If you’ve been exposed to marketing in the piano industry you realize that just about any construction trait can be justified and explained, even if it seems in direct opposition to other makers. For example, the proponents of the new Phoenix bridge system say that it eliminates the need for down bearing in a piano. However in traditional design down bearing is, next to tuning pin torque, a fundamental requirement. More important, frankly, than 88 keys!

Quality is not necessarily the most important trait of a piano. Calling a piano high quality may mean next to nothing especially if the characteristic of a particular maker falls short in a more critical area: consistency.

To be consistent means that you can build something the same way more than once, and in the piano world this is important since most pianos are lifetime purchases. In fact with most pianos, their true tonal nature is not necessarily obvious when they are brand new. Consistency means that the high quality a particular company’s marketing material refers to is more than just random chance. If you can do something consistently, it means you really understand what you are doing and mean for it to turn out that way. Consistency implies quality, because it is intentional.

There is a prominent piano maker who is known for “quality”, but they are also known for being maddeningly inconsistent. In fact they have turned this, remarkably, into an attribute, stressing that no two of their pianos are alike and one should try a number of their pianos to find one that one likes. It is true that when one is of these brand of pianos is properly made they can be, to those that like their individual sound, wonderful instruments. However the degree of variability goes from sublime to unplayable. In fact, it is a certain badge of honor among accomplished piano technicians that they can make these actions “work”, regardless of the regulation specification. These technicians take great pride in the fact that they use regulation specifications as “guidelines” since regulating an action perfectly to specs does not guarantee that that action will play; that is how great the manufacturing variability is.

Now it is true that pianos by their very nature vary to some degree. They are very complex items made out of materials that are not known for great consistency, such as wood and felt. And yet, there are makers at most price points that turn out remarkably consistent products. There may be one brand that appeals to an individual more than another, but they all play fine, tune and regulate fine, and sound comfortably within the norms of that particular maker.

Consistency does not necessarily mean that you will like the end result. Many makers from Asia are known for remarkable consistency. However you may not be a fan of the sound, even while honoring their consistency of construction. However, I believe that this consistency is a higher measure of quality. This trumps the quality of the one example of a makers output that is beautiful, while 4 are unplayable and 5 are varying degrees of so-so.

After all, it’s your money and maybe you are not the best positioned to judge the ultimate quality of a piano. Shouldn’t you be able to count on something from a maker than just hollow marketing claims and the luck of the draw?

I was back in Berlin recently. This being my 3rd trip, I’m beginning to feel like I know my way around a little. However this time it was freezing and dangerous since clearly nobody shovels snow in Berlin and every single walking surface was covered by an inch thick, uneven, rock hard layer of ice. The streets, however, were fine.

Berlin has any number of places to recommend to visitors, but I’m recommending the Food floor  on the 6th level of the KaDeWe department store.

The store is a huge upscale department store, similar to Bloomingdales in the US, and more upscale than Macys. However the 6th floor is a food lovers delight. Similar to Harrods in London, you can find any kind of food here, from raw meats and fish of any type, to canned, bottled and boxed items in a bewildering array.

However the revelation to me was the variety of food “stations” (for lack of a better word) where one could grab a quick bite. These ranged from a variety of wine and champagne bars, to a number of small individual cooking stations, some with tables and some with only counters, where one could eat whatever was the specialty of that station. I chose fish and had them take a beautiful hunk of salmon from the display and plop it directly on the grill.

Other stations included shell fish (oysters, clams etc), sushi, steaks and chops, wurst and sausages (including some, the ingredients of which I chose not to consider)  and just about everything in between.

While I was having my dinner, a group of casual (youngish) business people sat down and ordered 10 Lobster tails and had a huge plate of oysters sent over from the shell fish station nearby. Clearly the business climate is improving somewhere.

My salmon, salad and rice enjoyed, I moseyed over to a small hidden bar serving genuine  Budwiser beer from the Czech Republic.This is a wonderful true European Pils with no connection to the yellow water called Budwiser in this country.

The real treat was the bartender who looked like he came out of a George Groz cartoon.  Pouring a beer took almost 5 minutes, with a glass rinse, an initial pour then a pause while the head settled. Another pour followed by another head settle, followed yet again. The result was a perfect foam head that clearly was an important part of the beer experience that he served up.

There is craftsmanship everywhere, you just have to look for it.

World Trade Center Tribute

Here is a really great short essay on why serious music is important.

This video is short. Make sure you listen to the end.

www.newportmusic.org

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Newport Venue

This year it takes place from July 10-26 and if you can possibly go, you should.

Here is a list of the pianists performing this year:

Augustin Anievas, Edward Auer, Junghwa Moon Auer, John Bayless, Bernadene Blaha, Gergely Boganyi, Jean-Phillipe Collard, Jens Elvekjaer, Michael Endres, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Eduardus Halim, Alain Jacquon, Jakov Kakoulov, Pedja Muzijevic, Daniel del Pino, Igor Tkachenko and Grigorios Zamparas.

This does not include singers, cellists etc etc of real reknown.

The secret of most great experiences, whether its music, a festival or a piano, is the application of a distinct personality and the Newport Festival has the stamp of Mark Malkovich Senior all over it. For 30 some years Mark has sculpted a deliciously unique festival based on his deep love of music, his encyclopedic knowledge of the repertoire and his sense of humor in creating programs and assembling performers. The result is a combination of sublime standard repertoire and humorous, provoking and sometimes just downright perplexing choices of little known pieces by well known, and sometimes little known composers. While many of these pieces are not in the mainstream for a reason, many of them are delightful and often thrilling.

Frequently one of the reasons pieces are not well known is that they are fiendishly difficult.  One of the hallmarks of being in residence at Newport is that you (must) play a vast number of pieces, many of which are real bears that you will most likely not play again. But what comes out is a festival full of surprises, gems, delights and groaningly witty and sophisticated puns.

But make no mistake, Mark knows his stuff and the list of US debuts of major artists at Newport is legendary.

The great Sergio Fiorentino

During my time at Yamaha, I collaborated with Mark to present a series of recitals at Alice Tully Hall in New York. The goal was to show the Yamaha CFIIIS concert piano in mainstream professional settings and Mark had the connections with the artists. We presented the great Sergio Fiorentino twice and Dubravka Tomsic literally brought the house down. If you don’t know those names, you’re in for a treat. Maestro Fiorentino sadly died about 10 years ago but Tomsic is thriving in her native Ljubljana.

The festival is held inside the various Newport mansions and, I promise you, is a real treat.

Me and Dr. Mark P. Malkovich

To an orchestral music lover, this is a multi-course meal at a fabulous restaurant. One comes away content  on a number of levels, marveling at the display of mastery that one has just witnessed. And, ultimately, the only thing one takes away is a memory.

The Webern was the biggest surprise. A huge romantic tone poem from the master of modernist  miniatures. I will use this piece, in addition to Schoenberg’s Gurralieder and Transfigured Night as proof that one needs to have complete mastery of the current language before one can explore new worlds with any credibility.

The Ruckert Lieder is to me kind of an odd combination of songs but also is Mahler at his time-suspending best (and of reasonable length…see my earlier post about Mahler).

However, if you are thinking about getting  into classical music, is there any better vehicle than the 4th (last) movement of the Brahms first symphony? This is the response of the first composing genius after Beethoven, dealing with legacy of his predecessor.

Even if you don’t know anything about classical music, this music will move you. There is something so perfect about the chord progressions and that wonderful choral harmony. It just works. It’s kind of like water, you just know that you need it and that it is good for you.

It’s hard to not get choked up when an aging conductor, clearly moving slowly on his second curtain call, instead of turning to face the thunderous applause and standing ovation, pauses, with his back to the audience, beaming at the orchestra and making a subtle, sort of stiff gesture with his right hand. Only when he is certain that the message of  “it wasn’t just me, we did this as a team” is transmitted, does he turn and face his appreciative audience.

The purpose of music is to communicate emotion, in a non-verbal and therefore a more pure way. Mahler said one of his Ruckert Lieder should convey “the way one feels in the presence of a beloved being of whom one is completely sure without a single word needing to be spoken”.  Maybe that’s too sappy for some, but if the concept of music expressing this detailed an emotion is new to you…LISTEN UP!! You have no idea what you are missing!

Well, let’s pretend that a skilled dealer delivered his “epiphany”, namely that there are wonderful high end pianos in the world and none of them are built in Queens!  Now lets say the problem is that he has (remember, we’re pretending) a very incorrect notion of what these instruments cost and is beating up every dealer trying to buy one of these instruments ( a very specific model) below cost. Seems he’s a big shot financier and, well, you probably know the type.

I’m very very happy that he had his epiphany. But here is the rub.

An epiphany without conversion is, well, pointless.

This guy had the awakening; the realization that this small, arcane, weird and often impenetrable world of high end pianos is really a cultural wonderland, full of people creating wonderful objects with dedication, unbelievable skill and a deep appreciation of history. The people in this world get immense satisfaction from being part of  that world. We love the instruments and  we love what musicians do with them. We are truly part of something bigger than ourselves and are lucky enough to scratch out a living doing it. Nobody goes into this business for the money. We’ve all been bitten by the bug and we’re now hopeless, irredeemable addicts.

He got that taste, that realization that there is something beyond the marketing hype. But….he wasn’t converted. He saw the world but doesn’t really believe in it. Hopefully he’ll buy something and will spend his time telling his pals about the great deal he got and what a great negotiator he is. He won’t tell them about the realization, his new respect and wonder for a world he didn’t know existed.The experience probably won’t drive him to take piano lessons himself.

It is very much like ones experience with serious (classical) music. Maybe your epiphany was hearing Claire de lune, or the Pachelbel Canon or the 4th movement of Beethovens 9th Symphony.  Maybe it was Andrea Bocelli. You heard something quite unlike anything you had heard before and for some reason, it worked for you, it captured your ear and imagination and made you feel something that no other music had made you feel.

Now, what did you do? Did you begin to seek out other symphonies by Beethoven, did you begin to explore the world of Debussy or tune in classical radio to learn more? Did you begin to seek out singers and happen to stumble on Jessye Norman, or Ravel’s Asie, or Strauss’s Four Last Songs? And, when you heard Jessye for the first time or even that silly “Italian singer” in Rosenkavalier, did the hair on the back of your neck stand up and did you find yourself thanking something or somebody for introducing you to this new, wonderful world?

Or did you just buy the CD and listen to the same piece over and over, feeling smug that you can now say you like classical music without the danger or work of learning whether or not it held anything more for you.

This guy makes me think of somebody who could get Andrea Bocelli tickets for $40 or Jessye Norman tickets for $60. Fine, he’ll go to hear Jessye if you’ll give him the tickets for the same price as Bocelli. Otherwise, he’ll go see Bocelli. They’re both singers, right? And the Bocelli show will have big screen television projection and a snack bar and lights and T shirts and it’s just Jessye and a pianist. Why should I pay more money for fewer people involved?

The person who has the epiphany without the conversion has no idea how close he or she came to a life changing experience.

Remember, I’m just pretending. Any resemblence to somebody in, oh never mind.

The real question is, what is it? I would argue that it is not a Bosendorfer anymore since so many of the parts were not original. This flies in the face of common rebuilder philosphy, at least here in the US. This approach comes from the experience with American Steinway which says that a good rebuilder can actually make a piano BETTER than the original.

The issue is that assumptions made about one make of piano do not translate directly to another and most of the tweaks that people would take for granted in a Steinway actually deteriorates a Bosendorfer. If you own one, you can do with it what you want and there are some great high end technicians out there. You could done one of those wild bridge modifications, change hammers, Stanwoodize the action, add brass weights to the soundboard…LOTS OF STUFF, but I don’t know that you would end up with a better piano. Different, yes.

I’ve been trying to think of a proper analogy to keep from sounding like some corporate stooge and maybe here is one:

A major overhaul of a Bosendorfer by a high end tech, using some of the modifications above, is sort of like a sommelier choosing to take 3 expensive bottles of wine and blending them himself just before serving. Yes, the end result might be better than any of the 3 individual bottles, but many people want to see what the vinyard bottled, what the vinyard was looking for. They’re looking for the experience the maker intended, not what somebody else, skilled though they might be, thinks is right, just because he (or she) can.

These modification tools are great for helping older instruments, or ones that clearly have dificiences in important areas. This kind of modification is a relative recent development in this business. But doing so has ramifications.