Here's Jared's description: "There's something incredible about the clarity and feel and range and responsiveness and tone of this piano. Months ago, last summer when we initially started to look around for a grand, we made the drive down to the Richmond home/workshop of Alexander Brusilovsky, a Russian piano restorer extraordinaire recommended by our piano tuner/technician David Weiss. We spent over an hour looking at a beautiful restored 1920 Baldwin in his basement. Although we thought it was lovely, I confided that - unlike how qualified I feel in assessing an acoustic guitar - I'm probably not a good enough pianist to really know how to judge them, or even how to distinguish their sound and playability. (I told Jodi 'The Baldwin sounds great... but so does our Kawai...') We were unsure what to do, and told Alex that we would think it over. But as we were making our way out, I spied the Steinway in his front room, and sat down to play it on a whim... and something happened. In David Weiss's words, the instrument 'spoke to me'. It was like magic, like electricity coursing through me. It was different. I had never felt anything like this, playing a piano, before. And although we spent several weeks afterward deliberating and 'deciding' - analyzing our budget, taking the boys down to Richmond to play it, weighing out the pros and cons - the truth is, the decision was essentially made in those first moments of playing the piano. It was like that scene in the first Harry Potter movie, when Harry gets matched up with his wand. I couldn't even sleep that night, thinking about the piano and how it sounded and felt! So in the end the decision was easy, and a fitting expression of our values - music is a high priority at our house!"
I'm so often moved by what they are playing on piano or their strings, and I can't imagine our lives without the beautiful music these boys make. Others are moved too; Gavin had a belated birthday party last Friday, the day after the Steinway arrived, so when parents were coming to get their kids we pulled a couple of the lingering parents into the music room to hear Gavin play. He played an original piece that no one knew was his composition until he was finished, and there were tears in the eyes of our friends. Tears! Music stirs the soul like nothing else and it fills our home and it fills my soul.
As a practical matter, having the Steinway has changed a few things. For instance, I can no longer have a conversation on the phone if someone is playing unless I
leave the main floor....I've been opting for the garage! It has also influenced who practices what, and when. In the past, a normal scene in the early evening might find one of the boys on piano in the music room with the French doors closed to muffle some of the sound, and someone else practicing cello in the adjoining room. (But not violin...violin has always needed it own room, upstairs or downstairs, with the door shut tight!) This overlapping routine came to a sudden halt as we realized the number of decibels the new piano was putting out. So the eight daily music practices now pose a bit more of a logistical challenge, and take longer to get through. But the upside is clear: they love their time on the piano more now than ever before, and since the Steinway arrived they have even asked during a few of their practices if they can play a little longer! (Whereas in the past, the boys were asking me every 5-10 minutes what time it is on the clock, and I tried, not always successfully, to patiently remind them that they have ears to hear the buzzer when the timer goes off...) Although practicing can be difficult and tedious at times, I am so proud of how they continue to work hard at developing their musical talents and gifts... and it doesn't hurt to have a nice instrument to practice on.
Here are some descriptive details from Alexander, that I want to record and remember:
- The piano is a 5'9" Hamburg Steinway M, originally built in 1924. In its rebuilt form it is truly a world class instrument.
- Alex gave it a "full scale" rebuilding, including a new pinblock (from Delignit, Germany), strings (Roslau, Germany), tuning pins, damper felt (Laurex, France), state-of-the-art composite action including shanks and wippens specifically designed to retrofit vintage Steinways (Wessel, Nickel and Gross, USA) and new hammer head (Abel, Germany).
- The action was meticulously analyzed for optimization of geometry, and as a result, the keys have minimal lead weights in them (no more than 1.5 to 2 lead weights in the base of the keys, remarkably light). This makes the action very light and fast. According to Alex, it will "overplay any piano virtuoso on the planet."
- Alex made an entirely new soundboard, crafted in the manner traditional for that period - a compression-type soundboard with ribs from Sitka spruce, sugar pine, and red cedar, with new bridges.
- The plate was refinished and precisely elevated on new acoustic dowels.
- The key frame and original ivory and ebony keys were rebuilt with new felt.
- The cabinet was refinished in a tradition-for-the-period hand-rubbed ebony laquer.
- Originally the piano had two pedals, but Alex added sostenuto mechanism and a third pedal ("now you can play the French impressionists!"
In other words, it's an amazing instrument, a one of a kind. I know there will come a time when this piano will get passed on in our family, and all I can hope for is that you boys remember one thing: it's just a piano and you are brothers. In the meantime, it's thrilling to hear you play and develop your talents on this amazing new instrument in our home.
