, left Estonia with DSV transport through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Polen, Germany, France to the final destination in Spain. At the day the piano arrived to Alicante there was a confusion as we expected to get a home delivery but we sorted it out with a helpful DSV representative with beautifully sounding name, Mari-Liis Lilleleht. Finally our workleader managed to organize an express transportation from DSV terminal in Alicante to our house in Albir.

The early morning of July 10th felt like the Christmas eve; we were waiting for the piano that should arrive just after 8 am with a crane truck normally used to take up the building materials to our yard, situated on the mountain slope. It was a great relief to finally spot the big truck coming uphill – we were unsure whether we had any insurance for this part of transport.

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We were well prepared – Valdo and our building team with their muscles tense and me with my camera and iphone ready to capture every step of this important happening. The heavy crane lifted the box to the terrace as easily as it would be a soil bag.

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After a short struggle with mounting of legs the 250 kg piano could be rolled to its final destination, the living room at villa Alegria.

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After having written most of this text I get a phone call from my sister in Estonia. It was announced that Venno Laul passed away on October 14th, one month after his 80th anniversary.

I feel sadness; this very special man was still so vital, so passionate about his job, so kind and so polite and attentive. On the other hand I am happy that I had possibility to learn to know him – our interesting conversations will always be in my memory. I hope some of the soft sounds from the white piano in villa Alegria will touch him high above us…

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“Dear Mrs Linda,

What a pleasure to know that the piano is on its place now, in one piece! All the steps you have planned lead to the day when you will be able to enjoy the sounds of your piano. Right now only seeing the photo gives a great feeling, the piano is really angel-like with its elegance and suits so well in your new house.

I wish you many beautiful musical moments!

Warm congratulations to You, Venno Laul”

Moscow in my heart

I just came to my hotel room in Moscow, wet after being surprised by a shower during my evening walk in a nearby park, next to the monastery of Novodevichi. This park has become one of my favorite spots here in Moscow. It feels good to be here, I feel a different kind of peace in my soul, something nostalgic.

I was three years old when my mother took me to Moscow to visit her aunt Rauha. I remember her holding my hand when we walked to the railway station couple of kilometers from our house in Rakvere, Estonia. In her other hand she carried a small suitcase. The road to the railway station seemed endlessly long – I was so excited to come to Moscow where I was promised to be taken to the zoo to see the elephants. I have no memories from Moscow though, I guess everything was just too big for the tiny little girl I was. Mother told me later that when we at last were standing in front of the elephants I was too tired to even look at them…

Somehow in my mixed-up little head Moscow was just behind the hill on the way to the railway station, not far from our house. When I was a bit older, I went there to see the view I remembered. I got really disappointed when I saw just the houses of our neighborhood there…

Park Novodevichi Prudy is one of the pearls of Moscow, far from the crowded city center around the Kreml and Red square. Here you hear only Russian. A group of girls with plastic champagne glasses in their hands trying to walk normally on ridiculously high heels. A babushka with a handbag scaring a big black crow away from a mallard with a tiny duckling hiding under the mother. Babushka is waiving with her bag and mumbling “you are not taking the last one from her”. Her husband says “there is no point Masha, it’s hopeless”. She tries to find something to throw on the crow. I walk away with sadness in my heart.

People love their parks here in Moscow, in weekends these get crowded by families with children, dogs running around and people sitting in the grass having picnic. Someone is playing guitar. The row of benches in the shadow of the trees welcomes you to slow down for a while. Gorky park is one of the most popular parks in Moscow. It is known for its beautiful main entrance and the colorful flower beds where admirers gather. But even here you can find som hidden gems, where it is quiet and peaceful.

The second time I came to Moscow was in autumn 1993. It was my first business trip to Moscow where me and my controller colleague were gathering the Russian accounting ladys from Thomesto group companies for a course at Ernst & Young’s headquarters. The goal of the course was to implement a new group accounting system in our offices around Russia. However before that could be done we needed to teach our ladies to use computers….

We left Arlanda on Sunday evening and were met at the Sheremetyevo airport by the company’s driver. He was to take us to hotel Ukraine, a huge tower constructed during Stalins government. We were excited to see Moscow, driving closer to the city. The excitement grew when we realized that something abnormal was going on. The closer we came to our hotel, the messier everything looked! The streets were empty except for loads of trash, broken windows, abandoned vandalized cars and groups of men shouting loud. Our driver was worried but managed to find a way through the blocked roads and park close to the hotel so we could take us in to the lobby. We noticed lots of shields placed in rows in the lobby and lot of men in old style uniforms – probably called in to do their duty for the Russian state.

My room was on the 24th floor. From the window I could see the Moscow river floating by and on the other side of the river, opposite to the hotel, the Russian White house, the Parliament, was standing. I switched on the TV. To my surprise I saw the same view from my window as from the TV. The newscaster reported about an uprising against president Jeltsin. Some members of the old parliament (supreme soviet) barricaded themselves in the parliament building and had proclaimed the vice president Alexander Rutskoj a new president. They agitated everybody to take over the TV station Ostankino.

From my hotel room I could see the tower of Ostankino far away. I was following the news, feeling a lot of excitement. Unfortunately there was no film in my camera I brought with me, I had intended to buy a roll at the hotel. I took my laptop and made some notes – I felt I was part of a historical happening. Suddenly the TV sending stopped and the screen turned black. Far away I could see the TV tower lighting up strongly – was it fire? It got dark around the hotel and there was a total silence. I left my window open and tried to get some sleep.

I woke up to a strange sound on the streets below. I jumped up from the bed and looked down – everything was dark grey, just that rattling sound. I fell asleep again and the next time I woke up it was light. Rushing to the window I saw the parliament house totally surrounded by tanks, pointing their pipes towards the white house in the middle. Military helicopters were circulating above the parliament, sending firearms down over the building. Armored wagons were rolling over the big bridge. Jeltsin had sent his troops to hit down the uprising. I was looking down on a battle.

I finally got contact with my colleague who was apparently totally unaware about the situation. Her window pointed to the other direction and she was tired after waiting in the corridor several hours of the night for somebody to open the room door for her – the new Indian door key system didn’t always work. I explained to her that she must go up as there was war going on outside, we needed to have some breakfast and find our driver. We tried to find some place to eat in the total mess in the lobby area. Everything was closed, people were being evacuated because the hotel was within the shooting distance from the white house. The desperados inside the parliament were shooting on people, military and civil, ready to die for the soviet union that Jeltsin was taking down…

We managed to fill our empty stomachs as our kind corridor guard, a fat Russian lady, found some bread, butter and sausage for us in the small kitchen for personnel. We also found our driver in the chaos of the lobby and left the hotel back way. We joined the row of hurrying people carrying suitcases through an endless maze of corridors and kitchens with benches of stainless steel while the uniformed hotel personnel was standing in every corner to show us the way out. When we finally came out on the backyard the sounds of war, familiar from the movies, hit us. The moment we were passing through the high gate to the main road where the armored wagons still were rolling towards the parliament we heard shooting from a Kalashnikov. Everybody took hide and pressed their backs against the wall – an innate reaction. This was far too much for us, two young girls first time in Moscow… We couldn’t take it seriously, we laughed hysterically while running with our suitcases after our driver who had parked the car a kilometer away. After taking a passage under the road and coming up on the other side, away from the war, I remember sunshine and birdsong. Even if our employers wanted us to fly back to Stockholm immediately, we checked in to another hotel and joined our accounting ladies who were waiting for us at the Ernst & Young offices. We thought if the rest of the millions of people are staying, why should we leave!

147 people of Moscow died during these two autumn days of 1993. Boris Jeltsin stayed on his post until just hours before the new millennium when he announced about his early resignation – his health was very bad after years of alcohol and heart problems.

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Moscow State Academy of Choreography – also named Bolshoi Ballet Academy – is the reason for my xx visit (I have lost the counting order) this time. My daughter Elsa is completing her second year here as an international ballet trainee. She has been living at the dormitory located on the third floor of the academy building. This is the last month of her stay here at the academy and she feels a bit sad to leave the school and her friends from all over the world. The time here has been an unforgettable experience both ballet-wise and for her personal development.

As mother of Elsa, who is loved by the nice ladies of the dorm because she of her kindness and good behavior, I was invited to the small concert held at the dormitory where Elsa was going to play two songs on the piano. After some difficulties to persuade the guard at the front door I got the permit to follow Elsa to the dormitory. It is really exciting to hang around backstage at one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world! Long corridors with doors on both sides, marked with names of the pupils, 2 – 4 names at each, Russian, English, Italian, Japanese… Girls and boys in training clothes in every corner and corridor stretching, dancing and rehearsing for the concert.

The concert was opened in a traditional Russian way, the headmaster of the dormitory holding a small speech for the pupils of the 3rd grade soon leaving the school to find a job – not easy for a new professional dancer… The concert was meant for them but they also took part of the acting. The students from different countries showed a variety of mainly funny small acts. The public applauded, enjoyed and laughed – so did I! I caught some small pieces of the show. The princes of various countrys are trying to wake up the sleeping beauty:

Moscow of today is a huge but still pleasant city where you easily can move yourself from one part to another by the metro. The metro is both effective and the stations, especially the old ones, are beautifully decorated. It goes deep under the city and when crowded, you literally search for the light in the end of the tunnel…

Tomorrow I will leave Moscow for this time, which is the best time to be here – June! People of Moscow are enjoying themselves, their faces are happier and their steps are lighter. The weather is a bit changing but the sun is always there, sometimes just hiding behind the clouds….

Inspiration from West

Already three weeks have passed since the last post that got a somewhat sudden end as I collapsed of tiredness. Thank you who gave me some really positive reactions on this post – I will be writing more about my childhood and background.

Meanwhile we have been travelling to the beautiful “city of tolerance and divercity” San Fransisco with plenty of good restaurants and sourdough bred AND Las Vegas – a crazy place where you always find something new and inspiring. This vacation trip was planned and booked a long time ago with good friends. Even if our building is a priority right now I am happy I did this trip as I really enjoyed the time and came back with new energy and inspiration. In Las Vegas most things are exaggerated in one or another way – evertything is huge: hotels, streets, fountains, food portions, galleries, casinos, toilets, shows, even people – and the inspiration comes more from the euphoric feeling when walking around and admiring insane decorations than from actual ideas that could be used in a home. On the contrary, I realise how important it is to keep the base of our home simple, accent can be added with furniture, lights, textiles, paintings and other exchangable items instead.

The worst jet lag seems to be over and my brain starts working normally again. I am thinking about different solutions – currently for the bathrooms – in the house. The tiling work has already started so now all bathroom fittings need to be ordered so that electricity for lamps, switches, towel dryers etc can be installed at right places. We would not want to cause delays due to us not beeing here. Of course we got some photo updates from our builders during the trip but it was really exciting to see the progress with own eyes. The sunny roof terrace in terracotta colours, matching the roofs in our view, is ready and I am really pleased with the outcome. I’m sure many would have kept the grey neutral terrace (that the previous owner did) but for me it looked really boring. The pool is cleaned and is going to be tested for possible leakage before we start to rebuild it.

Also in the heart of the house, the livingroom/kitchen area it looks much different now. As soon as the tiling work is finished I will post some photos!

Maybe you wonder how it is going with my Spanish? Not very well, unfortunately. There are far too much visions, ideas and choices in my head now and no space left for new words… But I try to understand what people say on the streets and always choose a Spanish radio channel when driving the car. And I’m happy when I recognise words I would not have understood a month ago.

Now I’m going to bed and hopefully fall asleep – if not I will grab a book or an interior design magazine and my eyes will close in a minute! Buenos noches.