The frustrated Pianist

[Paul E. Dempsey]

I heard Johnny Carson read this story on the air (The Tonight Show) in the
late 60's, which is about 30 years ago.
This story has been kicking around a LONG time. You're right though,Don, it
is supposed to be a true story


>I don't think this is a recent story, but I believe it is a true one. I
>read this account when I was in music school some 20 (gasp!) years ago.
>
>Don Mannino
>
>----------
>From:   Warren Fisher[SMTP:fish@communique.net]
>Sent:   Sunday, June 29, 1997 2:08 PM
>To:     pianotech@ptg.org
>Cc:     ptg-l@ptg.org
>Subject:        The frustrated Pianist
>
>Not quite technical, but germaine anyway!
>
>Warren
>
>
>A Humid Recital Stirs Bangkok
>
>                     Kenneth Langbell, The English Language Bangkok Post
>
>     THE RECITAL, last evening in the chamber music room of the Erawan
>Hotel by US Pianist Myron Kropp, the first
>appearance of Mr. Kropp in Bangkok, can only be described by this
>reviewer and those who witnessed Mr. Kropp's
>performance asone of the most interesting experiences in a very long
>time. A hush fell over the room as Mr. Kropp appeared
>from the right of the stage, attired in black formal evening-wear with a
>small white poppy in his lapel. With sparse, sandy hair,
>a sallow complexion and a deceptively frail looking frame, the man who
>has repopularized Johann Sebastian Bach approached
>the Baldwin Concert Grand, bowed to the audience and placed himself upon
>the stool.
>     It might be appropriate to insert at this juncture that many
>pianists, including Mr. Kropp, prefer a bench, maintaining that
>on a screw-type stool they sometimes findthemselves turning sideways
>during a particularly expressive strain. There was a
>slight delay, in fact, as Mr Kropp left the stage briefly, apparently in
>search of a bench, but returned when informed that there
>was none.
>     I HAVE mentioned on several other occasions, the Baldwin Concert
>Grand, while basically a fine instrument, needs
>constant attention, particularly in a climate such as Bangkok. This is
>even more true when the instrument is as old as theone
>provided in the chamber music room of the Erawan Hotel. In this humidity
>the felts which separate the white keys from the
>black tend to swell, causing an occasional key to stick,which apparently
>was the case last evening with the D in the second
>octave. During the "raging storm" section of the D-Minor Toccataand
>Fugue, Mr. Kropp must be complimented for putting up
>withthe awkward D. However, by the time the "storm" was past andhe had
>gotten into the Prelude and Fugue in D Major, in
>whichthe second octave D plays a major role, Mr. Kropp's patience was
>wearing thin.
>     Some who attended the performance later questioned whether the
>awkward key justified some of the language which
>was heard coming from the stage during softer passages of the fugue.
>However, one member of the audience, who had sent his
>childrenout of the room by the midway point of the fugue, had a
>validpoint when he commented over the music and
>extemporaneous remarks of Mr. Kropp that the workman who had greased the
>stool might have done better to use some of
>the grease on the second octave D. Indeed, Mr. Kropp's stool had more
>than enough grease and during one passage in which
>the music and lyrics were both particularly violent, Mr. Kropp was
>turned completely around. Whereas before his remarks
>had been aimed largely at the piano and were therefore somewhat muted,
>to his surprise and that of those in the chamber
>music room he found himself addressing himself directly to the audience.
>     BUT SUCH THINGS do happen, and the person who began to laugh
>deserves to be severely reprimanded for this
>undignified behavior. Unfortunately, laughter is contagious, and by
>thetime it had subsided and the audience had regained
>itscomposure Mr. Kropp appeared somewhat shaken. Nevertheless, he
>swiveled himself back into position facing the piano
>and,leaving the D Major Fugue unfinished, commenced on the Fantasia and
>Fugue in G Minor.
>     Why the concert grand piano's G key in the third octave chose that
>particular time to begin sticking I hesitate to guess.
>However, it is certainly safe to say that Mr. Kropp himself did nothing
>to help matters when he began using hisfeet to kick the
>lower portion of the piano instead of operating the pedals as is
>generally done. Possibly it was this jarring or the un-Bach-like
>hammering to which the sticking keyboard was being subjected. Something
>caused the right front leg of the piano to buckle
>slightly inward, leaving the entire instrument listing at approximately
>a 35-degree angle from that which is normal. A gasp went
>upfrom the audience, for if the piano had actually fallen several of Mr.
>Kropp's toes if not both his feet, would surely have been
>broken.
>     It was with a sigh of relief therefore, that the audience saw Mr.
>Kropp slowly rise from his stool and leave the stage. A
>few men in the back of the room began clapping and when Mr.Kropp
>reappeared a moment later it seemed he was
>responding to the ovation. Apparently, however, he had left to get a
>red-handled fire ax which was hung back stage in case of
>fire, for that was what was in his hand.
>     MY FIRST REACTION at seeing Mr. Kropp begin to chop at the left leg
>of the grand piano was that he was
>attempting to make it tilt at the same angle as the right leg and there
>by correct the list. However, when the weakened legs
>finally collapsed altogether with a great crash and Mr. Kropp continued
>to chop, it became obvious to all that he had no
>intention of going onwith the concert. The ushers, who had heard the
>snapping of piano wires and splintering of sounding board
>from the dining room, came rushing in and, with the help of the hotel
>manager, two Indian watchmen and a passing police
>corporal, finally succeeded in disarming Mr. Kropp and dragging him off
>the stage.
>--
>Home of the Humor List
>Warren D. Fisher
>fish@communique.net
>Registered Piano Technician
>Piano Technicians Guild
>New Orleans Chapter 701

Paul E. Dempsey
Piano Tuner/Technician
Marshall University
Huntington, WV
dempsey@ramlink.net