Such an interesting class. The student was excellent, and prepared to run with what Maestro Bidini wanted to impart. The Shigeru Kawai pianos afforded an impressively rich colour palate (and range of volume, too). I wish it had been possible to hear more of what Bidini was saying (as what could be heard was illuminating), and also to get a clearer view of his own approach to the keyboard. But photography in the wild is hard!
Was thinking, even before your comment, about posting about the Shigeru Kawai. They sound so good it's almost like "cheating" to play on them. I once tried one out by a dealer, and thought "wow, it makes me sound so professional; it does half the work for you." It's literally similar to a self-driving car. It seems really great, but I ambivalently felt it boosts the pianist so much that it may cover up deficiencies in the playing, or make someone using such a piano (especially habitually) over-reliant on the assist. Other pianos make you work to get a sound like that. Now that I think about it, maybe its a similar issue to very sophisticated digital pianos.
@@AnonYmous-ry2jn I remember also thinking that better pianos flatter bad pianists. But, many years later, I have come round to the view that the great pianists are only able to achieve their most characteristic results on proper pianos, and that part of what they do is respond to what the piano is prepared to give. I know that what I do on my Steinway is conditioned by my having got used to the whole complex of action and sound, and this has entirely raised my game (and that is, but only in part, transportable to lesser instruments). So I don't necessarily share your ambivalence . Having said that, I cannot function on a Bosendorfer, which seems to me too hair-trigger responsive.
@@zugzwang2007 Thanks, I've generally come around to a similar point of view. Steinway, though, is what I had in mind for a piano that can reach the highest heights, but still making you work for it (some Steinways more than others, obviously). I like your use of the word "flatter" and that's exactly it. SK does that possibly to a fault. It's not that I believe a piano should force you to work, and demand more from the pianist, but that playing on such a "flattering" piano can both mask deficiencies and stand in the way of effort, development of the skill to coax an ideal sound from more challenging pianos. As to Bosendorfer, I frankly never liked the sound of those pianos very much; in a very different way I feel the same about Yamaha and Fazioli.
