<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1264" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=5><STRONG>"Purer" Australian piano sparks = musical discord</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A Tasmanian farmer's son who claims to = have created a piano with a purer sound than the Steinway - the instrument of choice = for the world's greatest pianists - is dividing the music world, writes Paul Ham.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Wayne Stuart's piano has become a = source of national pride for Australians, but its tone has provoked confrlicting = responses from musicians.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Withonly 20 built so far, the Stuart is = slowly winning converts around the world. One is at the Royal Welsh College of = Music and Drama in Cardiff; another is owned by Rowan Atkinson, the comedian.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stuart, who chose to become a cabinet = maker instead of helping to run the family farm in Devonport, Tasmania, had a = childhood fascination for the piano. In the 1970s he trained as a piano technician = in Japan and studied at the Bechstein factory in Germany. The industry, he = decided, was "bankrupt of ideas".</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>He said his goal was to "take the piano = away from the 19th century. There's a lot of noise in a Steinway and it gives = poaople the impression of power. But in fact it's not powerful - it's just noise".</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>His pianos, which cost Ł56,000, have = strings clamped in a vertical rather than horizontal position. The result, = Stuart enthusiasts claim, is a less "muddy" sound that lingers longer than that = of a conventional piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With a range of eight octaves, thanks = to nine additional keys, and an extra pedal, the piano certainly stands out. = Stuart has also used his cabinet-makling skills, cloaking his instrument in maple, beech,pine, spruce and red cedar. It is being developed with the help of = Robert Albert of J Albert and Son, one of Australia's largest independent music = publishers. Albert has invested Ł650,000.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Australian pianists such as Simon = Tedeschi and Gerard Willems have selected Stuarts for recent recording sessions. = Willems, who also lectures in keyboard studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, = has made the first Australian recording of Beethoven sonatas and concertos = using a Stuart piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>However, he confessed that the = unusually clear sound of the Stuart might put off some pianists as it makes their = mistakes all too evident.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Even in Australia the instrument has = its detractors. Michael Brimer, the Sydney-based professor of music, said he = was disappointed by the homegrown rival to the Steinway: "It sustains the = sound. But I find it almost does that for too long."</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stuart has some way to go before he can = challenge the 5,000 pianos produced every year by Steinway, but he is undeterred = by criticism.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"The 20th. century was probably the = period of greatest technological change and the piano makers just ignored it." he said.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Copied from the Sunday Times, part 1. = section 26 WORLD NEWS</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michael G (UK)</FONT> </DIV> <DIV> <STYLE>  </STYLE> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=600 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE height=80 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=600 = align=right border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=tiny> <TABLE style="BORDER-RIGHT: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: = #666666 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: = #666666 1px solid" height="100%" cellSpacing=0 width=600> <TBODY> <TR bgColor=#4e81c4> <TD class=tiny width="100%" height=1> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" = border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=logotext style="PADDING-LEFT: = 5px"><IMG = src="cid:000801c3a7bd$6e2e6e20$e22afea9@gamble" border=0></TD> <TD class=noro style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; FONT-SIZE: 7pt; = COLOR: #ffffff" align=right>Keyboard tuner to Glyndebourne since = 1980</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD> <TD class=tiny></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=2> <TABLE height="100%" cellSpacing=2 width="100%" = align=right border=0> <TBODY> <TR style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px" height=1> <TD class=noro style="PADDING-LEFT: 4px" vAlign=top><B>Michael = Gamble</B><BR><I>Piano/Harpsichord Tuner/Tech.</I> </TD> <TD class=noro style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px" = vAlign=top align=right><A class=psl = href="http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?Pyt=Tmap&addr=29+Shepher= ds+Way&csz=RingmerSussex++BN8+5LT&country=us" target=_blank>"Westwick"<BR>29 Shepherds Way<BR>Ringmer<BR>Sussex BN8 5LT<BR>UK</A> = </TD></TR> <TR height=1> <TD class=noro style="PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px" vAlign=bottom><A class=psl href="mailto:michael@gambles.fsnet.co.uk" target=_blank>michael@gambles.fsnet.co.uk</A> = </TD> <TD class=noro style="PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px" vAlign=bottom align=right> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 align=right border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=noro noWrap align=right>tel: = <BR>fax: <BR>mobile: </TD> <TD class=noro style="PADDING-LEFT: 4px" = noWrap align=right>+44(0)1273 = 813612<BR>+44(0)1273 813612<BR>07766 184580 = </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></T= ABLE></TD> <TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=2> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD align=left><A class=brand = href="http://www.plaxo.com/signature/" target=_blank><I>Powered by Plaxo</I></A></TD> <TD align=right><A class=brand href="http://www.plaxo.com/signature/" = target=_blank><I>Want a signature like this?</I></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></= BODY></HTML>