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There was one more video I wanted to add but it wont be ready for a few more days.
I really enjoyed this process and I enjoyed many of the interesting and insightful posts on the original thread. I will try to do more of these in the future.
The gorgeous Bosendorfer is a 185 ( not a VC 185 ) and was lent to us graciously by the official new Bosendorfer dealer in the DC area, Jordan Kitts Music.
The Steingraeber measures about 2" ( 7 cm ) longer than the Bosendorfer.
1961-1964: Lester or Emerson Upright 1969-1992: Westbrook Spinet 1991-2021: Schomacker Model A (1912) "Schoowie" 2021-Present: Steinway Model A (1912) "Amalia"
To Listen to my Music is to know me. To know me all you need do is listen to my music.
I didn't put in my guess, so any criticism of being hind-sighted will be well received. But I liked Piano B better when I listened in the other thread, and I was suspecting that being a Steingraeber. I am glad to learn that indeed Piano B is the same model that I almost bought from PianoCraft!
1969 Hamburg Steinway B, rebuilt by PianoCraft in 2017 2013 New York Steinway A Kawai MP11
Interesting. A had the really lyrical treble and a somewhat less-integrated tenor and bass. The big question was what bucket to put all that in. I said Estonia, but really didn't think it all through.
B was much more tightly-knit and 'modern'. I suppose a Bechstein might have got close to that impression, but Steingraeber was lurking in the dealership so that is where my vote went.
Perhaps a Fazioli would have come close to B's sound also. But the choice of Steingraeber meshed with what I have heard of their pianos, live (a little bit) and on video.
From the beginning I preffered piano A as I said a "singing piano" I did however make very positive comments about piano B which realised was also a piano capable of incredible possibilities.Both pianos are exquisite as I said.Heres the proof on this page
So do I win a Bosendorfer? Well a cup of coffee would be great one day when I am able to visit Piano Craft.😀 ( As I said these are just recordings so we should really hear them in real life.,..and judge again! )
I didn't dislike the Bosendorfer, quite the contrary, but I was shocked at how much more I preferred the Steingraeber. So enjoyed this little exercise. Thanks.
I have never met/tried any Bosendorfer or Steingraber, it's interesting to hear that Bosendorfer really have similar great european classical sound character, as Petrof & Estonia. Thank you for this experience.
I'm amazed with the degree to which I preferred the Steingraeber over the Bosendorfer. As in, hands down.
Same!
Aside: the last Bosendorfer I tuned was made during the Dark Era of Bad Ownership. The pinblock was fitted SO poorly to the plate that the pinblock literally shifted around during tuning. Tuning was impossible. The previous tuner never figured out the cause, because such a catastrophic design/assembly failure in a Bodensdorfer never occurred to them to look for. It got sent out of state for rebuilding. The owner had bought it used - for quite cheap - and it was long out of warranty. He was not happy to put it mildly. Rebuild turned out very well, now he's happy.
The only Steingraeber I ever tuned, was, to put it mildly, mindbogglingly well constructed and truly gorgeous sounding.
To me, the recordings actually sounded different when I could see the pianist playing. In particular, Piano A made a better impression on me when I could see it. Now, I don't think this effect is totally due to my knowledge of which piano it was. I think something else is also operational. When we see a piano, from a certain distance and in a certain room, we have some kind of expectation of what it will sound like. The brain hears the sounds from the recording and somehow also integrates it together with our expectation of what a piano sounds like in that space and at that distance, creating an actual different interpretation of the sound in our brains. When we hear sounds totally devoid of the physical context, the brain actually hears something different because the brain lacks the physical context. I wonder if anyone ever studied this.
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