I was eager to read this book, though the German title (which translates as “To Carl Steiner, Shanghai: Letters to a Pianist of the ‘Viennese School’ in Exile”) seems rather unwieldy. The reader expects letters to a musician of the (Second) Viennese School, naming a group of famous composers like Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern as well as their pupils. The reader likewise expects the book to deal with persecution, escape, and exile, especially with the exile in a rather less-explored destination. Are these expectations met? A biographical sketch of Karl Steiner by the editor Hartmut Krones is followed by three essays or lectures presented by Steiner in Vienna in 1997 and 2000 dealing with performance practices, as well as personal and musical reminiscences of composers of the Viennese School. The main part of the book are letters—letters from the parents of Karl Steiner to their son in Shanghai from 1939 until 1942, along with some copies of family letters and a couple of letters from the siblings. There are also—and this seems rather inappropriate—letters that document Steiner's communication with late pupils of the Schoenberg circle: Steiner's piano teacher Olga Novakovič (mostly postcards before 1938— nice autographs without significant contents), Hans Erich Apostel (1953–72), Hanns Jelinek (1956–68), Eduard Steuermann (1960–63), and last but not least Hans Moldenhauer (1968–80).

The family letters were written by Ignaz and Ida Steiner, who had stayed in Vienna after the Anschluss worrying about their children Paul (exile in France), Therese (exile in Great Britain), and Karl (1912–2001), who made his way to Shanghai after having been released from the concentration camp in Dachau. The letters from Shanghai to the parents are lost, although one might wonder if copies to family members and friends could have survived. It would have been worth doing research on this! The letters therefore tell little about Karl Steiner in Shanghai but much more about the fate of the parents, who tried to get out of Austria while the noose of Nazi persecution tightened permanently: “Aryanization” of their home, relocation (Judenwohnungen), missing food, heating fuel, medical care, just to drop a few keywords. There are not many private sources that characterize the dread in detail. In addition, the letters show how intricate communication was during the Nazi regime: not only writing, concealing, and decoding, but also the way letters were sent or how people were functioning as turntables and platforms for messages.

Steiner's father died from a stroke in June 1941; his mother and siblings Paul and Therese, who were finally caught by Nazi henchmen, fell victim to the Final Solution in 1942. The letters, printed in full, are invaluable testimonies, but one would expect more historical research, comments, and secondary literature for laypersons—even if there are some notes in the biographical sketch. There certainly would have been more information about the exile in Shanghai and about people mentioned in the letters, especially persons like Olga Novakovič (1884–1946), who had been arrested a few times by the Nazis. She met Steiner's parents frequently and helped other Jewish people. Concerning the letters, there are just a few editorial comments by Karl Steiner, who emigrated to Canada in 1949. Above all it seems a pity that it is rather impossible to get an idea of Steiner himself—not only during his time in exile in Shanghai but also later on. His personality and his impact is much better characterized in a rather short obituary, “Karl Steiner, Canadian Apostle of the Second Viennese School” by Albrecht Gaub, published in the May 2003 Institute for Canadian Music (ICM) Newsletter. Furthermore, there are difficulties with the proofreading, typesetting (e.g., 19, 126, et al.), and editing. References in the index are partly wrong or missing (e.g., Richard Heindl, 100–101, 319, et al.).

The reader might not understand that there are additional letters that do not deal with the topic of the book. Last but not least, Steiner has earned merits in performance practices and in promoting the Viennese School in Canada, but his presumed (close) relationship to the Viennese School has to be questioned.