[CAUT] Steinway cult

[Sloane, Benjamin (sloaneba)]

  Richard Brenke stated this:
"Another thing I think music education leaves out is how to deal with angst.  Indeed.... if anything the education does just about everything it can to build into an artist loads of angst.  I saw a young and very gifted young fellow a few years back completely disintegrate during his final bachelors exam on piano. He had a reputation for being a bit of a know it all... often correcting the teacher in collective classes, and had picked a very difficult program to play. His family, his peers, his teachers... all each in their own way exerted so much pressure on the fellow.  He came very close to killing himself or worse.  In the end he re-grouped and shuffled off to a distant country to do his graduate studies after receiving a grace card passing grade here in Bergen."

    Yeah, keeping your temper can be tough. I've gotten better at it over the years. The piano player I mentioned before, Willie "The Lion" Smith wrote a song of the same name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri9L2FozlLk&feature=related

  Part of piano gigs, be it studying with a good teacher, tuning, rebuilding, selling, playing, in the midst of trying to make ends meet and be successful, involves not losing your temper. Jealousy is a powerful thing. Being invidious must be considered as well, the provocation to envy, more than envying. We need to gracefully win, and help people to gracefully win, as well. 

   I think part of the problem with the piano industry in general today could be found in that pianists just don't do business well as they used to. If you check out the Lion in this series of 5 videos, of which this is the 5th, the Lion had the sense to cover the name of the piano being played on film, and not provide free advertizing for the manufacturer of the piano he performed on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJcsXl-GTsU&feature=related
  
   Another aspect of the Steinway strategy had to do with establishing a stimmung in the arts where so many remarkable artists not only prove willing, but insist, to perform on them, and without compensation at that, by the company who made the piano, Steinway. Beyond that even, Steinway managed to turn things around, not only by removing the quid prop quo in many cases, but establishing itself as the very means for survival as a performer. Also, a few Steinway dealers go so far as to actually treat floor tunings as if it is some kind of privilege to tune it when it is time to pay you. Some people classical musicians at times can tend to look down on in the pop world, if one watches a few music videos, have the intelligence to rip labels of clothes made by manufacturers that did not pay the singer to advertize their product. So many piano players impoverish themselves doing this sort of thing, giving free advertizing; it hurts the piano technician as well that performers can't make ends meet on top of trying to pay off school debts. 
   The saddest thing about Steinway has to do with the inaccessibility of what are thought to be the greatest pianos to the people that actually could play them well. Whether or not piano faculty should by in large be paid more, and given more time off than the piano technician is another matter. I am happy to see some piano players making money, but many piano faculty would have preferred performing to teaching. The same cannot make money at it because piano players never get trained that marketing yourself forces those that market their products in the process to provide remuneration for that, to you, as the performer that makes their products known. Could you imagine Nike not paying Tiger Woods for endorsing their products?     

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Richard Brekne
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 4:42 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway cult

Dave

I think you for sure have one very large piece of the Steinway dominance 
thing put into place here. And personally... I think this part of the 
picture paints a rather sad picture about pianists and piano (playing) 
education.  I've thought for years that the education system leaves out 
very big chunks of very relevant information in music education in 
general and in piano education in particular.  I'm not particularly 
impressed with ear training curriculums for the most part, nor the 
weight placed on music theory.... with the exception of jazz 
musicians... speaking in generalities here mind you.  And I am most 
unimpressed with what instrumentalists are required to know about the 
mechanics/physics of their instruments. Pianist are on the absolute 
bottom of that list.  Another thing I think music education leaves out 
is how to deal with angst.  Indeed.... if anything the education does 
just about everything it can to build into an artist loads of angst.  I 
saw a young and very gifted young fellow a few years back completely 
disintegrate during his final bachelors exam on piano. He had a 
reputation for being a bit of a know it all... often correcting the 
teacher in collective classes, and had picked a very difficult program 
to play. His family, his peers, his teachers... all each in their own 
way exerted so much pressure on the fellow.  He came very close to 
killing himself or worse.  In the end he re-grouped and shuffled off to 
a distant country to do his graduate studies after receiving a grace 
card passing grade here in Bergen.

But back to Steinway.... there is of course much more to the picture.  I 
believe truly that they did actually hit upon a <<sound>> that caught on 
and has yet to be defeated by any challenger.  I love the CF III sound 
on the two newer ones we have here... but it is a different sound... 
rounder with a bit of a stretched out (in a positive way) sustain in the 
upper treble.  Most pianists I run into however simply prefer the 
Steinway sound. Same thing goes for Fazioli.  They are fascinated by 
it... but feel they can express more music more often on Steinway.  I 
have to leave this big wad of the benefit of doubt in my pocket and not 
underestimate the pianists appreciation (on the intuitive level it seems 
to rest) of the instrument.

Then of course there is the marketing strategies of Steinway... 
aggressive and very effective.... but hey... they are in business to 
survive.

Still... I'm with you in sentiment... I wish pianists would open 
themselves for much more variety.  I think they should be able to sit 
down to just about any instrument... relax... figure out what it has to 
say and start making music.  Unfortunately... that does not seem to be 
their makeup.

Cheers
RicB


    Let's look at why there seems to be a cult following around
    Steinway.  Artists who play every other instrument except piano,
    play their own instrument.  The trumpet player, the violinist, the
    cellist all take their instruments with them even if (as in the cast
    of the cellist) they have to purchase an airline ticket for the
    instrument.  They always play their instrument with which they are
    very familiar.  Pianists, have to play whatever is there.  This does
    bring on lots of angst.  When they get to the venue they are
    comforted by seeing something familiar.  If it is a Steinway that
    starts their being at ease.  It might be a great Steinway, or it
    might be a dreadful one, but at least it is familiar.

    We had an artist come here last summer that when he found out that
    our Steinway was being rebuilt and that he would have to play a
    Yamaha he was quite unhappy.  When the date finally arrived for his
    performance he changed to a smaller recital hall here that has a
    Steinway B rather than the Yamaha CFIIIS.  Familiarity won out over
    the superior piano.

    After a few decades of this, Steinway becomes the comfort food for a
    very apprehensive performer.  I guess we shouldn't be surprised that
    this has developed.  If there had been more companies promoting
    their concert instruments there might be more diversity but Steinway
    has won the familiarity war.  It will take any other manufacturer a
    lot of effort to put a dent in their dominance in that market.  They
    are the market leader in this area.  They are not the market leader
    in total number of units sold, but in the concert/recital venues,
    they own it.  That does not necessarily make them the best piano,
    they just won the concert venue playoffs.

    dave