[CAUT] Appropriate Piano for Small Recital Hall

[Fred Sturm]

On Mar 24, 2010, at 5:44 PM, Laurence Libin wrote:

> Plenty of European recital halls do fine with smaller grands, or at  
> least quieter ones than Ds. Tuning aside, how much has 9' preference  
> to do with inferred prestige or (pardon the pun) self- 
> aggrandizement? Maybe European audiences are more sophisticated, or  
> more appreciate intimacy? Not a safe generalization, I know, but  
> still . . . .


	Yes, and they are mostly German pianos, often from the smaller  
manufacturers, and have a considerably different character(s) from our  
9'. If that is an option, I'd jump on it myself. Similarly, if the  
question were placed in terms of coming up with the appropriate piano  
(wide open choices) for the described hall, I might have a different  
answer. It was, instead, phrased as having a D available as an option,  
with the alternative being more or less letting the D go and living  
with the C-5. And I have no hesitation in saying "Grab the D."

Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Twain