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Yesterday got really impressed with this Yamaha C2. I`ve never played in one... It was my first time but is very similar to the well known C3... Techncaly not bad at all for a small tail piano.
Beautiful performance. I agree about the Yamaha C series.
It's probably the biggest bang for the buck out there; and IMHO beats the equivalent sized Steinway S, M, and L.
While it may not beat a good Steinway (unlike new Yamahas' predictability, Steinways vary quite a bit and some are less than terrific), it is certainly a better deal, buck for buck, as we Americans would say.
A C3 costs quite a bit more and takes up space some of us just don't have (6'1" for the C3 vs. 5'8" for the C2), but if you have the space and the considerably larger amount of money, I'd suggest at least playing a C3, as it has quite a bit more presence, not that the C2 isn't a fine instrument.
I'm getting a C2. I don't think a C3 would even fit up the stairs, which allows me to not second guess my decision. That said, if money and space were no object, I'd get a C3. Good luck.
How big is the 'Casino da Figueira' as a concert venue? Some claim the C2 indeed has a more intimate sound than the C3 in smaller rooms especially in homes.
Any idea why the Casino choose a C2; suppose they rented it for the occasion or perhaps it is simply the piano the casino owns?
Any idea how this was recorded, i.e. in room microphone(s) or close microphone setting?
I love the Yamaha C2 and C3. When my playing catches up to that level I will get one. I love video performances with that piano. Thank you for posting.
I just spoke with a local person (Portland OR) who has owned a C series Yamaha for a decade. It's now 30 years old. She has it tuned once a year, not because it sounds bad to her, but because she thinks she should. Each year, the tuner exclaims how remarkably close to in-tune it has remained after an entire year. The piano has no Dampp Chaser.
To be fair, unlike many places, Portland summers do not get very humid. Also, because our winter humidity is very high out-of-doors and the need for inside heating is less than in much of the country (with winter temps typically going no lower than high 30s farenheit and often approaching 50), pianos are spared humid summers and dry indoor winters.
Still, I think it's a testament to Yamaha's fabled rock-solid reliability and stability that a piano without a Dampp Chaser doesn't really quite need one tuning a year!
Beautiful performance. I agree about the Yamaha C series.
It's probably the biggest bang for the buck out there; and IMHO beats the equivalent sized Steinway S, M, and L.
The one you played had a remarkably clear treble.
The Yamaha C series are great pianos. But I think they are quite far down the list of 'bang for your buck pianos'. Considering that you can get an equivalent sized Estonia or Shigeru Kawai for the same price I would put the Yamaha C series in the overpriced category. To each his own but a well prepped Steinway is hard to beat with a top tier instrument let alone a C series Yamaha...
Jazz/Improvising Pianist, Composer, University Prof. At home: C. Bechstein Concert 8, Roland RD88 At work: Kawai GX2, Dave Smith Prophet Rev2 16-voice
You are a wonderful pianist but IMHO this piano didn't do you any justice. Norbert
How can anyone pretend to be able to evaluate the sound of a piano by listening to a recording coming through the speakers of their computer? Jeeez . . .
To each his own but a well prepped Steinway is hard to beat with a top tier instrument let alone a C series Yamaha...
Obviously this is a matter of personal choice. But for my own living room, I had upgraded from a Steinway "M" to a Yamaha C7 before going to my current Bösendorfer 225. (Granted the "M" wasn't new, which may have contributed to my dissatisfaction. It was about 10 years old when I got it.)
Certainly the Steinway "B" and "D" are performance-quality instruments. But I had said that the Yamaha C1/C2/C3 series may be a better choice than the roughly equivalent sized "S" "M" and "L". The shorter Steinways are not a good value, and IMHO don't perform any better than a good quality Japanese piano.
You are a wonderful pianist but IMHO this piano didn't do you any justice. Norbert
How can anyone pretend to be able to evaluate the sound of a piano by listening to a recording coming through the speakers of their computer? Jeeez . . .
yes indeed, i would certainly trust andre's ear, highly trained and discerning, over what was obviously a poor quality recording.
and norbert -- shame on you. suggesting that a yamaha, played by the likes of richter and gould, is a lesser quality instrument than a euro or american instrument. if andre had been playing a chinese piano i'm sure your comments would have been quite different. nice try, but an epic fail nonetheless.
the yamaha c3xa completely turned my head around wrt yamahas -- what an absolutely beautiful instrument. as many of you know, i sold my M&H and bought a C7, and am absolutely in love with its sound. my steinway B friends (2 of them) are jealous.
ps -- i've yet to play an estonia that i liked, so personal taste does come into play when discussing pianos.
yes indeed, i would certainly trust andre's ear, highly trained and discerning, over what was obviously a poor quality recording.
and norbert -- shame on you. suggesting that a yamaha, played by the likes of richter and gould, is a lesser quality instrument than a euro or american instrument. if andre had been playing a chinese piano i'm sure your comments would have been quite different. nice try, but an epic fail nonetheless.
I believe Entheo makes a valid point. In the end, most of us have a "vested interest" even if it's only psychological. For example, when a person has spent a lot of money on a piano they're likely to defend it, not wanting to feel they've goofed. Perhaps I'm doing it myself right now! These vested interests, whether monetary or psychological, can unfortunately spin our comments.
And yet, if there is one PW contributor who in my mind stands out as defending his vested interests in a way most likely to possibly distort what might be pereceived without those special interests, I believe it to be Norbert, with his frequent cutting of Japanese pianos (sometimes subtle, sometimes not so subtle) and his tiresome defence of Chinese pianos.
Norbert makes money when one of his Chinese pianos sells. When someone in his local market chooses a Japanese piano instead, it translates into business he has lost. Does anyone really think this could not affect his perception?
Perhaps the least spin coming from anyone, at least in my view, comes from Larry Fine. I think he has bent over backward to be fair-minded in his assessments (and he's no great lover of the piano I chose). His assessment shows that despite the remarkable improvement Chinese pianos have made, as yet, not even one has made it into any of his performance grades or his professional grade (http://www.pianobuyer.com/fall11/44.html).
If current trends continue, it seems likely that there will come a time when Chinese pianos will have gone beyond being "the best deal" to being of high enough quality to get into Fine's top categories. However, none of us is in a position to buy a 2015 Hailun or Pearl River. If we're buying today, we must choose what's available today. If we're hunting for the best deal, it has become almost unquestionably Chinese. If we're hunting for one of the best pianos, for the moment that remains an entirely different story. Cutting at a C2 when you're sellilng Ritmullers should be, as Entheo suggests, a shameful position to take.
and norbert -- shame on you. suggesting that a yamaha, played by the likes of richter and gould, is a lesser quality instrument than a euro or american instrument.
Sorry if I created a misunderstanding.
Yamaha would have made a wonderful choice if it would have been the 9' concert, same piano Richter or Gould used to play.
Sure the C2 sounded 'nice' but I thought OP's playing was quite above what a 5'10 would deliver - just about *ANY* 5'10 that is....
Meant as compliment to player, not criticism of piano...
. . . you can get an equivalent sized Estonia or Shigeru Kawai for the same price I would put the Yamaha C series
Not true. Check out Fine's SMPs. The bottom end Shigeru has an SMP of over $43K. The tiniest Estonia has an SMP of almost $40K, at only 5'6". The SMP for a C2 is $30K. While SMP numbers are higher than you'd likely pay, what reason do you have to believe that these vastly different SMPs would translate into the same sales prices between C2s and these more upscale (and more expensive) pianos?
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