Can you guess the price of the Macassar ebony Steinway grand piano? Below is the video demonstration on the piano. Hint… Not beyond $500K.
I was honored to be invited to visit Steinway gallery (www.steinway-gallery.com.sg) at their Orchard Road show room yesterday. Together with the Essex and Boston series of pianos, I managed to try out the various pianos available in the show rooms, figuring out the touch weight and the range of tone colours capable. The pianos available range from the Essex upright to the gorgeous Macassar ebony Steinway (http://eu.steinway.com/en/pianos/steinway/crown-jewels) in the above video. I manage to also try out the special edition Lang Lang piano created for the SG50 celebrations.
Touch Weight
For my students I will normally recommend a piano with a minimum touch weight of 55 grams. This is required for the training of finger independence.
To get a feel of the touch weight of the Macassar ebony, I chose the Fantaisie Impromptu which has fast and delicate passages. This allows me to explore the range of tone colors and how fast the keys can response. The touch weight is about 55 grams which is acceptable but compared to other pianos the resistance is very high which requires the player to have strong and good finger techniques. A good stamina is also required for sustained playing.
Dynamic range and variety of tone colours
I chose a slow piece ‘Over the rainbow’ on the Boston upright grand piano, which is also under Steinway and Son’s series. Apparently the keys are sensitive enough to response to differently range of weights that I applied to the piano keys, the notes above the treble clef are distinct and crystal clear with long sustains even without the use of the sustain pedal.
A very satisfying experience trying on 3 different brands under Steinway and Sons. My next plan will be to organise a student’s concert at Steinway Gallery, so that my students will have a chance to play on good quality pianos probably a Boston grand so that they will get a feel on how they sound like at home.
