pianos

[truepenny]

My piano is going to be delivered tomorrow.

I cannot believe how geeked I am about this. I spent much of the weekend, when I should have been working on Chapter 14 (it hates me, and I'm beginning to suspect it may be Undead, as well), surfing the web looking at pictures of old grand pianos.¹ I learned rather a lot about Steinways, Bösendorfers², and Bechsteins, as well as Blüthners.

I discovered that I love old grand pianos. Not in the Gotta catch 'em all! Pokemon sense, but in terms of hopelessly admiring their beauty and being stunned with wonder that they exist and have survived and are still being played. I really did spend hours simply looking at pictures and reading descriptions and wanting to rescue these magnificent dowagers from the people who put CD players in them.

So here is my invitation to all y'all. If you love, or have loved, a grand piano, tell me about it. As much detail as you want. And if you can link to pictures, that's definitely a bonus.

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1. Apparently "antique" is a term applied only to pianos built before about 1850, when the current soundboard shape was developed. (The history and development of the piano grossly oversimplified for the sake of not having a footnote longer than the main post.)

2. One thing I learned is that Bösendorfers do not please my sense of visual aesthetics. Their sound quality may be fantastic, but my GOD those puppies* are ugly.

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*Speaking of puppies, wicked_wish is trying to help one find a home. And he's not ugly at all, poor lamb.

Comments

[treetelling.livejournal.com]

My baby grand is an ancient Stroud I inherited from my mother. It was never top of the line, and it's lived a lot since. The ends of several keys are broken off where my brother hit it with a mop once, a few of the hammers are brand new because we had to replace them after one of the cats threw up in the piano (this has led to many affronted cats since, because now I toss them off the piano when I see them on top of it, while they try to remind me that they own the whole house) and our tuner has been making you-may-have-to-replace-this-someday-soon noises when he comes. I can't imagine ever wanting another one, though. It has the easiest action of any piano I have ever used, like playing a cloud. The rounded, well-worn sides of the keys don't hurt my fingers at all if I slip while doing a glissando. And I know I'm biased, but I'd compare the tone with many more expensive models - soft and sweet, with gorgeous blending on chords.
Best of luck with your piano - and no cat mistakes!