Bigelow was only the fourth woman to be shortlisted for a best director Oscar, (the others were Lina Wertmuller, for Seven Beauties in 1976, Jane Campion for The Piano in 1993 and Sofia Coppola for Lost In Translation in 2003).
But in 1962, during a seven-week tour of the Soviet Union, an ingenious piano tuner gave me the chance to experience what having more than one piano at one's disposal might be like.