Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Played Blüthner for the first time...

What can I say? I want one. I really really wish I could afford one, I think I'm in love.

So, being from the Los Angeles area, I found out that the only dealer in town was quite close-- Kasimoff Blüthner. I went there with a friend this afternoon, to this charming little building (though bigger than it looks from the outside).

We walked in a bit apprehensively, perhaps thinking that a swarm of salesmen would swamp us and try to shove Pearl Rivers down our throats.

Anyway, it looked as though there was no one home but for the incredibly gorgeous beasts inviting me to put my hands on them, when soon thereafter a pleasant gentleman came out from the back office to greet us.

I told him that I'd read about and heard of Blüthners, and heard them on some new recordings, but that I'd never played one and was dying to.

Immediately he set about uncovering and opening pianos for us. What a surprise. He said something along the lines of "Play them all from smallest to biggest."

"Wow" crossed my lips when I saw the Macassar Ebony veneer slowly lose its blue felt shroud. I'm not one for fancy veneerwork, but it was truly stunning. The rim was even done up in Bird's Eye Maple veneer, for contrast. I had to touch the outer case. It felt-- FINE. Smooth and, yet, velvety all the same. It almost felt wrong to touch such a fine, unavailable entity. I still very much enjoyed it though.

I then gravitated towards the smaller Model 11 at Mr. Kasimoff's suggestion-- I'm not sure if that's what his name is (you can understand I was hypnotized at that store), but I'll leave it as an educated guess, since his mother is Mrs. Kasimoff. A bit more about her in, well, a bit.

The action was...(thoughtful pause)...buttery. Now, I've read this description before, and it seemed wonderful. It turned out to be so. A buttery action is indeed wonderful. My friend has a Kawai that I play often, whose action is nice but not altogether special.
The Blüthner's keyboard seemed to have ever so slightly narrower keys, which for me made playing feel more comfortable (yet my hand is not particularly small, I can play a 9th comfortably and a 10th if I really have to), and a key dip noticeably shallower. I loved the action, it was so responsive. Truth be told I have to really work for pianississimos on the Kawai. I thought maybe it was me. Perhaps I didn't have the sensitivity to do physically what I was playing in my head?
The Blüthner alleviated this proposition. Never before had I been able to play as softly and sensitively as I did then, on the smallest Blüthner with the smallest keys.

I've played on Steinways before, and in retrospect, what my friend had to say about them really clicked. He said to me that he thought they could be compared to lions. They're beautiful and elegant, but can also be over the top and frightening. You can see a lion lying there in the plain from the safety of your distance, from which you can admire its grace and poise. Maybe get a bit closer without disturbing it. It has beautiful features-- a flowing mane, a noble bearing, a mysterious face. However, if you pick on it, it'll get in your face and growl at you. Maybe it'll bite you. Could kill you, too

He compared the Blüthner to a gazelle.
It's delicate and beautiful; elegant, and somewhat regal. However, it is elusive and you have to catch it-- and the lion can eat it if it so wishes.

I know these descriptions are extremely subjective and, well, won't appeal to everyone. But the point that I'm trying to make is that the Blüthner was so user-friendly.

I sat there and played, but the sound didn't jump out at me and punch me in the mouth, which in my personal experience, Steinways tend to do.

The Blüthner's sound took its time to bloom around me. That's the only way I can try to describe what I experience. It almost had... a bouquet, like a fine wine. It surrounded me, but was not intrusive if I tried to have a conversation. It was mellow. I like mellow.

Mrs. Kasimoff walked out of her office to greet us. What a lovely, pleasant lady. So knowledgeable, and charming with her soothing German-accented voice. Always all smiles, and the warmth that she felt for like-minded pianophiles was tangible.

She showed me a beautiful recently restored 100-year old Blüthner with the original patent action. She offered it for me to play. It had such a lovely sound, and the action was very pleasant to play. I had read about these antique patent actions, so I tried to repeat some notes very quickly. Not as responsive in that department, but nevertheless very comfortable and sensitive. I'd be happy with it. Pianissimo was even easier (for me) than with the model 11 or 6, probably due to the modern, new actions. And about the repetition, well, neither Alborada del Gracioso nor Totentanz are in my repertoire yet

Side note: They have the Blüthner from the Iron Man movie in their showroom. If you're a fan of the film and you're around LA one day, they'll be happy to let you play it! I'm very glad they didn't really blow it to smithereens

The last piano I played was the Model 2, the 7'8" semi-concert. What a gorgeous object. The stuff dreams are made of, surely. I didn't get to play the 9' Iron Man concert grand, because we were running out of time, so I can only speculate on how that might've been. This almost 8-footer is no wimp though, and certainly the polite and mellow Blüthners can roar if you coax them.
I asked if I could play loudly, and upon getting the green light, I played some loud chords and arpeggio figures up and down the keyboard. What struck me was how given its incredible sustain, and my judicious use (abuse) of the pedal, it managed to keep a wonderful, incredible clarity. The bass is the clearest I've yet heard, even having played a Bösendorfer before.
Imagine what one can do with Brahms with that kind of bass clarity! You could hear the tones in the chords working with each other, blending, but never quite losing their individuality. Even with the smaller 6'3" model, this was very apparent to me. Not so much with the smallest grand, but it is not to be expected that any maker's 'baby' keep up with its bigger siblings in every way. Even so, I'd drag it home with me if I could.

The Kasimoffs were very generous and gracious with their time, and I wish I'd had the conscience to leave of my own accord. My friend practically dragged me out of there, as the Kasimoffs had an appointment to keep. Even so, Mrs. K told me to "Play! It's alright, we can be a little late." I shouldn't have obliged-- But how could I not? Of course, "You can come back any time you want and play all you want," Says Mrs. K.

That's comforting

In any case, I let them know that one day, when finances allow, I will be back to grab one for myself.

Of course I will have to have the space for it (I'm willing to sleep under it), save for a few decades, and sell several of my kidneys. Maybe a barrelful or three of blood, too.

Wish me luck with that.

Hey BD76,

it's funny isn't it, you always have to get past the "it's not what I'm used to" phase when you first try something new. You either decide you're not going to like it, in which case you're wasting your time, or you experiment and persevere, discovering how to get the most out of it. This is especially true with older instruments which can require more physical effort to get the sound you want.
I'm glad you spent the time required, despite the fact the piano did not "not jump out at me and punch me in the mouth"!
I've played many old Bluthers, but only heard recordings of new ones. To my mind, from the recordings at least, they don't sound as warm these days. Having compared side by side, how did the new and old compare sound wise? Did they have some common element? Could you tell if the aliquot strings made any difference?

thanks for the report,
J

Strange, when I once played a model 10 the shallow key dip was what I was not particularly fond off.

schwammerl.

James Senior,

The thing is that I've played on lighter actions and prefer them, but the Blüthner's just felt so refined.

And they have two very good Steinways there with which to compare the Blüthners. Steinways do always 'punch,' they seem to project unto the player a lot as well as out towards the audience, while the Blüthners seemed to be more quiet up front, but projected out towards the room instead. And yes, we played with the music racks off, so that was not the issue.

I do think that the aliquots made a difference; but how much is debatable. I have a good ear, and it seemed that the Blüthner's sound was more 'wavy' and sustained longer than the Steinway. Certainly the sound was more rounded, clear, and slightly darker. I really liked the sound. Maybe it's not the same as that of the older pianos, but it's still a beautiful, fine, clear sound which I now think I prefer (the European sound as opposed to the thick, lush, overtoned American sound). The pianos stressed the fundamental, and it was very apparent in the bass. I appreciated that the lowest notes sounded like a continuation of the keyboard, not like just a dark, muddy noise.

One thing I also noticed, even in the newer Blüthners, was that they sound completely different in different registers. The bass is very clear, the tenor turns into a warm voice, and the treble is very clear and silvery, without being overly bright (think old Yamaha, maybe?). This allowed the melody in the Chopin nocturned I played to really soar over the accompaniment, which did not intrude. My friend's Kawai just seems so uniform throughout; it's the same up and down, but the Blüthner has actual registers.

The older one was completely rebuilt, (I think they mentioned that they sent it overseas for Blüthner themselves to do the job) so I don't know if that would have affected the sound, but it was still lovely. It had a very slight sort of 'antique' quality to it, but not so much as to distract. It was very charming.

schwammerl,

To each his own, I suppose

Mr. K mentioned that such things can always be tweaked for the player, but I think I'd keep it like it is. I tend to prefer lighter actions, and since I have thick-ish fingers, sometimes I can get stuck between black keys if I'm not careful, and the slightly shallower dip mitigated this to a point.

And I just felt like I had more control playing, which I appreciated.

I remember the performance Steinway at my music school had a slightly light action but with very deep keys. I hated playing on it, it felt like I was dragging through a swamp whenever I played.

BD76, enjoyed your report. Curious about your perception of "slightly narrower keys." Have you confirmed this? I know key lengths vary, but do key widths?

gutenberg,

No, I can't confirm positively, but my friend perceived the same thing, so I know it wasn't just my imagination. What it could be, and this idea makes sense to me, is that the action is very refined and so probably the keys fit together more closely and tightly, with more precision.

In any case, it felt beautiful to play on.

I too love the Blüthner. I first experienced these fine pianos at Keith Kerman's PianoCraft place in Maryland.

I was also tuning in to your comments about the Steinway sound. I've called it the "Steinway Snarl". Now that you talk about the "lion" it kind of adds up to me. Thanks for saying that. Now I know I'm not alone out there.

Thanks for writing so passionately about your experience.

I played a Blüthner semi concert grand that was older but oh it was such a joy. Warm rich full sound. Its just incredible!

Brandon_W_T,

The Model 2 they had was brand new. Do you remember the age of the one you got to play? I was told that the new ones are designed differently, and are two inches longer than the last generation Model 2.

I believe it was from the 40s or so. Still a fantastic instrument. I am sure the new ones are just that much better.

I regularly service, tune, and play a Blüthner 4, as well as several Steinways.

The differences are clear, but the choice as to which is better for the player is quite subjective.

As to the performance...I love 'em both!

Decisions, decisions...

Glen

Well, some players prefer milk chocolate, and some prefer dark-- but they're both delicious

But what about those who dont like chocolate like me?

OMG HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??

hehe. Well you know I dont know. Im just really not a big fan of it. Yea I will eat it if its all that is available, but thats it. I wont go ordering a chocolate cake or icecream. Its just me.


Now that I think of it... maybe thats why everyone thinks Im weird.

Haha, yeah. People get incredulous about it. I was just joking. To each his own.

In fact, I only recently was able to stomach coffee or bananas. And before, that, onions. I still hate them raw, though

I've always loved the Bluthner keyboards, but the sound I find is very generic. Intellectually, you'd think that such a fine, well-balanced sound would be a good thing, but in practice I always gravitate to instruments with strong personalities, however flawed.

The nicest-sounding piano I've ever heard was a 1946 Baldwin baby grand. The sound just screamed "Elegance!" at you. Its quaint drawback was that it was an instrument suited to specific use, whereas a Bluthner is good for everything, but doesn't super-excel at any one thing.

Oh, to be rich, and own a hall full of pianos . . .

BD76,

I love reading these piano adventure stories and I must say yours was particularly well written. It sounds like a wonderful place and I thank you for commenting on the Bluthners since I am not very familiar with this brand. My problem is that I become too intimidated when I sit down at a world class instrument in a store.

This is such a helpful and nicely done review. I bought the intermediate Haessler with the hopes of upgrading to the regular Bluethner in the future, and my however inexperienced ear told me it liked the sound of the Bluethners so much.

Here in Vienna, the shop managers were also so helpful and never pushy. I liked that too. After your review I am even more encouraged to move on to a Bluethner once I get the money saved. I also prefer that more mysterious, darker, moody sound. Did you try the model 10?