Thanks for your responses

[Les Smith]

Anton: This is not meant to be a criticism, but an observation. How a
grand piano sounds with the una corda pedal in use has much to do with
both the instrument and the tone-regulating skills of the technician
servicing it. Horowitz used the una corda perhaps more than any other
pianist I've seen and it certainly didn't seem to have a deleterious
impact on the quality of the tone he was able to draw out of the instru-
ment. Perhaps the fact the his Steinway sounded so well, even with the
una corda, is a tribute to the skills of Franz Mohr, his technician. Also,
although I don't know who his technician was, Paul Badura-Skoda, also
used to make frequent use of the una corda pedal, with absolutely superb
results and, once again, apparently with no loss of tone-quality. For
example, he uses it to great effect, when he plays the Chopin Nocturne
in Db, Opus 27, #2. Please  understand that I SHARE with you an aversion
to using a great deal of una corda while playing, but I have heard it used
very effectively by some pretty heavy-duty pianists as noted above.

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net