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Ronald Brautigam's Beethoven Sonatas via the fortepiano

Posted by John C. - Aussie (A) on June 15, 2017 at 00:05:07

These nine discs arrived today and are now in the Server feeding music via Roon. A couple of surprises about them to post about.

First listening was done on the high end rig using the Focal Utopia headphones. I've previously been prejudiced against the sound of the fortepiano as "clunky" and unappealing but am changing my mind with a caveat, more of that in a moment. Broutigam's playing came though the headphones with an unexpected precision of sound. It was more like the precision one hears on the harpsichord, something unsurprising as it is a derivation of that instrument. Each note sounded with less associated resonance that accompanies music played on the modern instrument.and the impact was impressive.

So I moved to the office here to continue listening as this post is typed. The set up here is a different DAC (a modded Benchmark DAC1) fed into Sennheiser HD800S headphones. And the sound is entirely different!!!. Much less precise and, very oddly there is a resonance with it that was absent in the other system. Most unexpected. The fortepiano on this system is sounding much more like the modern piano.

Of course the artistry is the same BUT it is going to make a difference to my enjoyment of it when it is not as detailed and the playing does not come through with the precision of the other system.

But this is a forum about music, not the hardware so I'll say no more. Bottom line I'm looking forward to listening to more sonatas and will be interested to hear from others what they think of the forte instrument. Maybe someone here has actiually played on one?

What can be more subjective than music? It reflects our personal tastes and preferences.

• The set at Amazon   (Open in New Window)

Edits: 06/15/17

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