OK, I will admit......just as in the song by Irving Berlin, I love a piano! I am alway interested in reading about (and listening to) the evolution of my beloved instrument over the centuries. In thinking about the instruments that Beethoven used, as we work on our studio "Beethoven Project", I listened and read again about the straight-strung instrument(s) built for Daniel Barenboim in 2015 by Chris Maene, an instrument builder in Belgium (with some help from Steinway). I thought you might also enjoy learning a bit about this.......by my ears, the sound quality is much more transparent and the individual color across registers is more distinguishable. Unlike the modern cross-strung grands (which Steinway patented in 1859), straight-stringing offers huge opportunities in experimenting with color. Barenboim had played a restored piano in Italy in 2011 owned by Franz Liszt and was blown away by the differences. Straight strung instruments were common in the 19th century; these were developed in the 1820-30's by Broadwood in London, Erard in France, and Hoxa in Vienna. Our modern grand with cross-stringing has the ability to produce a much bigger, but "blurrier", if you will, tone, but it is fascinating to hear the difference in the piano played/owned by Barenboim. I think you might like to hear some of his playing here in this concert of Schumann! You might also enjoy these videos in a playlist I made which feature discussion by Daniel Barenboim (he uses his own piano to demonstrate, so listen carefully!
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