Franz Mohr in Moscow

[Andrew and Rebeca Anderson]

David,
Compare a north American piano such as Steinway 
to a fine European piano such as Sauter or 
Fazioli or [you choose] and you will be inclined 
to accept that "bell-like tone" addage the way 
you describe it.  The American tonal tradition is 
very rich in harmonics and it works for many of 
us.  The Austrian tonal tradition, on the other 
hand, has cleaner more harmonized sound where the 
tenor is clean and dense chords can be heard in 
detail where they would be muddy on a Steinway, for example.

We have an old restored Everett Concert grand 
side by side with a Sauter semi-concert grand and 
can go back and forth between them.  The 
differences are not subtile.  The Everett dates 
back to the "golden-age" of American piano 
building and its tone is reminiscent of a fine 
Steinway.  The Sauter has a clearer tone that 
allows complex harmonies to be heard in detail 
and is much more powerful in the treble with a 
longer singing sustain then I encounter in most American pianos.

That said, there are interesting differences to 
be explored in all the finest pianos.  Americans 
have gone for that thick brash "bell-like" 
tone.  There is a Nordic/Russian tonal tradition 
too that is ultra bright, even harsh.  A good variety to satisfy any taste...

Andrew Anderson

At 12:33 PM 4/12/2007, you wrote:
>I enjoyed watching that.  Mohr says in the short 
>film that Horowitz likes a certain "nasal-ness" 
>in the tone.  That set me to thinking again 
>about how tricky it is to find adjectives to 
>describe the subtleties of piano tone. What do 
>we say of the sound of a Steinway concert grand 
>in comparison to a Yamaha?  We may be able to 
>tell them apart in good quality recordings, but 
>can we DESCRIBE the differences?  Especially to a non-expert?
>
>There is a cliché I really dislike - it's when 
>someone describes a fine piano as have a 
>"bell-like" tone. Yuk yuk yuk!  Who wants a 
>piano that sounds like bells?  Many bells have 
>such a muddle of harmonics that you can hardly 
>tell what note they are.  It would be a really 
>great compliment to a set of bells to say that 
>they had a "piano-like tone", I reckon!
>
>Do any have adjectives they would apply to 
>particular brands, or that they tend to use in 
>decribing tone quality?  I'd like to hear what 
>others say before venturing any of my own......
>
>Best,
>
>David.