The Slate article is interesting, but the recordings are not really a fair comparison. The Steinway recordings are pure and professional, while the historic instruments seem to have been recorded "live in concert" with much less professional equipment. And... they don't sound in tune to me. We do need exactly this type of new/old comparison recording, but it needs to be a better match of recording quality. And it probably should be done with newly built reproductions, rather than the antiques themselves. My ignorance of antique instruments will be showing here, but is there something in the design of the old scales so primitive that they can't be tuned? Or is it just the frailty of the old instrument? Seems like every "historic" instrument I've ever heard needs a good tuning, even after it has had one. Greg Graham, RPT Brodheadsville, PA
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