Baghdad Barcarolle [signed]

Born into Baghdad's Armenian community in 1927, Beatrice Ohanessian took up music as a youngster, studied in London and New York, and went on to become pianist for the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. As an informal musical ambassador for Iraq, she mingled with dignitaries and Arab princes as well as her peers in the musical world. In recognition of one of her compositions, she received a Steinway piano from Saddam Hussein in 1981. Holly Windle retells the fascinating story of Beatrice's childhood and her glamorous (and sometimes dangerous) career as a concert pianist in the Middle East.