[CAUT] Steinway "sound"

[Horace Greeley]

Hi, Ed,

At 07:24 AM 2/19/2011, you wrote:
>Horace-
>
>I grew up on the Heifetz/Piatigorsky Brahms Double, and was shocked 
>when I first heard the old Thibaud/Casals recording.  I came to hear 
>so much more in T/C's approach, and the "in your face" quality of 
>H/P seemed rather one dimensional in contrast to T/C.

Yes; and, the concept of sound/presence/etc is going to vary for 
Heifetz between Piatigorsky and Feuermann even more...not quite 
clear, other than to remember apocryphal stories of how impossible 
Heifetz became over time.

>Listening to Rubenstein's 1940's Brahms recordings compared to 
>Lupu's more recent recordings, it seems as if something similar has 
>happened to the pianos. There is also a much wider separation of 
>timbres, which Lupu uses gloriously. Of course Lupu has access to 
>all the studio touch-up techniques and Rubenstein had one full take 
>when the light came on.

AH...I do have some Brahms for the class a couple of weeks form 
now.  Some Rubinstein, but, since I found a wider "space" between he 
and a couple of others, I dropped Lupu due to time constraints on the 
class.  I'm trying to negotiate for room space on Sunday morning so 
that we can hear some other/different things and talk about how and 
why recordings vary so much, and why it is necessary to use a very 
wide range of them when assessing audio equipment.

>Your comments on this thread are remarkably helpful. This is 
>definitely an HG topic!

Thanks very much!  I've certainly gotten much more into it than I had 
thought I would years ago.

>Cheers!

And, to you!

Horace


>Ed S.
>
>>
>>Hi, Ted,
>>
>>At 08:25 PM 2/18/2011, you wrote:
>>>One time when I was tuning for the Stratford Festival, Oscar 
>>>Shumsky, Glenn Gould and Leonard Rose were rehearsing a trio. 
>>>Leonard Rose told a story of  a rehearsal  of a trio consisting of 
>>>Heifitz, Rubenstein and Piatagorsky. Heifitz suddenly stopped and 
>>>complained, " The balance is all wrong, I can still hear the Cello".
>>
>>An interesting addendum to this story is that, if one listens to 
>>recordings made by Heifetz, Rubinstein and either Feuermann or 
>>Piatigorsky from the late 30's and early 40's, you find him seeking 
>>a very different kind of balance that what became his signature 
>>SOLO VIOLIN!!!!......(....and, everybody else...)....
>>
>>Best.
>>
>>Horace
>>
>>
>>><mailto:fssturm at unm.edu>fssturm at unm.edu
>>>"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Twain