PIANO: The loud and soft God. "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank." Sonatas. The "Big" keyboard.

The piano, perhaps more than any other instrument, changed the way music is played. As with a lot of things I tried as a child, I’d be a better person now if I had worked harder at it. Today we’ll discuss where the piano got its name and what it has in common with God; the challenge for an American trying to buy a piano in Paris; the pressure that comes from playing the toughest music in the world, and how to overcome it; and a game that won’t fit in my house but that I would gladly play – es...