Re: A perfect piano recording!


tomdeacon wrote:
In April of 2005, just one year ago, Paul Lewis entered the Teldec
Studios in Berlin and, with the collaboration of his colleagues Martin
Sauer and Philipp Knop, set about making what I figure is just about as
perfect recording of a modern Steinway concert grand as I have heard.
(Harmonia Mundi: HMC 901902)

First of all the piano is a glorious instrument in every way. But more
than that this piano has been captured to perfection. The bass is
clear, rich and pure, the mid-bass beautifully velvety in sound, the
mid-range of great clarity and beauty, and the treble crystalline in
quality.

Assuming that a decent, or even SOTA sound system is at one's disposal,
I would say that the listener will feel him or herself in the very
presence of this magnificent Steinway.

Some will claim that this is Paul Lewis' work. And I am the first to
say that he is partially responsible. But only partially, as he has
secured the participation of his two wonderfully capable German audio
engineers to bring the sound to the listener.

Lewis' Op. 31 sonatas are an auspicious beginning for his Beethoven
cycle on Harmonia Mundi, I would suggest. These are among my very
favourite Beethoven sonatas, so perhaps I am biased in his favour right
off the bat. Whatever, this is a simply glorious CD.

And the sound of that piano! Now, if only SR and VH and IP and a host
of pianists of another generation had been treated to such piano
reproduction. Hey, I am even prepared to go so far as to say that JH
would have benefitted from this treatment.

TD


All good and well, but your perspective seems to me distorted, in a
way. Should one not rather demand an explanation why the majority of
recordings sound so terribly unrealistic/blurred/unbalanced etc,
instead of panegyrising the few engineers and producers who do only
what one has the right to expect?
Is it not scandalous that after fifty years of experience with full
frequency stereo recordings (and an enormous technological development
in all related areas, btw) what you describe here as a realistic piano
sound is not the rule rather than the exception?

Recording a piano difficult, you say? I do not believe it. For some
reason the record companies seem to hire the worst engineers/producers.
The typical live concert broadcasted by the BBC or the Swedish Radio,
say, are usually excellent. Their studio recordings also, mostly. Even
as an amateur, after experimenting with piano recordings some years
ago, I came to the conclusion that realistically sounding recordings
are -in a certain sense- simple to make, only one must be willing to
balance the sound by careful microphone placement (an unglamorous
procedure, often tedious), and apart from that keep everything simple.

Since you mention J.H: A couple of inexpensive condenser microphones, a
silent laptop, a simple external sound card, and a not too small, but
ordinary living room, would potentially allow a piano sound vastly
superior to the rather unappetising, veiled, over-resonant,
over-compressed, over-prosessed and "clangy" stuff her company for
some reason presents her through.

Of course, sometimes the explanation of such failures is simple. The
sound engineer -who is trained on popular music and privately listens
only to loud rock - believes that classical piano music is some kind
of muzak for supermarkets or ladies tea-parties. (The responsible
producer is overwhelmed by all technical equipment and vocabulary etc,
and dare not raise his voice, perhaps also because he like you has come
to believe in the myth that recording is difficult).
O.S.

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