Bill wrote: << Horowitz's piano was so light-hammered and brassy that only he could make music with it. Given this set-up, these pianos (two in the basement and one chez lui, in his final years) were probably the only ones he could play. >> Some additional info: The let-off was as close to the strings as you could get and the dampers lifted just as the jack tails reached the let-off buttons. It was a brittle sounding piano for this reason. Springs were fairly light and the drop was set as close to the strings as possible without blocking. When Steinway "restored" the "Horowitz piano", they simply threw away all the hammers and whippens and installed a new action. When the piano went on tour, I again had ample time to pull the action and examine it,(at Vanderbilt). It gave absolutely no indication of what it was like when Horowitz was using it! Ed Foote RPT www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/ www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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