Over the weekend I went to a concert by the San Francisco Symphony. Jean-Philippe Collard was the piano soloist in the Poulenc concerto. The piano placement was a first for me. The piano had been placed in the center of the orchestra with the tail up against the conductor's podium and the keyboard away from the audience so that when the pianist was seated he was facing the conductor and the audience. The top of the piano had been removed. In terms of coordination between pianist and conductor this arrangement seems to make a lot more sense than the conventional arrangement. In this hall, from my usual seat in the first balcony, the piano sound was dramatically different than it is with the usual placement of piano center left at front of stage, pianist in profile, and lid up. The piano sounded much more part of the ensemble rather than like a separate voice detached from the orchestra. Also, the balance of the piano sound was altered. The midrange and treble were more pronounced with the bass being less dominant. To my ears concert pianos often have an overdominant bass end. That was not the case in this concert. The pianist could still get a powerful bass sound when he wanted, and he occasionally did, but for 'normal' playing the piano sound had a better balance for my taste. Also, for better or worse, you could not see the pianists hands, so your attention was not diverted by watching him play, and you could concentrate on listening to him play. I also thought it was refreshing to see both conductor and pianist using a score (and turning their own pages) rather than working from memory. Phil F Phillip Ford Piano Service & Restoration 1777 Yosemite Ave - 130 San Francisco, CA 94124
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