And what an incredible gift that the clergy and parish of St. James' is so supportive and willing to let me use this piano and the space for this project.
Last year, when I played the Grieg Concerto with the Stratford Civic Orchestra, I brought this piano with me for the performance. A big deal to get it there and back, but the move all worked out beautifully. It was around that time that I met piano tuner, Brad Selves, who has been tuning and maintaining the instrument ever since. I am so grateful that Brad is making himself available to tune for the recording as well, as his work is excellent, and he "gets" what I need the piano to do. He has an incredibly busy schedule in London next week, but will make time to come to Stratford each day to give the piano a good going over. This is so hugely important to the sound of the recording. When I recorded at the GGS, they had a resident tuner on call whom we had to page a couple of times during the sessions to make an adjustment or two. My hope is that "my" Yamaha will behave nicely between tunings and all will be well.
Hoping for some nice even-tempered weather, staying constant for a few days in a row...favourable, consistent conditions...that's what pianos prefer.
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As a violinist, I've always wondered how pianists deal with the situation of playing on a different instrument everywhere they go--it takes a few months to get used to a new violin and its "personality": how it "wants" to be played, what sounds it can make and so on.
ReplyDeleteSo I can quite understand your wanting to take a familiar and frendly instrument with you for the recording! And I'm pleased you were able to.