Many I think have had concomitant experiences. As a teenager I remember walking through the practice room halls filled with Steinways at Oberlin, and one, with a Baldwin. The Baldwin room was always, not just when the practice rooms were not crowded; always, empty.
In Cincinnati, there used to be more Baldwins. Invariably, the students would fill the Steinway practice rooms first. You would have a Baldwin rebuild that turned out beautifully, and instead, the students would waltz in the Steinway practice room with hammers flat as pancakes, keys knocking against each other side to side, with unisons going out of tune due to the fact that half a dozen were spliced last week. It was mind boggling.
One thing Steinway did consistently; demand that every grand piano meet the same standard of quality as concert instruments. And why not? Is not the baby grand a far superior instrument in a different size room? People learn about concert instruments from smaller pianos.
How, then, do we describe the Concert Hall Piano Concerto American Steinway sound? Just "power?" Over the years I've heard words like "Bite," "Sizzle," "Punch," "Grit," "Guts," "Bang," "Clang," etc. Why do we associate these things with an incapacity for mature musical expression?
A few night ago I went to see Adrian Belew in concert (Electric Guitarist). He's playing with a couple of kids young enough to be his grandchildren now. The same raging distortion accompanies his sound to this very day. You may prefer the Clash, that sort of thing. I am not defending the King Crimson/Yes progressive rock idea. I think the best known group he played for was the Talking Heads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQIHHmt50II&feature=related
Popular music in general has succeeded with these kinds of tricks. Some in traditional musical circles whine about it, but why did you hear the name and see a photo of Henry Steinway at the last Grammy Awards ceremony? When you start lacquering, some faculty panic. The local Steinway dealer told me more pianos sold in 1927 ('28, '29?) than any other year. Somehow piano needs to recover some of the pop appeal of those tin pan alley days. Then Steinway couldn't make enough. In fact, Willie Smith recounted in "Music on My Mind" how piano players actually used to put tin in between the hammers and the strings to achieve a desired effect. Most of you know player piano mechanisms frequently features a part for this. The great thing is, for a Romantic Piano Concerto American Steinway Concert, I don't need earplugs either...
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Porritt, David
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 1:22 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: [CAUT] Steinway cult
Let's look at why there seems to be a cult following around Steinway. Artists who play every other instrument except piano, play their own instrument. The trumpet player, the violinist, the cellist all take their instruments with them even if (as in the cast of the cellist) they have to purchase an airline ticket for the instrument. They always play their instrument with which they are very familiar. Pianists, have to play whatever is there. This does bring on lots of angst. When they get to the venue they are comforted by seeing something familiar. If it is a Steinway that starts their being at ease. It might be a great Steinway, or it might be a dreadful one, but at least it is familiar.
We had an artist come here last summer that when he found out that our Steinway was being rebuilt and that he would have to play a Yamaha he was quite unhappy. When the date finally arrived for his performance he changed to a smaller recital hall here that has a Steinway B rather than the Yamaha CFIIIS. Familiarity won out over the superior piano.
After a few decades of this, Steinway becomes the comfort food for a very apprehensive performer. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that this has developed. If there had been more companies promoting their concert instruments there might be more diversity but Steinway has won the familiarity war. It will take any other manufacturer a lot of effort to put a dent in their dominance in that market. They are the market leader in this area. They are not the market leader in total number of units sold, but in the concert/recital venues, they own it. That does not necessarily make them the best piano, they just won the concert venue playoffs.
dave
_________________________
David M. Porritt, RPT
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
6101 Bishop
Dallas, TX 75275
dporritt at smu.edu
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