Edvard Griegs Steinway

[RicB]

Whilst we are on the subject of Steinways....

Tonite I got to tune the 103 year old (rebuilt in Hamburg in the early 
50's) Hamburg B that Edvard Grieg owned here in Bergen.  There was a 
recording session and the regular technician had to fly back to Oslo and 
it needed a bit of extra attention this evening. 

An interesting experience really.  I mean the instrument did indeed 
belong origionally to Grieg. And the idea behind playing and recording 
with it is of course to get a sense somehow of how Grieg himself must 
have experienced music in his home.  Not much has changed in his home 
villa since his life so the ambiance is most certainly in tact.  But the 
piano....   In the year 2007 the instrument sounds like anything but 
new. The bass has gotten thinned out and the upper treble has become 
percussive and short tempered. In general the sound is of an older 
instrument whose soundboard has seen far better days.  Still.. charming 
enough in its own right if you can accept the premises that go along 
with all that... and I have no trouble doing so as long as the cards are 
all on the table so to speak.

But this bit about getting in touch with Grieg then.....  Ok.. the 
instrument had a major rebuild in 1960 something.  A new soundboard was 
installed... which of course takes the origional instrument well out of 
the ball park from the get go.  Then the villa had a climate system 
installed which express purpose was to keep things as dry as possible.  
The 45 or so year old board now is developing cracks and has flattened 
quite a bit... probably developed more serious flaws from the sound of 
it.  All in all its anything but Griegs piano twice removed if yers gets 
my meaning.

Yet here we all were...  in Griegs home playing and recording on <<his>> 
instrument.... and not completely fooling ourselves... yet more so then 
most would feel comfortable admitting.  We are in the realm of magic 
here to be sure.   On the one hand I have feelings of doubt.... on the 
other I wonder whats so wrong about letting this kind of magic just run 
its charm ?...  I mean whom does it really hurt to leave those involved 
in such endeavours with a wonderous sensation that they have some how 
touched the Masters self ?   I dunno... seems like a much more 
complicated question then at times I'm willing to take it for.

Cheers
RicB