Being called out on stage

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Wim.


    In a perfect world, that would be the case. But no matter how good
    one thinks one might be, sometimes the piano seems to have a mind of
    it's own.

Definitely true...  fortunately I've never had exactly a concert tuning 
go bad on me... knock on wood. Well... once... Herbie Hancock 
actually... but then it was a D moved into a huge tent right by the town 
fjord from a very dry environment.. cold and rainy outside and they 
turned on these ridiculously large heating machines placed right under 
the stage for two hours before the concert.... and the tuning had to be 
done 4 hours before.... not really fair play... but still I have to 
admit the thing went seriously sour.  Hancock didnt seem to mind... I 
guess he took one look at the conditions and figured ... "what else can 
one expect ?"


    When I was at UA, the local orchestra and our department chair, a
    concert pianist, played the Rach 3. I tuned the piano for a recital
    the next day, and discovered that only one string on one note had
    slipped 2 cents.

Well done indeed !

    Then we had Olga Kern give a solo recital on the same piano, in the
    same hall, tuned by the same person. I had to go on stage at
    intermission to tune about 4 or five notes that had noticeably gone out.

Loosing unisions is a drag....  what can one say... shøt happens ?


    Go figure.

Cheers
RicB


    Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT