Kristian Bezuidenhout explains the fortepiano in Toronto
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- Historically informed performance specialist Kristian Bezuidenhout explains some of the things that make the fortepiano different from the modern concert piano. He spoke to John Terauds during rehearsals for his début with Tafelmusik in Toronto, with concerts running December 5 to 8, 2013.
This video was captured on an iPhone 5S and very quickly edited in iMovie10.
For more information on Bezuidenhout, visit kristianbezuide...
For more information on art music in Toronto, visit www.musicaltoro...
Great video!
AuthenticSound
How nice to find AS here :)
The piano makers in that time - Late 18th and early 19th century- experienced a lot. Even Stein developped new techniques. There were different "fields" of development. One was the mechanic and the other was the sound. Kristian compares the sound of the wooden "hammerklavier"/fortepiano with the modern metal-sound of Steinway for example. And there are a lot of more differences Kristian doesnt mention in this short video. - But if you are interested you can find more about that in other youtube-videos as well.
All in all I prefer the sound of hammerklavier/fortepiano instruments for the music of those composers who used it - and there are many after Beethovens time like Brahms and Chopin. If you hear a concert -as I do with my Sennheiser headphones- by Mozart or Beethoven with that instruments and an orchestra that is not overpacked with violins, you hear a big variety of instruments. For me, this is the test of recordings: How differentiated is the sound especially in the Forte passages. Compare by yourself.
I'll only add one thing to anyone interested, which is that some European pianos still have enough clarity in the bass that you can play a chord and distinguish the notes, for example, Bosendorfers. Steinway's more powerful sound results from having bass strings which are rich in overtones, whereas Bosendorfers (which are not as powerful) stress the fundamental tone more.
The prevalence of the Steinway D for a century has somewhat killed the sound variety in pianos at high level concerts.
Some high level pianists do not even want to touch anything else because they are completely fixated on them and do not want to "ruin" their muscle memories etc.
Variety exists, but only outside of the big concert avenues.
I would love it if Bösendorfer made a straight strung grand piano
Thank you, this is helping me a lot. Yesterday I was kind of sad and now I'm very happy. I'm an amateur composer and performer and came to the conclusion, I can't get the harpsichord of my keyboard live to our MixTape in August because it's gonna be to much stress on my bicycle, as I mainly play violin, recorder and sing. But I can play the piano as well-together with my harpsichord on mp3.
The piano in our club is pretty old and not in a good condition. To me it doesn't matter whether this fortepiano here is different from the pianoforte - it sounds very much like a piano and absolutely unlike a harpsichord. If piano and harpsichord start with the Ouverture of my little Cantata together, I have kind of orchestral sound.
I your science not just helps professional arts, but also amateurs like me, this is very-very useful. Now I can find new ways to express myself within my 1715 style project. The point is, I always shunned the modern piano, because it changes the mood from old style to modern. But I already heard, the combination of piano and harpsichord sounds remarkably.
We amateurs learn a lot by buying CDs of performers like you and find our own ways to express ourselves. People should NOT just listen to music, but express themselves as well. In these times the masses are too much standing at the sidelines, just admiring what other people do and that's wrong.
How are your studies coming along?
Very interesting, though perhaps rather than jumping into the mid-nineteenth century to make comparisons, it might have been useful to compare the Viennese fortepianos with those encountered by Haydn in London (1791-1795), made by Broadwood which were clearly well in advance of, and created a much bigger, fuller sound than those familiar to Mozart. Haydn lodged for some time opposite Broadwood’s shop and retreated there for some peace and quiet to compose, so he had ample opportunity to investigate the possibilities of these new and much larger and more powerful instruments. Broadwood also sent Beethoven new instruments and anyone with a pair of ears can hear the difference between the technique used and sound created by Mozart on his fortepianos (brilliantly illustrated here), and the huge step forward so audible in the last sonatas written by Haydn in London and almost all Beethoven’s even from Opus 2; again, this was really well illustrated by how thin the Beethoven example sounded in your talk.
Technique is as important a factor in creating the sound as is the actual instrument itself. Mozart’s technique was an eighteenth century technique and as such was complete in itself; there is little further development even in the latest works. He was somewhat disparaging of Clementi after the famous ‘competition’ between the two of them, but in fact, Clementi was at the forefront of a new, 19th century technique which was fully adopted (and developed) by Beethoven and other composers, rather than that of Mozart. Haydn too, writing his late sonatas for the professional pianist Teresa Janson (one of Clementi’s pupils) was writing in a new, more massive Clementi inspired style, with new demands of technique, intended for Broadwood sounding fortepianos. Thus, you find for example octaves in the bass (old style), but with added thirds (new style), something very un-Mozartian; likewise, the opening of Haydn’s sonata in C (Hob. XVI:50) is written expressly for a large scale Broadwood, as are the massive opening chords of the ‘Beethovenian’ sonata in E flat (Hob. XVI:52).
Really interesting talk, I would love to hear more, maybe investigating some of the points I’ve made above. The issues you raise are relevant to anyone trying to play the music of these composers on modern pianos as much as to those playing historical instruments. Thank you for uploading this video.
Appreciate the tour of this fortepiano. He is one of my favorite musicians, but this really helped explain more about his finger work technique and the sounds the instruments produce.
I find it interesting how this piano actually sounds like strings are being hit. I guess it's because I'm so used to the sound of a modern piano, especially considering I've grown up with a piano in my house, that I generally don't think about how the sound is produced, despite that it's merely modified form of the same mechanism the fortepiano uses.
Man, the commitment. To go all the way to Toronto for this instrument...
Thank You! It was very beautiful to watch and to hear.
Thank you for posting this very useful video interview.
That looks like it's a very light action.
Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven 2... truly masters of the instrument.
I can only say Amen!
This man speakership the truth!
Très interessant ! ses enregistrements des sonates de Mozart sont remarquables !
Just shut up and play the damn thing. And afterwards marry me.
lol sicko!
Hey Van, you don't even know how to spell your own name!
Why? You won’t be able to hear it; you being deaf and all.
Nice lecture about music but not good history. The Walter fortepiano was NOT the "deluxe" piano of Mozart's time, it was the Stein. Mozart played the Walter, because he could not afford a Stein.
bit too savage to mozart there
So STEIN was the WAY back then, huh? Okay, bad joke. :P
Mozart received a Stein piano in 1777 after he met Johann Andreas Stein in Augsburg. Mozart purchased his Walter around 1782 and this remained his favorite instrument until his death. In fact, he was so enthusiastic about it that his son, Carl, said, ´Most remarkable is the wing-shaped Pianoforte for which my father had a special preference to such a degree that he not only wanted to have it in his study all the time, but exclusively used this and no other instrument in all his concerts, regardless of whether they took place in court, in the palaces of noblemen or in theatres or other public places´.
May I introduce, from Arthur Hutchings 'Mozart The Musician' the following pp.71-74 (1976):
"Home in Salzburg, Wolfgang had to be content with the family Spath. In his day of triumph in Vienna he could have bought a Stein; yet he bought the Walter and had the pedal added instead of Stein's knee device." I am not including this ex cathedra, simply because in the same section Hutchings diminishes my notion of fortepiano performances, my instrument of performance choice for the classical Triumvirate. I would just note that de gustibus must rule until further refinements of critical knowledge allow us to definitively know what these men of genius truly 'heard.'
Excellent info, just what I was looking for. Is this part of a series on the fortepiano?
I am doing a lecture recital on this idea for my MA in music performance. I will hopefully be recording myself playing the exposition of a Beethoven sonata on the house piano at Beaulieu - a fortepiano that Beethoven actually played(!!) and comparing it to a modern grand. Is there any difference in touch with the fortepiano that I can add to my written notes before I go?
You could have a look at Hummel's Method, though I see now that your exam took place three years ago... In any case, please have a look at my channel in order to discover more videos with fortepianos
The old English pianos were always straight strung and had a wonderful sound. I find now they are cross strung there is a merge of some sounds.
I knew a girl about 40 years ago with the same last name, Bezuidenhout. One night while Christmas caroling she dashed across the street and was struck by a car, a Porsche 944 to be exact. I can still picture her body flying through the air like a rag doll. Anyway, nice playing, and interesting history lesson.
Even modern organs tend to have considerably thinner keys than modern pianos, it this a holdout from earlier instruments or an independently developed phenomenon?
Who built this replica?
I want to hear a piano like this in a jazz quartet
That would sound interesting. I could arrange for that. A fortepiano in jazz. And perhaps a baroque double bass for the pizzicato walk. And of course don’t forget the drum kit. The Fortepiano Jazz Trio.
@@liamwatson5125 I feel þe sound of þe fortepiano, and it’s smaller size, makes it well suited to a mellow jazz situation
@@almostliterally593 Well there are two knee pedals on a fortepiano. One makes a smooth sound, and the other makes a sharp sound. A walking bass line would sound excellent on a baroque double bass.
I have a question. so I can see, you are also the forte piano sustain pedal?
The sustain is activated by a knee lever
On these Walter copies of Viennese fortepianos, there are two knee levers below the keyboard to raise the damper for legato or add more muffling to soften the sound. It is an ingenious little device that was later replaced by pedals. However, with these instruments, the knee levers are closer to the action so there is a distinctly faster response.
This is great, what a love.
What is that song at 2:15?
Mozart Piano Sonata K. 333 Listen to the whole thing. It's a gem!
There’s only one Forte Piano in Toronto? Or is it just that he is in Toronto. If only there was a way in which a sentence might be constructed in order to avoid ambiguity.
There is definitely more than one fortepiano in Toronto. This one was being used by Kristian for the concerts.
@@johnterauds1090 ah, as I thought. “Whilst in Toronto, Kristian Buzuidenhout explains the fortepiano.”
I need to know which songs he played
Daph Duck one was mozart piano sonata 12 1st movement
The first is from the sonata in b flat k333 and the other is the sonata in F major k332. Both are by Mozart
(And of course, he demonstrates the opening chord of Beethoven’s Pahetique Sonata)
Ganz toll
Why is he shaking his head when playing? " No, no no"?
fortepiano = lucid air sedan, steinberg = container truck
It is very difficult to believe what this man says...🤥
Why? You don't like the color of his shirt? From where did you draw this suspicion..? Lol
nice gay :)
What is the piece at 5:25 ?
mozart sonata 13