http://performancetoday.publicradio.org ... &year=2010

Recital begins at about 6:00* in "Hour 1". Piano is an 1848 Pleyel that was owned by Chopin.

* This is supposed to indicate time in the audio, not time of day. Sorry for any confusion.

Cool, I've always wanted to hear a Pleyel. This is the piano that was recently discovered, right? The one he used in Scotland? It sounds much closer to a modern piano than I expected, though I can hear that the sustain is shorter.

I'm not fond of this guy's playing...but then, I made the mistake of listening to his 9/2 first instead of skipping to the program. I hate that nocturne. I don't really hate it because it's Chopin, but I hate that everyone plays it, and his rubato was just all over the place (I find that to be tasteless). Don't slow down 'for effect' in the fiddly bits or no one will take you seriously!

It may be that piano; I'm not aware of the particulars behind it. It has a very interesting sound.

As to Ohlsson's playing, I like it for the most part, but there are pianists I like better.

Oh, dang it! I missed the concert.

Just listen to it on the link I posted! It's a recording.

Silly me, I can still listen to it on that site. Yay! I'm listening to it right now. Very cool - I'm picturing our beloved Chopin sitting there. And you're right - the piano has an interesting sound. It's a little tinny, but yet has nice booming bass register. That surprises me. I wonder though, since the piano is old, do you think that it was been restrung and maybe new hammers and all that? If so, it wouldn't have the same sound as it did in Chopin's day, right? I have a photo of that piano somewhere on my computer.

As I said, I do not know any particulars, but I would imagine that the piano has been rebuilt to some extent to ensure it is playable. They still make special low-tension wire for very old pianos like that.

I guess it's not the newly-discovered one, since Chopin owned that one for years before he brought it with him to Britain, and they say this is an 1848 Pleyel (which would have to be the one he bought after returning to Paris). I'd like to hear the one from England. From an article I read on it:


I read somewhere else a comparison of the two pianos, and most people seem to think the older one sounds better, but I can't find that article.

Interesting -I didn't know that. btrw, thanks for this info and link. I really enjoyed listening and you know after awhile I didn't really even mind that the piano sound was much different than new pianos.

one more thing - I asked you a question about that BBCode thing in the other thread - maybe you didn't see it. Doesn't matter though because I just now noticed as I'm typing this that BBCode is on.

No problem! I loved it, so I figured the folks here would enjoy it. It's kind of interesting hearing the music on an instrument at least similar to what it was likely composed on.

Thanks, I'll go over there....