<< I was talking to a very influential piano teacher in the area and she insisted that the reason V. Horowitz was able to play so rapidly was that his piano was adjusted to increase the repetition speed. I responded that if that was possible to do without sacrificing other control aspects, Steinway and other piano manufacturers would all do it. I've read "My Life with the Great Pianist" and see nothing in there were Horowitz's piano was "juiced." Am I correct? Does anyone have any inside info? >> Greetings, The hammers were juiced, but then again, all Steinways seem to be. They were rather small and had been filed numerous times. The man was able to play rapidly, that is the main thing. However, his hammers, even as old as they were, did check fairly close to the strings, (as I remember, after examining the piano at the factory before it was "restored"). The keys had less lead than normal, due to the hammers being so light. There wasn't much power in the piano at the time, it was just loud and brassy. Regards, Ed Foote RPT www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/ www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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