TandemHearts

I started playing piano around 1998. Last year we decided to sell the upright piano that had served me well and buy a grand piano.

After a couple of rounds of the local stores, we were down to the wire. It was time to make a decision and buy a grand piano. One local store had a couple of models that I was interested in and one other dealer much further away that had one that we looked at a month earlier. A couple of weeks earlier I had stopped by the closer dealer to do some quick test drives and I was blown away by a 7′ Mason & Hamlin . It had a wonderful sound, well balanced and sweet, with a certain bell like quality. The plan was to check that one out and if I still liked it as much after a full review, we would get that one. When we got to the store, it had a sold tag on it.

This dealer had an interesting array of pianos: two 6′3″ Estonias, next to two 7″ Mason & Hamlins, plus 6′4″ and 5′8″ M&Hs – just to give one a range of things to play. The pair of Estonias were as different as two pianos could be. The first one, also with a sold tag on it, had a lovely sound, that Veronica described as “strawberries” – sweet, juicy, light. The other one had been voiced, at the request of a prospective buyer, to be mellow and muted. It was a sound that I would descibe as “cotton”. It may have been what somebody wanted, but it sounded to us like somebody had thrown a rug on to the strings. It was dull and dead. I’ve since chatted withe the buyer and they are very happy with the sound. They have a bright room and needed to restrain the piano.

I didn’t spend much time with the sold M&H 7′, the one that we came in for. I figured it was sold, so there wasn’t much sense in dreaming about it. It was still great with a fuller sound than the Estonia (as expected), while also very balanced. The other M&H 7′ just didn’t sound, or feel, right. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was just not quite right about the sound. Veronica agreed, suggesting that it was not as well balanced. The regulation was not to my taste, and I was unable to play the piano very softly. These are things that could have been adjusted, but I was looking for the piano that said, “I’m the one. Take me home.” I was not looking for the one that said, “I’m nice and with a little work I could be the one.” Add in that the finish was Pyramind Mahogany, which is too flashy for us, and that piano didn’t make the cut.

I played the two smaller M&H and, as with the available 7′, they were nice enough. Each step down from 7′ meant a little less fullness in the sound, as expected. The touch on each was very nice, but neither one filled my heart.

We had been at the store, moving from piano to piano, for about 3 hours, when Veronica said, “Why don’t you try those two on the end?” “Those two” were a 7′ Schimmel and a 6″7′ Bosendorfer. So, on a whim, I tried them. I hadn’t been thinking about the Schimmel because I’d never been taken with the smaller ones I had tried in this store over the years. I had ignored the Bosendorfer because it was out of the budget. The Schimmel felt very nice, easy to play with a sound that was a little darker than the others we had played – still balanced, but less sweet, more like fine caramel than berries. But I hadn’t been thinking Schimmel, so I didn’t take it too seriously. So, I moved on to the Bosendorfer. There really is nothing else in the world quite like a Bosendorfer. The action, the feel, was buttery smooth. The sound lush and dark – like taking a bath in molten chocolate. Too dark for me and too expensive.

At that point a man came in and asked to try a few pianos. We needed a break and were happy to let somebody else play. He played much better than I do and played the available M&H, Schimmel and Bosendorfer in sucession. Listening to him confirmed that the Bosy was too dark, the M&H not quite right and the Schimmel was The One.

So that’s it: Two “identical” Estonias that could not be more different, two “identical” Mason & Hamlins that show that it is a fine line between “great” and “nice”, three pianos that just didn’t fit my taste, and one Schimmel. It took me another 30 minutes of playing and thinking to accept that the Schimmel was the right one. I’ve always felt that the right piano would “play itself”. The Schimmel is like that.

Two days later I sat down at my upright Charles Walter and it was like coming home. I had probably spent 800 hours playing this piano. It was a fine piano. It had all the limitations associated with an upright, but I knew how it would sound – and I liked it. I knew how each key will feel. The pedal action was as natural, to me, as can be. For pieces that I know well, it did “play itself”. As I played my morning practice, I thought, “This could be the last time I ever play this piece on this piano.”

The new piano came a few days later and I found the upright a good home.