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發表於 2015-1-10 09:47:26
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Went to listen to Rachmaninov Piano Concerto 3 last evening, played by a young lad named Abduraimov. I was about the same distance from the Steinway as my seat to my speakers. Breathtaking indeed with the piano strings almost like breaking at numerous climaxes.
This piece was premiered in New York with Rach himself at the piano. One of the, if not the most difficult and demanding repertoire for the pianist, thus being put aside for some time. Until Horowitz came along and popularized it. Just like the Kodaly cello solo piece that Starker made it well known.
Our compatriot 王羽佳 first made her name by playing this piece. She is about 5 ft 2 to 4 (my personal assessment) and her strength and finger span are severe limitations; so it is a marvel that she is able to play this piece well. I listened to her last year and she used her body to exert strength through her arms to the fingers. She is coming in mid June and in less than 10 days, few tickets remain. Ticket price for the first row seat last night in the same hall with the same HK Phil was HK$280 but that for her concert in June is HK$680. This may well be the last time I will attend her concert because next time the price may well be 800 to 1K, just like that of郎朗 who is my “beyond the price” artist. 國語同胞 certainly don’t mind paying.
The concert grand piano sound in live comes mainly from the hammers striking the strings, clear and crisp with impact, in a concentrated pool with a lot of resonance of the strings, with reflection from the bottom of the piano body. So if a track is recorded correctly, the reproduction should be similar at home, with an image 3 feet wide at the plane of the speaker, extending 5 ft to the back towards the wall. I attended one demo with the piano notes spanning some 20 ft from side wall to side wall and recessed at the back. The demonstrator and audience all seemed happy, except me. Also one should be aware that the sound of an upright, played at home by a child or in neighbours’ flat is not the same as a concert grand because the upright uses the wooden enclosure to reinforce the sound, thus is very much heavier in mid bass. Most audio systems reproduce a piano track with too heavy mid bass. Up to now I find the 2L-049 album sounding truer to live than other tracks that I have, and I need to switch off the woofers. |
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