A student who completely agrees with me on this subject objected that, of course, most New York children do not have their own rooms and that, even if they did, there would probably not be room in them for a piano. She suggested that while a child is playing the piano everyone else should go out for coffee.
Well....that beats sitting around listening, I suppose. But the real issue is not simply privacy, but fluidity of access.
I think it's important to remember that it's only since 1914 that pianos have been household furniture, associated with living rooms, certainly not with privacy. It's important also to note that Chopin, famously a great pianist, did not play concerts in public, but for intimate audiences in intimate settings.
