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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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Music Lane It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes. |
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In Reply to: So John what is your opinion of the sound of the Stuart piano? posted by John C. - Aussie on February 5, 2010 at 16:43:26:
Sad to say, even the test 24/96 recordings we have made just do not do the live sound justice. Not at all.
I LOVE the sound. Totally LOVE it.
The thing that jumps out at me, and which jumped out at Hyperion Knight, is that without all that much effort at all, the piano just seems to take the on-ramp, so to speak, and get on the highway and deliver just bushel baskets of harmonics. The attack is fast and the sustain is in my experience unique. I have played (badly) a Falcone but have not touched or heard a Fazioli. The combination of fast attack, really present and well-defined harmonics, and lengthy sustain means that the sound is bright but never tinny, and bold--it has more than a bit of swagger to it. This is not a shrinking-violet piano.
However, the thing that jumped out at Steve Martorella is that the four pedals offer unparalleled control over the softer end of the dynamic scale, which is why he played the Goldbergs Aria. But, between the videocamera's AVC and the compression of the compression going up to YouTube, you'd hardly know that, from what I put up.
I was willing to take a trip to hear a piano I have heard of but only heard on recordings, the Schimmel, but, their relief from creditors reorganization I am told has failed and they are now in liquidation--tragic. I know that there are people who prefer the mellow, laid-back sound of the "Estonia" piano (Stalin-era clone of luxury German pianos, now under new management) but I don't think I would. A chum in NYC has a B-dorfer in her apartment going on 20 years, so I am familiar with that.
Now, if I did win the Lottery I'd still buy a good harpsichord and lessons, but, if any institution wanted a ultra-premium piano for a concert series, etc., I certainly recommend the Stuart without any hesitation.
I have taken due note of the other poster who agrees that the S&S is great for Baroque and Classical but feels the sound a bit light for Romantic and later repertoire. I can see where he is coming from. However, the piano I have experience of is the apartment grand, 2.2m or 7 feet 2.6 inches. I assume that the 9 foot 6 inch concert grand has even more oomph.
I can safely say that the Stuart & Sons piano is a vehicle that you won't see coming the other way while you are taking it out for a drive, so to speak.
How's that?
ATB,
JM
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Follow Ups
- Fistfulls of harmonics - John Marks 02/5/1019:01:12 02/5/10 (2)
- So you heard aspects of the harpsichord sound? - John C. - Aussie 19:52:06 02/5/10 (1)
- The word "plangent" was uttered by Jerry Bruck - John Marks 09:12:31 02/6/10 (0)
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