I really like my Yamaha upright piano. It's about as good a piano as I could have ever hoped to own. It is not perfect, and it has idiosyncrasies. Like all pianos. Most of my practicing and performing life I have played on Yamahas, both uprights and grands. I've never given a concert on a Steinway, but have had lessons on them. Old pianos, not so great ones. But today was a real treat, as I got to run through my Bach and Grieg program on Dr. S.'s four year old Fazioli. The piano itself is a piece of woodworking art, both inside and underneath. They are acclaimed by many as the finest in piano craftsmanship known. I can now vouch for that statement. This one was beautiful, a 7' grand, model 212 (length in cms). Here is a picture of it from the Fazioli website.
Angela Hewitt swears by hers, and she plays a lot of Bach. Today I started with 6 pieces by that composer. The piano spoke beautifully, each separate voice line heard clearly and cleanly. The bass range has a warmth to it that will work well for a lot of literature, though a more growling bass might be preferred for Beethoven, for example. The mid-range and upper range are both perfection, with a creamy sound that is hard to describe, rich and forthcoming. Loud tones resonate really well, without harshness, and softer tones can whisper and still maintain plenty of body. The six pieces by Grieg that I played all test different aspects of the piano, though being called Lyric Pieces, lyricism is at the heart of all of them.
The Shepherd Boy took me away from this world into another one. Gentleness, loneliness, the cruelty of being isolated from fellow humans, are just some of the emotions the composer was after here. From pp to ff, the piano spoke wonderfully for the entire piece. In the Peasants' March I had trouble with the fff passages. After stopping to figure out what was wrong, I realized that I was pushing the piano too hard. It was unnecessary. This piano will work for the player, making our job easier than we might think. I tried the super loud passage again, without trying to kill the piano with sound. I didn't strive to reach that fff, but I think I realized it much better than my first attempt. Allowing the sound to build up without crushing it seemed to work much better than brute force. The March of The Dwarfs was a revelation to me. This piano can do staccato better than any other piano I have ever played, both loud and soft. And now that I didn't push for more sound, but rather politely insisted instead, the loud parts worked beautifully. The singing lyrical mid-section (when the forest nymphs, fairies, pixies and whatever come back out to play after the passing of the dwarf hoard) took me into near ecstatic realms of beautiful tonal washes. I probably won't play these pieces nearly so well at the upcoming gathering of pianists here, but for a short time, I sounded amazing lol!!
It did take me some time to get used to the piano, (but I am coming from an upright) so I recommend bringing more than one piece to the group in June. If time permits I will perform the three Grieg pieces mentioned above (I played the other three on Paula's perfectly lovely Yamaha grand last month).
Robert and Yvonne also have an amazingly beautiful home, filled with art. I felt very welcome. If a bedroom becomes available, I might ask to move in
Mapman Mike
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