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This "rough and ready" recording of a concert grand came out of the blue as a Covidtide surprise. It was recorded soon after its first voicing. I thought you might enjoy listening to it and guessing what the piano is.
Ian Russell Schiedmayer & Soehne, 1925 Model 14, 140cm Ibach, 1905 F-IV, 235cm
With all the left hand before right hand execution, some considerable tempo variations (not inappropriate, perhaps) one might guess that the pianist is not one of the younger generation precisionists. A couple of obvious wrong notes corrected during the recording speak to the "rough and ready" recording. Some very nice voicing, though and some expressive moments.
I might be able to eliminate some, saying what it I think it is not. I'll go out on a limb and guess; Blüthner.
Very nice. Does not sound like a very new piano, but beautiful colour and wonderful bass (though not very preicise). Maybe, it is not as bright and clear as Bechstein and does not have the colour and crispness of Faziolo and Steingraeber. It could either be a used and warmer voiced "D" or, my bet, a Bluethner concert grand. Very curious about the result!
I would say a Blüthner, and maybe even a rather old one (pre-WW2), but at any rate a German one (not Steinway, and not Steingraeber). But I could be (many hundreds of) miles (and decades) off.
Roland FP-30, Roland E-28 Synthogy Ivory II Studio Grands, Production Voices Estate Grand, Garritan CFX Lite, Pianoteq 7.0 (Blüthner, Bechstein DG, Grotrian, Steinway D, K2)
I am the worst person in the world when it comes to guessing piano brands by sound, but whatever this is I LOVE IT AND I WISH IT WERE MY PIANO. Because of that, I can tell it's not a Steinway. It sounds European, but heavier than, say, Estonia or Pretof. Probably a Bosie. I don't think Fazioli. If it is Fazioli, then my "I wish it were my piano" holds true during a blind test. If it is a Steinway, then it must be German because I have never, ever heard a NY Steinway that I liked. It would be nice to be wrong, though...
On another note (pun totally intended), are a bunch of unisons slightly out of tune, or am I just having a bad ear day?
I do music stuffs Yep, I have a YouTube channel! Charles Walter 1500 in semi-polish ebony [2017] Kawai 602-M Console in Oak [1991; previously owned]
@OE1FEU Wonderful. Horowitz was my first choice. Then listening to Buniatishvili I thought her bass was more comparable to the piano in question.
You mention NY D. Had Horowitz brought his own (notorious) piano with him to Vienna on a European tour or would Steinway have had one available?
Coming back to the quiz all the clues are in the comments. All will be revealed later.
Horowitz brought his own piano to Europe during all of his tours between 1985 and 1987 and Franz Mohr serviced the piano for all of these concerts - with one notable exception: Horowitz played an unannounced private recital in Vienna in 1987 and Franz Mohr had already gone back to New York. The piano was then serviced by the chief technician of the local Steinway dealer called Gerstbauer.
Yes, it sounds like a Förster... I think Förster made maybe 3 of these Quattrochords.
Certainly AF built two Quattrochords, the second in 1943. Here are some sound recordings I found behind the scenes at Piano Salon Christophori, if necessary click on the pause button to start:
"The tone of August Förster grands is unique, with a remarkable bass: dark, deep, yet clear.... the treble is a less complex sound that emphasizes clarity", Piano Buyer.
I did notice a similarity with the Quattrochord but, as I mentioned to OE1FEU, the clues are there in the comments. To be a little less cryptic, not the ones about tone.
Ian Russell Schiedmayer & Soehne, 1925 Model 14, 140cm Ibach, 1905 F-IV, 235cm
I did notice a similarity with the Quattrochord but, as I mentioned to OE1FEU, the clues are there in the comments. To be a little less cryptic, not the ones about tone.
I came up with the Fazioli 308 because of size.
To me the deep basses have a different inharmonicity spectrum than a typical 275cm concert grand. It's definitely not a Bechstein D 282 and it's not an Imperial either. That doesn't leave too many other grands left that are considerably longer. Stuart&Sons, Borgato and Paulello are the only ones that I know.
It sounds European, but heavier than, say, Estonia or Pretof. Probably a Bosie. I don't think Fazioli. If it is Fazioli, then my "I wish it were my piano" holds true during a blind test. If it is a Steinway, then it must be German because I have never, ever heard a NY Steinway that I liked. It would be nice to be wrong, though...
