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Kluurs, I wish I could try your B!

LJC, the next time you get 3 hours with CD314503, you had better call me and bring me along, or else... Seriously, I'm jealous. Though my local Steinway dealer told me he has gotten into the queue for the next tour... Hmmmm

How did it feel? My dealer told me that they backed off somewhat on Horowitz's weird regulation to make it playable by mere mortals. Is this the case? Does it still sound like it did in its heyday?

BTW, I much enjoyed reading the story on your D.
How does the Horowitz piano compare to yours anyway?

PS- its wonderful that H. & Istomin were friends. If I couldn't have Horowitz's own piano , I sure would like to have one he might have played a good bit.

I actually lucked out and got to play the Horowitz and Van Cliburn pianos for about an hour. The salesperson I know at Steinway Hall was nice enough to let me stay even longer but unfortunately I had to get back to work.

LJC, I'm curious to hear your opinions of the pianos. (Personally, I don't feel as if I have enough basis for comparison to opine in great detail, other than to say I enjoyed the experience.)

LJC, the next time you get 3 hours with CD314503, you had better call me and bring me along, or else... Seriously, I'm jealous. Though my local Steinway dealer told me he has gotten into the queue for the next tour... Hmmmm

How did it feel? My dealer told me that they backed off somewhat on Horowitz's weird regulation to make it playable by mere mortals. Is this the case? Does it still sound like it did in its heyday?

BTW, I much enjoyed reading the story on your D.
How does the Horowitz piano compare to yours anyway?

LJC, I'm curious to hear your opinions of the pianos. (Personally, I don't feel as if I have enough basis for comparison to opine in great detail, other than to say I enjoyed the experience.)

My error I hit enter by mistake....heres the upshot.....

Actually H. CD314503 will be on Long Island this fall for a new S&S gallery in Huntington. Care to join me? About the regulation, CD 314503 does have a light and fast action. If you read Mohr's book you'll find that Mohr rebuilt the action while Horowitz was still living and also Mohr brought him a brand new D to try that had a heavier action that H. was used to and H. grew to like that piano as much or more than 314503. I believe they changed the keyset on 314 recently. The keys looked new and last time I played it I think it had the ivories but the action felt the same. My guess is that they want to preserve the original keyset. CD 314 really sings and has a powerful almost startling bass. Actually I didnt like the bass when I pounded it, it reminded me of overdriving woofers when I pounded it. When I backed off a little the sound was much nicer. Cd314 has a wonderful singing quality in the treble. I know what H. meant when he said it had a slightly nasal sound. I had no trouble recognizing the sound from the recordings. They also touched up the case a bit, the first time I saw it it looked like no one loved it. It had allot of battle scars. I didnt like the Van Cliburn piano as much it didnt sound as lively. I once played the Van Cliburn piano from the piano bank I thought it was very similar to CD 314...BTW CD 314 has the original sound board, its 65 years old but you would never know it. ...My piano is actually quite different. It has a more soothing sound and the bass doesnt jump out at you like CD 314 although theres no problem getting FFFF and I dont get the feeling like I'm overdriving the bass. The treble is clearer than on a NY D and stronger than most of the NY Ds. THe piano sings more than most NY Ds but CD 314 is exceptional in that department. My action is heavier than CD 314 and the Van Cliburn piano and not quite as quick, it doesnt have the accelerated action. Trills are a little more difficult on my piano. I think the sound on my D is prettier......Well enough of my bloviating. you guys will just have to come over and see for yourselfs.

Chris Robinson is a rebuilder near Hartford, CT. I've been to his shop once and was really impressed; he also evaluated a piano I was interested in. He has a great reputation as a rebuilder.

What a coincidence that your D is the same one Zaide owned and talked to me about. Small world! (Or at least small NY area pianists' world!)

Thank you for your analysis!
I have not read Mohr's book, but it's currently on my short list of books & recordings I need to buy. I sure hope my city will be on the piano tour next year....

I'm not anywhere near NY, but if I ever am going to be, I'll send you a PM.

The "overdriven" bass sound you describe is incidentally one of the reasons I fell in love with the B I have. But I must confess I like Steinways that are less aggressive sounding too.
My B also "sings" in much the same way you describe CD314 & your own piano. I'll bet this is because of the Hamburg-influenced design changes to the B.

Yes, The new Bs are definately improved. The treble in particular got better. I played a couple of the new ones, I almost bought one actually but decided to buy the D instead.

Joe, Anyway you could put me in touch with Zaidee? I sure would love to go further with my research. I did manage to find her phone number and I left a message but no return call. I also managed to get Mrs, Istomin's e mail when she was working at the school but no reply.

LJC, another few questions about your piano.

I notice in the pics that you have baseboard heat. Does this negatively affect the piano in any way? Or is it always off in this room?

How do you control humidity?

How often do you have it tuned/regulated/voiced?

BTW, I LOVE your piano room. The D just fits in perfectly. It's nice that it is not just an ordinary box-shaped room, but has a unique shape. I like the simple decorations that do not compete with the piano's gorgeous looks.

Someday, I will upgrade to a D, but I'm going to have trouble deciding between NY and Hamburg!

H,- Hi again. The baseboard heat is actually not as close to the piano as it looks in the photo and does not seem to have an effect on the piano. I was lucky with the shape of the room it works well with gigantic pianos. I use a Sears whole room humidifier rated for a 3000 Sq foot house. The pinao room is closed off and it runs 24/7 in the dead of winter to keep 50% RH in winter. During a real cold snap I cant even keep 50% and it can drop below 45% at times. The house has central air so usually the room is about right but sometimes climbs to the high 50s. Right now is tough on L.I. because its still humid but its cooler so the Central air is letting the humidity get too high (up to 64% at times)and the sound is less clear as a result. Tomorrow is supposed to be drier so when we dry out I'll call my tuner. He comes every 2 months or so. I'd like to follow Horowitz's example and tune once a month..maybe when my son graduates college. The D was regulated and voiced when I got it 3 years ago and I had Alex Markovic Steinway head concert tech voice and regulate once since. Alex is the Hall's main Hamburg guy. As for moving up to a D well its not as big a difference as my moving up from a Yamaha C3. Although the C3 was really a fine piano and one of the best in that size range I think. IF price is a consideration the Hamburg is way more money. 111K and about 140K for a new D. (I was lucky with the price too)

My first Steinway was an heirloom A -- 1910 -- quite a step up from the Acrosonic I was playing as a loaner by my rebuilder who turned into a butcher.

Played dozens of pianos when looking. Went to all the NY stores and tried mightily to love the rebuilt and new Masons (grew up playing a Mason). Played all the rebuilt Steinways could find and liked none of them.

Then went to a new Steinway store on Long Island and found this A that had the tone, the touch (and great ribbon mahagony) and decided after months of looking this was it.

Then played Horowitz' piano and found could do things with the base notes and longer keys couldn't do with the A. Played all the B's could find in the NYC area and lo and behold found a great one (New York) at the LI store (again). Of course went to the Hall and the Factory.

As I've stated before, Steinways built or rebuilt by Steinway sounded different to my ear.

I used the upgrade feature to full advantage after 2 years with the A and never looked back. By then was delighted with the Steinway sound and the touch of the pianos I had selected. The B is an ebony for obvious reasons.

Now 3+ years later, the piano has gone through two moves and is as happy as ever in Florida.

Thanks for the info, LJC

About a D, it would take a truly incredible D (NY or Hamburg) to make me upgrade. My dealer maintains a couple of C&A D's for my state, and I played one of them side-by-side with my B. Guess what? I really found my B to be the more satisfying instrument sound-wise. Action-wise, the D was a little better (not a lot better, though!) due to the longer keys.

Unfortunately, my piano room is my living room and it can't be closed off (big opening into rest of house), so I rely on the Dampp-Chaser & keeping the lid closed when not in use for humidity control. But it works, and the piano stays quite stable. Though I am in dry climate, we have a monsoon season where the air stays very wet, and I noticed that the piano lost some clarity. The D-C heating rods were working overtime, but they tamed the humidity enough to keep the piano reasonably stable. Now that its drying out, the piano definitely sounds better.
My dream house would have a piano room like yours that can be completely closed off.

I ambled over to my Steinway dealer today and had some interesting experiences. They had one new B and three C&A pianos, two D's and one B.

I played the new B first. I was not impressed. Sounded rather thin and cold, though quite a lot of prep had gone into it. The salesman told me (and I agree with him) that my B is *much* better. In fact, he told me a couple of people had passed on the new one already.

Then I played one of the D's. I was really pleasantly surprised at how much like my B it was. The lowest bass was better, but otherwise it truly sounded the same. I believe it was not the same D I mentioned above. I played for about an hour on the D and I didn't regret my B for a second, they were so similar. In fact, my piano sounds better in the "killer octave" area. It was fun to spend time on a nice concert grand, though!

The C&A B didn't even hold a candle to mine. They told me that they have put a lot of prep into this B w/o satisfactory results. It sounded okay, of course, but it fell short of incredible. I did not have time to play the other D.

I have therefore concluded that my B is one of those few "incredible" Steinways.

If you want a D just keep trying them as they come along. When you find the right one you'll know it. LAst time I was at Steinway Hall a few weeks ago I tried about 6 Ds. There werent any C&As available. One D was not a good one The others were just average. I dont kw much prep went into any of them. There were 2 Henry Z Steinway edition Ds there. They were the 2 best ones and one of them was killer and the other almost as good but they need to get the really good one out the door before any of those others will sell. THe HZ Steinway D is about 200K!!!!!

200K??!! They better be good for that price; REALLY good.

I'm not serious on a D right now, but I figure it never hurts to be on the look out in case a really good one becomes available. Of course I want one (who doesn't?), but I'm afraid it will have to wait.

I remain completely satisfied with the B. The piano is superb and it fit my budget & room. I actually do have room for a D, but the living room would definitely have to become the piano room, which I'd rather not do for now.

Thank you for your advice on auditioning D's. I will play every D I can get my hands on if/when I do decide to seriously pursue purchasing one.


PS- Like I said above, I am not near NY, but if for any reason I am ever going to be (maybe shopping for a D someday... ), I will send you a PM if it's all right with you. I would love to get together to discuss/play/look at fine gigantic pianos if I ever make it back east!

.

Yours definitely would benefit from attention by a top quality concert tech. Steinways always tend to require quite a bit of work to bring out their best qualities. All the issues you mention should be easy fixes anyway.

Once the small issues are ironed out by a good tech, Steinways (particularly the B & D, but all the models in general) can be truly incredible.

PS- The C&A D I mentioned above plays with exceptional smoothness and quick repetition across the compass, so your piano has a lot of as yet untapped potential in the action department!

I bought a 1909 model O from a local tech/tuner who had it completely rebuilt by a noted rebuilder 10 years prior. The piano just sings! I tried new Estonias, Yamahas, Kawais, and many other but kept coming back to this one. It was kept in a reading room at a local Christian Science Church, where a handful of people played it regularly. When he sells the piano, he brings another one in. On top of that, I payed 10k less than what I could have gotten the Estonia for.