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 if you don’t know of her, you should.  Sublime musical intelligence, warm personality, beautiful, huge sound with the added twist of being a skilled and natural improvisationist (is that a word?). This is improvisation in the classical sense, the ability to take a theme and spontaneously turn it into a polished performance. These were considered common skills for performers 100 (maybe 150) years ago but they have since disappeared from the scene. Properly done it is more than a parlor trick. There should be  all the structure of the sonata allegro form, including a development of the theme, often with variations as well as a recapitulation and coda. The idea

Went to Caramoor to hear my friend Gabriela Montero. Originally scheduled for the Spanish Courtyard, it was moved to the Venetian theater because of rain probability. She played wonderfully but it was not a good setting for a recital and the piano made me think of everything I hate about the Steinway sound. Loud, clangy with absolutely no color difference between pp and ff. On the other hand, it was beautifully tuned and, giving perhaps credit where none is due, may have been set up for orchestral playing. But still, why does anybody think that kind of tone is desirable?