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But that is no guarantee that this album will appeal. It is very contemporary and OFFERTORIUM plays games with BACH'S Musikalischer Opfer, something beyond me currently. An interesting album, but I'm unsure about how often I'll be returning to it.
What can be more subjective than music? It reflects our personal tastes and preferences.
Edits: 08/30/21 08/30/21Follow Ups:
. . . is now available for download at the usual "initial sale price". The first two volumes are my current faves in these works - even beating the considerable accomplishments of Anna "Pouty Lips" Ibragimova and Cedric Tiberghien on the Wigmore Hall label. You may recall that Helmchen has been using the Chris Maene piano, with its absence of cross stringing, in the first two volumes of the BIS set. He's still using that piano for this last volume too.
. . on Onyx. And not just because it's a Gramophone choice. It's probably at 24/96 on Qobuz and elsewhere.
Superlative performance and demonstration sound.
Just because BIS sells at a discount it does not necessarily make their releases a bargain IMHO, though that seems to be a trend here.
I don't know Mel, I think that BIS's introductory discounts are pretty awesome.
Oops - I forgot! You have a thing about BIS. ;-)
...I really don't care for the sound of either Helmchen's piano OR Zimmermann's violin in all 3 volumes of these sonatas. I don't think its recording technique as BIS is usually very good at capturing natural tonalities in a great balance of direct and hall sound. I think it comes down to the instruments themselves. I listen to the stereo hi-res tracks. The performances seem quite fine but I'm having a hard time getting over the sound. Makes me wish Helmchen played a Steinway D. Maybe over time I'll get used to the sonorities here because the playing is quite good.
I listened to the Zimmermann Spring Sonata on Amazon HD at 24/96 and found the violin tone to be thin, strident bordering on screechy. As Zimmermann is playing a Strad, I think, the fault must lie with the recording. I believe I detect a resonance suggesting a poor choice of microphone. Or possibly something about the venue. I listened to two other "Springs" just to be sure.Full disclosure: I have not been a fan of BIS recording technique going back about 16 years. I know I'm in the minority but I trust my ears and my electronics.
On the other hand, and I was looking for it on account of earlier posts, I found the Maene piano sound just beautiful. Could it be too romantic a sound for a Beethoven sonata?
Edits: 08/31/21
If it's OK I though I'd ask our piano man about this piano.
As your ears are probably finely tuned to the sound of particular pianos, I'd ask if you can recognize a Maene piano from a recording.
Also, do you know if the single stringing of the Maene provides more stable tuning then does traditional stringing?
Finally, do you know of any other maker moving to straight stringing?
Thanks. Who would have thought there's room for the development of the piano?
. . . I'd ask if you can recognize a Maene piano from a recording.
I listened to the first volume of the Zimmermann/Helmchen set without knowing that Helmchen was using a Chris Maene piano. I only read the "CD" booklet later. And the truth is that I did not hear anything particularly unusual - even the claimed distinctiveness of each register. As with audio equipment, if you listen for it though, you can hear it! But in this case, it's still very subtle. My own experience is that the technician who cares for each individual piano often has more of an influence on how the piano sounds than the original manufacturer of the piano does. I would not feel confident in generalizing about the "sound" of a Chris Maene piano until I'd heard additional examples. The same is true about the Steingraeber piano used on the Franziska Pietsch / Detlev Eisinger recording of the Prokofiev Violin Sonatas, which I also posted about recently. My point is that it's hard to generalize from a single instance. The Chris Maene piano used on the BIS recordings does have a transparent sound, but other pianos can have this quality too. Moreover, transparency is often just as much a result of the playing as of the instrument itself. In fact, it's really the intersection of the instrument with the playing (i.e., how the player adapts to the instrument).
. . . do you know if the single stringing of the Maene provides more stable tuning then does traditional stringing?
The only relevant "selling point" made in the brochure for Chris Maene pianos is that the strings are individually attached (i.e., the single stringing you're referring to), for which greater stability is claimed.
. . . do you know of any other maker moving to straight stringing?
No - I suspect that the inclination of the Chris Maene company to move to straight stringing on a modern piano could be related to the fact that they also make a lot of reproductions of fortepianos (e.g., Beethoven's Broadwood) which were straight strung. They would seem to have a lot of experience with this aspect of the manufacturing.
Given your remarks I had to mosey over to:
Edits: 08/31/21
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