https://youtu.be/eXqw5iE2sIk Piano Teachers and performing pianists in the Bay area were tapped to evaluate the tone/touch dimension of Steinway, Boston and Essex pianos so I was pleased to be on the invite list--contacted by Justin Levitt, Manager at Steinway's showroom in Walnut Creek, CA. It was a reflection of good will spread far and wide… Continue reading My Piano Assessment adventure at Walnut Creek’s Steinway Piano Gallery
Tag: Steinway piano
An afternoon with piano student, Judy and her Steinway ‘A,’ in nature’s paradise
How many piano teachers are invited to a student's lakeside home nestled in verdant beauty?! It was a splendid display of trees, including pines, cedars, spruce, casuarina, maples, birches, poplar, locusis, and sycamores, as well as native oaks. River otters, deer, and exotic birds, such as egrets and herons are known to inhabit an awe-inspired… Continue reading An afternoon with piano student, Judy and her Steinway ‘A,’ in nature’s paradise
My afternoon at the San Francisco Symphony with Yuja Wang, Pianist
It was a shock to my nervous system to hear a LIVE concert! I had been getting so used to iPod fed classics and You tube streamed performances that I forgot what I was missing. From my seat at terrace right, almost hanging over the stage, I heard amazing instrumental clarity and orchestral color, though… Continue reading My afternoon at the San Francisco Symphony with Yuja Wang, Pianist
The Psychology of buying and selling a piano
I was hanging off the Gravitron at gym, as I shared inquiries about my FOR SALE Steinway with a personal trainer. Anonymously wrapped, my adventures seemed woven with psychological threads. In the first place, BANNER ads with MODEL AND PRICE were easy to digest, even without a DIGEST to memorialize all the details surrounding my… Continue reading The Psychology of buying and selling a piano
My singing Steinway studio upright is a parting sorrow
It hasn't left Berkeley yet, but I'm sure my second singing nightingale will in time find the right owner. I've down-sized since my recent move--going from 3,000 sq feet, to 1500 to 700. Might as well live in a Pod. Most readers and You Tubers watched me demonstrate for my students on the upright, as… Continue reading My singing Steinway studio upright is a parting sorrow
The premier piano “haus” on W. 58th!
The high point of my trip to NYC was inhabiting a paradise of pianos on "piano row." That's what they call "West 58th" between Broadway and 7th Avenue. In the imposing shadow of Carnegie Hall that envelops the neighborhood, Klavierhaus manages to retain its unique character amidst a glut of piano restorers such as Beethovens… Continue reading The premier piano “haus” on W. 58th!
Piano Mania! and the Bezerkeley arrival of Steinway 1098!
Pianomania! is an apt title for a documentary about Stefan Knupfer, Steinway piano technician, who gallops upstairs and downstairs in a premier "Vienna concert haus," trying to meet the needs of performing pianists, recording artists, et al. They demand the kind of perfection in voicing, tuning, aesthetics that's often beyond human capability. One classic example… Continue reading Piano Mania! and the Bezerkeley arrival of Steinway 1098!
A NY Times article on landfills of discarded pianos is thought-provoking
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/arts/music/for-more-pianos-last-note-is-thud-in-the-dump.html?pagewanted=2#59;ref=arts&_r=4&adxnnlx=1343746997-So2LFy3bwlbB06xhRqMQ%2FQ I read reams of comments attached to this article, and most who'd posted were emotionally devastated by a graphic slide show of grand piano dismemberment, pulverization and landfill-dumping. It amounted to an unmarked grave, or even worse, since the dust pile would be untraceable over years. A principle at Faust-Harrison, a high-profile piano dealer… Continue reading A NY Times article on landfills of discarded pianos is thought-provoking
A Steinway grand piano, vintage, 1917, breathes life into a Schubert Impromptu, Op. 90 (Video)
I decided to record the Schubert Impromptu in Eb, Op. 90 on my Steinway grand to compare timbre and tone with the Haddorff console, and my verdict is that the Steinway surpassed Haddy in clarity and range of dynamics. It's a rebuilt piano--work done by Dale Erwin of Erwin's Pianos, Modesto, and its projection is… Continue reading A Steinway grand piano, vintage, 1917, breathes life into a Schubert Impromptu, Op. 90 (Video)
A different view of Bach and the piano (Prelude in C) Video
On a whim, I decided to keep my Mac at a distance from the Steinway, walk over to the piano without being too conspicuous, and offhandedly play the Bach Prelude in C from the Well-Tempered Clavier. Since I hadn't yet mastered the editing side of iMovie, I figured a majestic lead into the playing would… Continue reading A different view of Bach and the piano (Prelude in C) Video
Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten) 