"Back in '92"--that was a century ago...or maybe it was last century, something like that! Elwood Elwood Doss, Jr. Technical Director/Piano Technician Department of Music 225 Fine Arts Building University of Tennessee at Martin 731/587-7482 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Brekne" <Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 1:49 PM Subject: Re: Horowitz piano > I had the opportunity to listen to Franz Mohr give a seminar in Seattle > some years ago, and what he said then was simply that the hammers got > worn, and then more worn, and then worn through to the wood as the years > went by. Horowitz simply refused to let anyone change them or change the > voicing on them. Seemingly his hearing suffered somewhat as time went > by, and he liked the pling of those rock hard hammers. > > I also got to see this instrument on that occasion, prior to Steinways > << restoration >>. You could almost blow the keys into action they were > so light. > > In any case the story about the maestro's insistance seems to have > gotten altered in the telling. He insisted alright, but his insistance > was against doing anything about the increasing brightness of the piano. > At least thats what was said in Seattle back in 92... > > Back in 92.... now there's a line for you :) > > Cheers > > RicB > > > Mickey Kessler wrote: > > > > These observations seem consistent with what Franz Mohr said in his > > autobiography (at least in the excerpts I've read). If I remember > > correctly, he strongly disputed claims that Horowitz ever requested, or > > got, any special modifications to his piano. In fact, Mohr gave the > > impression that Horowitz wasn't particularly demanding about the instrument > > -- though he seems to have let his stage fright spill out onto the > > technician from time to time. > > > > This contradicts a Horowitz biography of some years ago which claimed the > > treble hammers were made hard as glass at the maestro's insistence. Given > > that that biography also made a lot of baseless allegations against > > Horowitz (for example, that he had a very limited repertoire), I'm inclined > > to believe Mr. Mohr. > > > > Mickey Kessler > > > > > > > > > -- > Richard Brekne > RPT, N.P.T.F. > UiB, Bergen, Norway > mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no > http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html > http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >
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