For the past 6 months I’ve been helping build a new high end piano retail store in New York City. Allegro Pianos Manhattan is an expansion of Allegro Pianos of Stamford CT. We represent Bosendorfer, Bluthner, Steingraeber, Estonia and Kawai. I split my time between maintaining all the pianos and working with customers. It’s been […]
Bluthner
2 basic concepts of fine piano tone
Let’s digress for a moment and speak in gross generalizations about concepts of piano tone. I have come to the conclusion, specifically reinforced by Udo Steingraeber, that there are fundamentally 2 approaches to piano tone; high rim tension and low rim tension. (don’t bust my chops on theoretical details, remember this is gross generalization). Low […]
Frankfurt Music Show 2010
The Frankfurt Messe this year had a separate salon for piano makers, as well as the usual displays of accordion makers, brass and winds and combo gear. Overall the piano makers said business was up.
The Frederick Collection and the world’s great piano builders
Click here for a great Slate article, make sure you read to the end. For those of you in a hurry, here is the last paragraph which could have come from my own brain: To be sure, Steinways are tremendous instruments and have earned their glory. But should any one brand be that dominant? […]
Factory visits
To recap my philosophy, I do not see the worlds true high end makers as competitors. With the idea of “tonal diversity” firmly in mind, I think these makers support each other in trying to reach prospects who might otherwise have, from pure marketing exposure, a narrow idea of what represents true quality in the […]
Bluthner 3
And the 3rd unique feature, in my opinion, is the 4th unison string in the treble. This string is raised above the level of the other 3, so the hammer does not strike it. It’s purpose is to vibrate sympathetically, contributing to the unique Bluthner tone. It even has it’s own little damper.