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From: chenr@tilt.FUN (Ray Chen)
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Re: Extra Keys?
Message-ID: <232@tilt.FUN>
Date: Wed, 6-Feb-85 01:51:44 EST
Article-I.D.: tilt.232
Posted: Wed Feb  6 01:51:44 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 7-Feb-85 01:11:48 EST
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Organization: Princeton University EECS Dept
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> 3) They are a lot more common in Europe Concert Halls than in American, 
> that's understandable; they cost a fortune to import and Steinway has
> a lot of the American market. I think that the Minnesota orchestra
> uses one a lot, but I don't remember for sure. I know one of the well
> known American Orchestra Houses does.

Importing pianos is a real pain if you want to keep the piano in good
shape.  Besides the obvious things like not rattling it around,
dropping it, etc., there's also the problem of climate control.  Most
foreign-made pianos are made of wood cured in climates different from
the U.S.  When they get moved to the U.S., the "climate shock" is often
enough to make strange things happen to the wood.  Not enough to be
noticable by most people, but to a pianist who's tempermental about his
pianos, it can be painfully obvious.  I've played on a variety of grand
and concert grands, American and German Steinways, Bosendorfers,
Baldwins, Yamahas, etc., and the German Steinways, Bosendorfers, and
Yamahas usually felt less responsive in terms of the depth and range of
tone and power than the American Steinways and Baldwins (although I
hate all Baldwin grands except for their concert grand, but that's
another story).  I've no doubt that properly acclimatizing a piano
could be done but it would be very painful, slow, and costly.  In
America, I'd prefer an American Steinway or a good Baldwin concert grand.
Now, if I ever got the chance to play in Germany...

	Ray Chen
	princeton!tilt!chenr