Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Bösendorfer vs Steingraeber

I took this from another thread where I thought this cool comparison was getting buried.
The first thing I did after listening to Kana Mimaki's beautiful Liebestraum on a Bosendorfer was to immediately listen to the Pandolfi recording on a Steingraeber. How can any piano nut resist?
Here we have 2 outstanding pianists playing the same piece of music on 2 well prepared pianos.
It is of course not an ideal comparison. The Bose is 2 feet longer, the pianos are played by different people, they are recorded by different people in different spaces etc., but I think it is still very interesting to put these 2 top quality instruments with such different voices side by side.
FWIW the Steingraeber is a sold instrument belonging to one of the forum regulars.
The volume of each video differs, so, it helps to adjust the volume to be more similar.
Enjoy!

[video:youtube]PtHhAuSptpY[/video]

Keith,

The problem remains that you are a Steingraeber dealer. "PianoCraft" is all over the video and it is not a submission from a private owner.

How can you maintain that you are not pushing a particular brand? It's called marketing.

Both beautiful performances on fantastic pianos.

Thanks for posting those, Keith. I found both very illuminating and inspiring.

Marty,
This is a truly interesting comparison. This is exactly the kind of thing that people who read this forum find useful.
Please don't distract from this interesting thread.

@Minnesota Marty, you are right [with sad realization].

However, it would still be nice to be able to discuss the differences. These are both nice pianos that I think demonstrate the difference in tonal qualities based on their fundamental construction philosophies. A viennese sound--with a thin and comparatively flexible rim--does much better with loud and punchy attacks, whereas a solid rim--which is intended to keep the energy on the board--does better with a fuller forward singing tone. One rarely gets to hear these difference side-by-side so clearly...

I'd love to see recordings of the same piece on Steinway, Grotrian, and Fazioli grands. And it wouldn't bother me if dealers arranged the recordings. Not everyone has access to pianos of that quality.

I must say I prefer Pandolfi's playing.

Why does the dog not act as a large damper?

@David-G, because she is not laying on the strings; that is the capo section of the piano and the speaking length is on the opposite side of that bar. ;-)

Call it marketing or whatever: I liked the Steingraeber myself much better!
Cream- puff...

Were I a Boesendorfer deale, would immediately counter-attack with a video of my own.

Out of fairness to all parties however, won't do this with a Ritmuller.

Norbert

The dog sparked my interest. For comparison, here is some more Liszt on Bosendorfer from the Klangraum 2012 festival in Austria:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C16E9-Shts
http://klangraum.waidhofen.at/klangraum/videos/

Both grands and pianists are great (Pandolfi more virtuose) as well as the recordings. In my headphones the Steingraeber sounds sweeter than usual in this brand and the Bosy a little sour in the contralto section (with the Bb4 unison not perfect at the end...).

An immediate counter-attack? LOL...really?!?

I don't see this as marketing any more than the forum practices of defending Steinway constantly or comparing the merits of XYZ pianos are thought of as marketing. If Keith weren't a dealer, this would be okay, right? The first is a sold piano, as he mentioned, so I don't see the big deal -- the videos are interesting and of high-quality, and they only represent positive things about the two piano makers (and the pianists playing them) -- they're not an invitation to go buy from a particular dealer.

EDIT: I immensely enjoyed seeing the dog react to the music .

Both videos are lovely. Both instruments are prepared to a very high standard and played by a gifted pianist. I find it a bit difficult to really assess the true musicality of an instrument via a professional video presentation when conditions are so close to optimal.

I submit this video of a Blüthner from an amateur hobbyist. The piano is out of tune and the micing leaves much to be desired, but there is a soul that is unique and identifiable as Blüthner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06uHLY9eUvA

Imagine what a Blüthner would sound like if conditions were optimal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0l6Ev3Cwnk

Alex,

So nice to hear from you. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the first Bluthner. The Bluthner concert grand sounds exceptional in the Bach.

Keith,

My compliments on the 232, what an instrument!

I hope all is well with you and yours.

-Alex

It's not a fair comparison because the Bösendorfer is in a small domestic space, while the Steingräber is in a larger reverberant space.

So it's a comparison of two very different pianos in very different spaces, with pianists of a very different nature. What exactly are we trying to learn from this?

Other Bosendorfer videos from the Klangraum 2012-13 festivals: http://klangraum.waidhofen.at/klangraum/videos/

Me too.

Me too. But I prefer the tone of the Bösendorfer.