Mix a nouveau-riche former saloon keeper anxious to be recognized as a Patron of the Arts, an internationally-famed maestro more temperamental than any Milanese Diva, a harried manager perpetually on the verge of nervous collapse, -- then add in a stolen concert Piano, and watch the fun!
And it's not just any Piano: it was given to Franz Lister when, at the age of seven, he impressed the King of Austria with his musical virtuosity. Franz Lister will not stoop to ransoming his cherished instrument --he insist on "taking" it back, as any man worthy of the name would "take back" a deeply-loved woman abducted by ruffians.
Using some highly unorthodox "recruiting methods", Paladin assembles a quartet of tavern-crawlers to accompany him, along with Herr Lister and his entourage, as they search for Lister's stolen instrument. (And there's one lovely member of that entourage whose feelings towards Lister's precious piano can hardly be described as "afffectionate"!)
The piano is located, the ransom presented, but once again Lister's impetuousness puts everything --and everyone in peril!
The great Victor Borge, whose mastery of the classical piano never compromised his gift for making audiences laugh, said "There is more logic in humour than in anything else. Because, you see, humour is truth." This episode salutes his wisdom.
And it's not just any Piano: it was given to Franz Lister when, at the age of seven, he impressed the King of Austria with his musical virtuosity. Franz Lister will not stoop to ransoming his cherished instrument --he insist on "taking" it back, as any man worthy of the name would "take back" a deeply-loved woman abducted by ruffians.
Using some highly unorthodox "recruiting methods", Paladin assembles a quartet of tavern-crawlers to accompany him, along with Herr Lister and his entourage, as they search for Lister's stolen instrument. (And there's one lovely member of that entourage whose feelings towards Lister's precious piano can hardly be described as "afffectionate"!)
The piano is located, the ransom presented, but once again Lister's impetuousness puts everything --and everyone in peril!
The great Victor Borge, whose mastery of the classical piano never compromised his gift for making audiences laugh, said "There is more logic in humour than in anything else. Because, you see, humour is truth." This episode salutes his wisdom.
