Historic Pianos,...was Chopin's piano

[Anne Acker]

I have been watching this thread with considerable interest since this is my "thing", but since I'm in the throes of the Savannah Music Festival here, I haven't time for a proper reply now.

Stay tuned.   I have a series of articles on this topic coming out in the Journal starting in May.

For now,  for those of you in the U.S., take a look at these organizations, and join, if you are serious:

www.sehks.org
www.mwhs.org
www.amis.org

Keep your minds and ears open.    

Also, an 1883 Chickering is NOT a modern piano yet, though yes, it's closer than an earlier French, Viennese, or English piano from the mid 19th century.   The more you learn, the more you can hear the differences.   

We have all been subject to the marketing of the piano industry all these years.  Planned obsolescence and the superiority of American Marketing, such as Bill Gates mastered.    Microsoft has an inferior product, yet they became the standard due to good marketing.

Vive le difference.

Best,  Anne








Dave Doremus <algiers_piano at bellsouth.net>  [ Save Address ]
Reply-to:		Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To:		Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject:		Re: Chopin's piano
Date:		Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:15:25 -0500

On 3/19/07, Farrell quoth:
I would love to have the opportunity to give a serious listen to three levels of early pianos - all original (which I have heard), properly (authentically) restored, and accurate new reproduction. That would indeed be quite an educational opportunity.

Terry, these opportunities are available and interesting, if you have a chance to attend say the Boston Early Music Festival or visit the Smithsonian, the Met, the Shrine to Music or some of the European museums. My perspective is somewhat unusual because as well as modern piano training I spent several years with a harpsichord and fortepiano builder and restorer in DC and Northern Virginia. The early instruments are a revelation to those not blindly stuck in modern piano mode. They may not be to your taste but what they can reveal about the music is fascinating. I personally think exposure to early instruments, the history of keyboard instruments and their literature, would be a valuable addition to any piano technical curriculum. When I started out, non equal temperaments were purely in the early music world, when I tuned Valotti on modern pianos, and told people how easy early temperaments are to tune aurally, I felt like a real rebel. Now, of course, thats not unusual at all th
anks to great teachers like Ed Foote. There should be more interaction between the modern and early instrument camps. You'd be, I think, as impressed by the quality of work going on in fortepiano workshops as in the shops of the best rebuilders and designers of modern pianos. But, yes, the claim to reveal the piano sound as Chopin heard it is a bit over the top......
-- 
----Dave


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Dave Doremus, RPT
New Orleans