[CAUT] Steinway or Forgery?

[Richard Brekne]

Hi. Comments interspersed below.

         >     But I sure would like to see us lose this tendency to
        bash. Why?   What good does it do you?

    What good does universal Steinway worship do *anyone* (except
    Steinway) when anyone even marginally competent to be working on
    them is well aware of their list of problems? It's been demonstrated
    in education these many years that unconditional  praise and support
    ultimately produces and reinforces mediocre  performance. Some would
    call it a recipe for making monsters, and I'd have to agree. I've
    met 'em. Constructive and, for lack of a less glandular word,
    rationally *corrective* critique has always been a more effective
    educational approach. Rational corrective critique, from those who
    have actually been there and done that, is unfortunately an
    altogether too rare treat. "Been there and done that" would be the
    qualifying criteria here.

I would respond by saying we need neither Bashing or Worship. Neither 
serve a constructive purpose.  The all day Steinway sessions I've seen 
at Nationals are every bit as unsavory to my mind as the kind of critic 
leveled above. Monsters indeed. Reactionary response to one undesirable 
tendency that results in an equally and opposing undesirable tendency 
does no-one any good at all.

         >Would we all be better off if S&S closed its  doors?

    The devil you know, or nothing? That's a pretty grim prognosis for
    any hope of improvement, and a pretty crude dodge.

I thought it was a fair and good question. The whole anti Steinway 
sentiment that runs again and again is just too thinly veiled and 
doesn't hold up in reality. No matter which way you wash it, the bold 
faced fact that they have achieved the dominance they have simply does 
not, can not, and never could be reconciled with these sentiments and 
the reasoning behind them.

Cheers
RicB