Action swapping

[Mark Schecter]

Hi, Alan.

Krystian Zimerman is the spelling, I believe. He carries his own Hamburg 
D and a second action in its own plywood rolling case. I tuned for him 
at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA. After I finished tuning, he and his 
assistant took over. They removed the action I had tuned with and 
replaced it with the other action. On this he proceeded to do some final 
regulation and voicing, during the last half hour before the doors were 
opened.

Then he dressed and came out, and played a spectacular concert. He has 
phenomenal control over the balance of inner voices. He told the 
audience a story about the new "security" controls he had to pass 
through on his way into the USA. They held up his piano for three or 
four days (I forget). When he was finally allowed to retrieve it, they 
had opened it, pulled the action, broken some hammer shanks and perhaps 
other parts (he didn't give any details) and basically made a mess of 
it. He said it took him days to repair it, and it still wasn't 
completely back to where he wanted it. He was obviously pissed, and no 
wonder.

As to his having been a tech before performer, I don't know for sure, 
but I highly doubt that. He is such an accomplished pianist, that he 
could only have been a pianist first who trained as a tech in some 
fashion. The concert notes mentioned something about his having an 
association with Steinway in Hamburg, but gave no detail. I think there 
was a suggestion that he was developing special "secret" parts or 
techniques. All I know is that he didn't seem to want me hanging around 
to see what he and his assistant were up to when they were installing 
the performance action.

Someone told me that he carries the two actions so he can have a choice 
of voicings. That may be true, but my impression was that the action I 
used for tuning was too far out of regulation to be usable, and that it 
just allowed for tuning, while keeping the "secrets" of the real action.

I can't really imagine having to be regulating my piano just minutes 
before giving a full solo recital. Too far into the wrong part of the 
brain. But he made it work for him. His playing is superb, if perhaps a 
bit cerebral. I would say that his playing bespoke fanatical attention 
to detail, which, if also applied to his technical work on the piano, 
would make him a likely suspect for a great technician as well, but I 
think he may be his only customer, so we may never know.

-Mark Schecter

reggaepass at aol.com wrote:
> Hi List,
> 
>  Two people have gone out of their way in as many days to tell me about 
> pianist Krystian (sp?) Zimmerman (sp?) installing his own action into an 
> S&S "D" just hours prior to performing and then voicing it (supposedly) 
> "to the room" based on feedback from a program on his laptop. Anybody 
> know more details? Does he always get the same piano, or one of two or 
> three that are similar enough that the same action can de adapted to 
> each of them? What's special about his action?  What program is he running?
> 
> Inquiring minds want to know,
> 
> Alan Eder R.P.T.
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