<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: [CAUT] Steinway Style II Grand</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY>    A couple things. There are mebbe a = few musicians who get into the “historical accuracy” thing becau= se they want to find a niche, and aren’t all that good. But there are = also really fine, utterly superb, musicians involved in the historical accur= acy movement. Rachel Podger comes to mind. Plays a real baroque violin in ba= roque style like the music is coming directly from a very sensitive soul thr= ough her fingers. There’s a lot of historical accuracy stuff out there= that is boring, boring, boring, but that doesn’t mean the movement it= self is out in left field. Only some of it is <g>. Clearly, just playi= ng on historic instruments or copies thereof, with good intentions, doesn&#8= 217;t necessarily lead to fine music making, but it can.     The other point I’d like to make is that ther= e is a definite connection of musician to instrument which evokes certain re= sponses from the musician. I have had several real “revelation” = type experiences playing on various historic instruments: so this passage re= ally does work! Wow, a Viennese piano plays like silk, and a Broadwood like = a truck, just like those old guys used to say and write! In other words, hav= ing the opportunity to play on a historical instrument in close top original= condition can be an extremely valuable educational experience.     I’d love to have the opportunity to play on a= n 1870 Steinway with light hammers and high ratio. I wouldn’t be in th= e least interested in playing one that had been retrofit with a modern actio= n.     Another couple pennies in the pot. And I’ll a= dd my support to the idea of restoring the piano originally in question rath= er than remanufacturing it. I’d also caution taking whatever advice yo= u get from Steinway on the matter with a heaping teaspoon of salt. Too many = conflicts of interest, and lack of restoration experience. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico On 2/15/05 1:16 PM, "Ed Sutton" <ed440@mindspring.com> wrot= e: <BLOCKQUOTE>It's a fair guess that Chris is cor= rect that Liszt would want the fastest, loudest piano available, at least if= he were playing his virtuoso show pieces. (And maybe not for other music.)<= BR> On the other hand, Chopin, Schumann and Brahms would be harder to predict. =  We know that Chopin made peculiar selections of pianos, if loud and fa= st are the sole criteria.  Anyone who has played a Viennese action pian= o, early or late, knows that these instruments articulate the classical and = romantic repertoire in a way that can't be done on a modern action. I, for one, don't wish to spend all my travels on I-95. ES </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY> </HTML>