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Category Archives: The piano world
Factory visit: August Förster
While August Förster pianos are not plentiful in the US, they have been sold here long enough to be known for their consistently high quality and dark, rich tone. This kind of consistent, identifiable tone does not come by chance, … Continue reading
Factory visits
To recap my philosophy, I do not see the worlds true high end makers as competitors. With the idea of “tonal diversity” firmly in mind, I think these makers support each other in trying to reach prospects who might otherwise … Continue reading
Travels – Florida
Fall means catching up on some travel and I headed south to the Orlando area and Naples. I flew into and out of Orlando, driving down to Naples and back. This is a bit of a drive but I had … Continue reading
What is good for the goose is…
My recent travels have taken me to a well known retailer in the East and a well known university in, well, the US. Both are staffed by serious piano people and to me, both represent a problem this industry is … Continue reading
PTG 2009
PTG of course is the Piano Technicians Guild and this years convention was held in Grand Rapids Michigan. Grand Rapids is a pain to get to but is a lovely little city with a fantastic convention facility. For the past … Continue reading
What I Like About Piano Competitions
The Van Cliburn Competition just ended with barely a ripple on the surface of public awareness. To a certain extent this is to be expected since the world of serious piano playing is relatively small and arcane. However in my … Continue reading
Gabriela Montero in Vienna
The word from Vienna is that my pal Gabriela Montero (yes, she played at the inauguration) just had a big success in Vienna, playing Brahms 1 on a Bosendorfer 290 with the Vienna Philharmonic. Gabby is the real deal and … Continue reading
Haitink comments on Shostakovich 4th Sympnony
The Shostakovich 4th is one of my most favorite pieces perhaps due to the way I first heard it; performed by the Boston Symphony, me a naive college student walking in completely unprepared. I walked out a different person. This … Continue reading
Posted in Ramblings, The piano world
Tagged classical music, conductors, Shostakovich
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Musical Nourishment – Chicago
My idea of cultural mecca is the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. It’s has a spectacular old world lobby and is just steps away from the Art Institute and Symphony Hall. I took advantage of it’s proximity to the latter … Continue reading
Posted in Performance, Ramblings, The piano world
Tagged Brahms, Chicago, classical music, Mahler, Webern
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I’m not trying to reach the converted.
I’m trying to reach the others, the ones who haven’t discovered their personal connection with classical (serious) music. Is it possible that my deliberate choice of the previous words might offend some people? Hopefully, because my point is; how can … Continue reading