Fast-Moving Documentary Shows Piano as an Instrument of Change

A whirlwind historical survey of the piano, “People and Pianos” (10 p.m. KCET and KVCR), has been created by Smithsonian Productions and EurdoArts Music International GmbH. And it tells the story well, in 56 frenzied minutes.

Watch closely, or you may miss many delicious moments, and performances. Every one of these is a cameo, of course, though it may last more than a mere minute. Contributing some of these are pianists as famous and diverse as Rudolf Serkin, Art Tatum, George Gershwin, Claudio Arrau, Duke Ellington, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Daniel Barenboim. There are many others.

From the invention of the instrument by Bartoleomeo Cristofori--documented here exactly as 1700--the development of the pianoforte is followed via its players, its performance styles and its social impacts. This is music history sped up: Liszt, Chopin and Schumann rush by--Clara, too. Ravel and Debussy, Bartok and Prokofiev, New Orleans, 52nd Street and Tin Pan Alley--all pass by, quickly.

Some exquisite moments stand out. Watching Evgeny Kissin sweat over “La Campanella” is not one of them, but snippets of performances by R. Serkin, Barenboim, Lili Kraus and Thelonious Monk are, and spoken commentaries by Robert Levin, Henry Z. Steinway, Thibaudet and Billy Taylor add welcome verisimilitude to the narrative.