One of the most important parts in learning piano, besides you teacher and the people who surround and love you of course, is the instrument you play on. There are so many different kinds of pianos from all over the world all producing different quality of sound colors.
Living in Japan and The Netherlands, I am able to not only play wonderfully built Japanese pianos, but also pianos from a variety of European countries, each with its unique sound and characteristics.
It is a wonderful experience being able to play a C.Bechstein, Bösendorfer, Fazioli, Steinway & Sons, Blüthner, Pleyel or a Petrof piano at a concert and enjoy their wonderful sound.
But a piano can also inspire you to new interpretations, like a great teacher would be able to do.
Only if you listen and open up to the piano’s sound and its possibilities, a new musical world will open up to you. A new world full of previously unthinkable colors and sounds.
This is the case not only with modern pianos, but especially with old historic pianos like the fortepiano from the time of Mozart all the way up to the invention of the modern piano.
The instruments played by Beethoven or Haydn, by Schubert or Chopin or Schumann, they can tell and teach us important lessons on how to play the works of these great composers.
Even older instruments like the harpsichord or the clavichord could lead us into different directions when playing Bach or Rameau.
I have been fortunate enough to have been able to play all of these wonderful instruments throughout my studies and career. Every day I can enjoy the sound of my magnificent C.Bechstein grand piano.
But unfortunately this is not the case for everyone. Although I would love to, I also don’t always have a Streicher or a Broadwood, a Erard or a Ruckers instrument at my disposal. Sometimes I also would like to experiment with different tunings like meantone or werckmeister or well-tempered tuning systems and try out some different pitches like 392,415 or 431Hz. at an instant.
In those cases I like to use Pianoteq which enables you to reproduce the sounds of these wonderful instruments. It enables you to practise and learn and get inspired by these instruments. It helps you experiment and understand different tuning systems which can inspire you to new interpretations. I believe it is a wonderful learning tool for every pianist.
I would like to include some of the recordings I made with Pianoteq, I hope you will enjoy them and they will lead you on a path to new musical discoveries.
Instrument: 1600
Sweelinck (1562-1621) – Chromatic Fantasy
J. Salodiensis virginal (1600)
Well Tempered , 392 Hz
Instrument: 1780
Schubert – Hungarian Melody (1824)
Ph. Schmidt square piano (1780) , 415 Hz
Instrument: 1795
Mozart Fantasia in d-moll, KV397 (1782)
Fortepiano: Dohnal (1795)
tuning: 431 Hz , Werckmeister III
Instrument: 1796
Beethoven Sonata Pathétique op.13, 2nd movement (1798)
Fortepiano Broadwood (1796)
424 Hz , Werckmeister III
Instrument: 1829
Schubert Moment Musicaux no.3 (1823)
Fortepiano : I.Bösendorfer (1829) , 427 Hz equal temp.
Instrument: 1835
Chopin Nocturne no. 20, cis-moll – Op.posth. (1830)
Fortepiano : Pleyel 1835 – 415hz
Instrument: 1841
Mendelssohn : Lieder ohne Worte no.1 (1829)
Fortepiano : Johann Frenzel (1841)
tuning: 436Hz (equal temperament)
Instrument: 1841
Schumann – Kinderszenen op.15 (1838)
Fortepiano : J.Frenzel (1841)
tuning : 436Hz , Equal temperament
Instrument: 1841
Schumann Arabeske op. 18 (1839)
Fortepiano : 1841 Frenzel , 436Hz
Instrument: 1849
Edward Elgar : Salut d’Amour op. 12 (1888)
Fortepiano : Erard 1849 (438Hz)
Instrument: 1852
Beethoven : Piano Sonata no. 31 , op.110 (1821)
Fortepiano : J.B. Streicher (1852)
tuning: A=434Hz (equal temperament)
Instrument: 1858
Satie : Le Piccadilly (1904)
NY Steinway square piano (1858)
Instrument: 1899
Debussy Suite bergamasque (1890)
Piano: C. Bechstein (1899)
tuning : 455.3 Hz
Bach/Hess – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
piano: Modern piano C.Bechstein D280
Bach-Busoni – Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV659
piano : Modern piano Petrof 275
Instrument: 1624
Sweelinck (1562-1621) – Variations on ‘Mein junges Leben hat ein End’
Harpsichord after Joannes Ruckers -1624
Tuning : 415 Hz , Meantone(1/4)