Bosendorfer?

Hey guys... I'm going to be playing at a competition in a week, and I just found out that the piano I'll be performing on is a Bosendorfer. I was just wondering what these feel like (I've heard some good and some bad about them). Basically all I know is that they have the 5 (5?) black keys tacked onto the bottom, but what's the action generally like? Heavy? Lighter? I'm just curious about what to expect when I walk onto stage...

 

I heard that Bosendorfer's keys take more effort to push than does a Yamaha or Steinway. (once I played on a Young Chang and those keys felt as if there was a 20lbs weight prohibiting me from pushing down the keys)

 

Once I played a Bosendorfer with such a light touch, I could do (nearly) double tempo Chopin Etudes! Light like a spinet!

Overall, I found it to be extraordinarily sensitive to the tiniest push from my fingers. But not all pianos are regulated the same, and I imagine there could be massive difference depending on the piano technician and his work.

Play on it first, if you can.

Good luck @ the comp!
Pete

 

Lol thanks for the replies guys, even if they may be contradictory At least I know it will be a quality instrument.

@Pete: I will get a 30 second warm up before I start playing... I'll have to decide what I want to try out during that time

 

:lol: 30 second warm-up....giggity giggity! :lol:

 

Hahaha exactly... "warm up"

 

Yes, 30 seconds is just long enough to realize that piano is completely different from what you'd expected.

No pressure! :lol:

 

Hey guys, just thought I'd let you know that the Bosendorfer I played actually ended up having an incredibly light action. Which happened to work perfectly for the Scarlatti K39 and the coda of Chopin's 3rd Scherzo XD and I ended up winning the competition! So I guess for 1 year I can call myself "the best high school pianist in the state of Iowa"

Thanks again for the replies!

 

You should certainly do that because perhaps nobody else will
Congratulations !

 

WTG!! Congratulations!

*frenetically pushing the applause button*

 

I've never been a Bosie fan. This is subjective, but to my ears its tone becomes boring after awhile. Also, when it plays at dynamic fff, it seems that it's voice shatters and sounds like breaking glass. Despite all the raves, it's not a piano I would chose. But I'm in good company. I once read that the owner of Bosendorfer tried hard to cajole Arthur Rubinstein to try his pianos and use them in recital. Rubinstein declined, preferring the Steinway sound.

 

The Bosendorfer that I've performed on a few times now has smaller black keys, lighter touch than the Steinway in the same hall (I can play music much faster on it and more rhythmically consistent as well), but I tend to miss black notes more. They're slightly thinner.