[pianotech] Big Foot in Concert

[Dale Erwin]

Thanks Susan
  Good report. Gorgeous music on a fine instrument.  Maybe someday it'll be common
 

Dale Erwin... RPT
 Mason & Hamlin/Steinway/U.S pianos
www.Erwinspiano.com
209-577-8397

 
  





-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Kline <skline at peak.org>
To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Mon, May 21, 2012 4:06 pm
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Big Foot in Concert


              Congratulations, Dale. A truly unforgettable transcendent    experience. 
    To see a piano you lived with for so long and worked on so hard    fulfill 
    its role so splendidly is as good as it gets. 
    
    For me, yesterday was very special as well, though with a smaller 
    footprint. Antonio Pompa-Baldi, who played here two years running,    with the 
    OSU Symphony and the piano series, happened to have an engagement in    Eugene, 
    and was invited to play in a local church series. The church has a    Steinway A, 
    serial # about 250xxx, which was rebuilt by Steve Ganz in Portland    about ten 
    years ago. It has a tone so rich one thinks of plum pudding or other    holiday 
    foods one doesn't dare eat. 
    
    Antonio liked the piano well enough that he replaced the Hummel    sonata 
    he was going to play with the Chopin Second Sonata. Second half was    Liszt, 
    including a lot of the Annees de Pelerinage -- Suisse. When I 
    checked with him before the concert, he said the piano had no    issues. 
    It needed nothing. 
    
    He's looking well, and it was such a pleasure to hear him play    again. Such 
    incredible strong musicality, complete technical mastery, and    delicacy of 
    thought and execution. 
    
    Susan Kline
    
    On 5/21/2012 12:39 PM, Dale Erwin wrote:    

        It          had pictures but it didn't get thru so maybe later
          
          
Dale Erwin... RPT
                   Mason &                            Hamlin/Steinway/U.S pianos
                          www.Erwinspiano.com
                    209-577-8397
                  
                   
                  
            
          
          
          I            admit this a bit of a sentimental journey but this is part            and parcel of our work and a part we may need more of.
                  
            
                                 Many of you may remember the 1928 D that I                  took to the rebuilders Gallery in Rochester  N.Y. 2006                  & Los Angeles,Sacramento,Anaheim later. I know                  many people enjoyed that instrument and                  for me it was a very happy outcome tonally.
                

                  
                 My Personal Favorite D to Date. Its shop                  name was "Big Foot', AS it had such a big footprint in                  the shop for soooo long. For many reasons it was                  rebuilding process scattered over about 5 years.
                     After parading it here and there to conventions it                  finally sold about 4 years ago to the Arkely center                  for the arts, a 1920 Theater restored by a local                  family in Eureka on the remote North Calif. coast. It                  was gratifying to place this beast in a place that was                  acoustically the pianos equal, a really great space.                  The center is the hub of culture in the region and the                  piano used by the symphony and others. My friend and                  consummate technician Greg Granoff looks after the                  beast now with great care. He is also the head tech                  for Humboldt state.
                  
                    
                        
  I                            had not seen/heard the piano since I                            delivered it 4 yrs ago. I've been waiting                            for the right concerto at the right moment                            to make the trek up there to see and hear                            this piano in concert in this space. 
                             So I was  in Eureka Ca. over the weekend,                            about 300 mile drive from Modesto, to                            hear...Bigfoot....
                             A young local talent Ryan McAvoy McCullough                            came back to the area to perform the                            Rachmaninoff 3 thd piano concerto. Fantastic                            acoustics, amazing young pianist,...He was                            near flawless. The performance  gripped me                            on so many emotional levels. It was similar                            to seeing one of your children after a long                            absence. Someones voice you know and love so                            well speaking to you again. The sound in the                            building, the way he bonded to the keyboard                            & the nuance of tone coming from the                            Instrument was truly a culminating moment in                            my ears and life. The Beast has become the                            Black beauty!
                          
                        
                              What a journey that piano has been in my                            life.   The piano/pianist                            sounded absolutely stellar. Best performance                              I,ve ever heard on my                            work. 
                        
I'm                            on cloud nine this am. Beautiful day in that                            coastal town. Trix, Jacob and Sara all                            here.... Life is good.
                        
Dale
                        
Aka...tone                            warrior :)
                          
                        
                                                  
                          
Dale Erwin...                                      RPT
                                   Mason                                            & Hamlin/Steinway/U.S                                            pianos
                                          www.Erwinspiano.com
                                    209-577-8397
                                  
                                   
                                  
                            
                          
                                            
                  
                            
                        
          
            
    
  
 
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