Pierre-Laurent Aimard talks about C. Bechstein at the Wigmore Hall

Pierre-Laurent Aimard performed on an C. Bechstein Grand Piano works by Franz Liszt, Alexandre Scriabin, Claude Debussy, Julian Anderson and Nikolay Obdukhov at the Wigmore Hall on March 11, 2017. The instrument was build by C. Bechstein in 1899 and just restored by technician Peter Salisbury.
In 1899 the German piano manufacturer began to build a new concert hall next to its London showroom on Wigmore Street. Busoni played at the Hall's inaugural concert in 1901. Scriabin, Rubinstein, Moiseiwitsch, Egon Petri and many other famous pianists and composer performed there too. As the British government ordered the confiscation of all subsidiaries of German companies in the UK, Bechstein Hall and its showroom were sold in November 1916. The building still functions as a concert venue - today’s Wigmore Hall.
Pierre-Laurent Aimard chose works from composers for his concert at the former Bechstein Hall, who felt close to Bechstein.
Aimard plays excerpts of his program in this video and explains the special sound of the C. Bechstein instrument and the connections between instrument and the acoustic of the hall. John Gilhooley, Director of the Wigmore Hall, piano technician Peter Salisbury and composer Julian Anderson speak also about the wonderful project.
Pierre-Laurent Aimard is one of the most famous pianists of our time. He just received the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize. The award, which is given to artists for a life devoted to the service of music, includes a 250,000 euro grant.
Learn more:
www.bechstein.com/en/the-worl...
www.pierrelaurentaimard.com/

[@philiphowell1505]

My C Bechstein, a model 7, made in Berlin 1908, serial no 82523 owned me for 25 years until our sad parting of the ways when I had to move to a small flat. Saying goodbye to dear friends is never easy.

[@jeffreyhall5513]

Most Grands in the upper register just plunk, plunk, but this Bechstein, as Peter and Pierre-Laurent say, it just sings - it's like striking chrystal, so chrisp and clean and in acoustic envelope which is all encompassing and totally supportive. Just brilliant!!

[@goognamgoognw6637]

Once you hear the Steinway plunk plunk sound for every note, you can never get it out of your mind. The audience sitting in the hall might not hear it as it does not carry but the steinway pianist can never move away from it.

[@death2pc]

Major hats off to Peter Salisbury............. This man is one of a kind and is at the heart of this. His insight - knowledge is beyond words. His pointing out the original bridge and stringing said it all. The top manufacturers should take note of his heed............. This.Big D is off the charts. Nonpareil.

[@OE1FEU]

Be happy, the top manufacturers take note of his expertise. Peter is one of the five top concert technicians in the world and those in the know do everything to get hold of him. You Londoners are privileged to have him, just like Berlin has the perfect guy.

[@Hervinbalfour]

This is probably the best C. Bechstein I've ever heard. It has an absolutely ethereal sound to it. I would love to play some Debussy or Ravel on this instrument.

[@colinmurphy2214]

That’s absolutely remarkable! I love these kinds of videos, and this has to be one of the best Pianos I’ve ever heard, as in top 2 or three

[@johnschlesinger2009]

Fascinating. I have become very interested in Bechstein after listening/watching Jorge Bolet's masterclasses on the Rachmaninoff 3rd concerto, and listening to some of Bolet's wonderful recordings of Liszt. The sound is so pure.

[@aurelbetz2172]

An extremely well-made video by all participants! One can actually hear (with good headphones) all the special characteristics of this old Bechstein that Aimard is pointing out, and how they can benefit certain compositions.

[@johnthwaites9991]

Have just bought a new C. Bechstein Concert Grand for the Birmingham Conservatoire.

[@johndavolta3124]

How is it holding after 3 years?

[@Alix777.]

probably beaten up enought

[@MystiqWisdom]

I played a C. Bechstein A190 today after having done a bunch of research on pianos generally over the past week and realizing that this company is top tier. I do have a soft spot for Kawais still, but the A190 is the best I've personally played, and this includes the Shigeru Kawai SK2 I believe it was. Now, I haven't played a Fazioli, Bösendorfer, nor a Hamburg Steinway yet, so we'll see. I would still get a Kawai GL30 baby grand as a first grand though, as anything else is a forever sort of grand. Even the Bechstein upright I tried was fantastic. It just feels completely different in my fingers (in a good way) playing a Bechstein.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

This makes a Steinway sound flawed and defective in a saturated non-linear way . The Bechstein sound is never muddled and stays transparent in all registers no matter how dense the harmony is.

[@DustyOldCowTown]

Ravel's Le Gibet really brings out that bell-like quality. 1:48 - 2:18 Absolutely stunning instrument, hall, playing, and engineering.

[@fulcherpj]

Wonderful, remarkable clarity!!

[@984francis]

I've always liked Bechstein pianos but this is incredible. Well done!

[@Eunannos]

REALLY enjoyed this -thanks for sharing this !!! 😀

[@FirstGentleman1]

Wonderful sound.

[@brooksiefan]

Outstanding!

[@keplergso8369]

Very interesting ! This piano wonderfully sounds !

[@bhaveshmistry3255]

C.Bechstien is the best! What a sound I wish I will get chance to explore Bechstien pianos. ❤️

[@chrisvazan]

Just ordered a 124 Classic and I couldn’t be more excited for it to arrive!!! This company makes just incredible instruments.

[@Bechstein]

Thank you, Chris. Wishing you many hours of musical joy with your new instrument.

[@PMUP2016]

Amazing!

[@bubffm]

I love my Bechstein. ❤

[@Hugo-ub5bj]

never gonna regret about my bechstein 1902 model b

[@joelweber3462]

Very nice video and piano (et merci au pianist pour cette clarte de technique) I have also encountered a handful of American concert grands (from 1940s) that had one treble section of the bridge with non-standard bridge notching and instead used the diagonal cut. It seemed rather odd but nothing negative could be discerned during the concerts.

[@shonamcdonald5]

living in Cape Town and have a Bechstein no 44967 built in 1891 but due to circumstances now need to sell it

[@alex-plays8407]

Tremendous

[@johannesheinen]

absolutely stunning sound! i'd like to have a sampled version of this amazing instrument

[@dkinney1000]

Interesting and sweet colours with a relatively limited dynamic range suitable for a smaller hall. It's nice to hear this relic aesthetic, food for thought in an homogenous contemporary piano culture.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

But today's pianos with powerful sound like the Steinway use saturated non linear sound to be powerful. Music with more than 3-4 notes harmony immediately sound muddled and it's worse in the low register. The treble sound like breaking glass, there is no singing quality, total lack of transparency but yes, lots of machine power. I'm quite sure today's piano's will be judged with even less indulgence in the future than you have for this golden age piano.

[@dkinney1000]

@@goognamgoognw6637 you’ve raised some very interesting points here but I’d venture to suggest that a piano’s core or signature aesthetic should be a conversation between the three realms we can identify as energy, utility, and character. And more importantly to understand how these realms coalesce to define the purpose the creator has in mind.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

@@dkinney1000 Energy is not the appropriate grandeur in this case, instead you meant power which is the transformed into acoustic waves over time. Art is is non utilitarian and character should be in the artist not so much in the instrument.

[@MinorityMans]

So where is the video of the recital? Its like having a documentary "making of" a movie without releasing the movie.

[@jismo7]

What a delightful sound. I saw a Bechstein model E (slightly newer) sell for £5,000, needing some restoration. Bargain.

[@sasholyubakonstantinovi9082]

finally this video post is not forbidden

[@cloverhal2284]

I’ve got a millenium 116 k : not the grandest by any mesure, but its richness trumps any Yamaha out there. What it may lack (a little bit) in precision, it makes up in panache and colour, which is the mark of a great product

[@rainerlanglotz3134]

B like Bechstein or B like B est pianos ever built. Just amazing to see PL Aimard (an idiosynkratic pianist who is never satisfied wih the sound) in ecstasy about this instrument. .

[@passage2enBleu]

My question is to what pitch would a C Bechstein have been tuned in the early 1900s. I have recently acquired a C Bechstein model 10 upright made in 1910/11. I believe that this was prior to A440 becoming the standard.

[@anarpianoplayer5133]

Good

[@jonathanidiagbonya6773]

Love this video! Which model Bechstein is this?

[@stevenvanstadenvanstaden4317]

Regarding the all-pervasive resonance, the spread of sound, in my experience Wigmore Hall does have that acoustic when the audience isn't yet in. I found that the Steinway D I played produced too big a sound for the hall before the audience was present. In any casem this Bechstein sounds fabulous and I wish I could own it.

[@hastensavoir7782]

Steven van Staden Van Staden maybe the hall is too small?

[@brandoncallaway2619]

Isnt Mr. Aimard a Steinway artist? Wont they be upset? Its silly that they would be, but I have heard of them playing hardball with other pianists and even removing instruments just prior to a performance just because someone praised another brand of instrument.

[@OE1FEU]

Actually, yes, Steinway was not happy. Unfortunately, real artists don't care about brands, they care about the quality of the pianos they are playing and sometimes it's not a Steinway they choose to play.

[@NN-rn1oz]

Rumor has it S & S sent a few men in black to Mr. Aimard for a brief friendly talk after this video was made.

[@talijah007]

The Germans are the most talented people in the world... They absolutely dominated the piano market. Every good piano in existence today are either built by them or indirectly have some input in its manufacturing...The Chinese and the Japanese had to take over a German piano company so they could be in the ivy league of pianos...

[@Avery_Piano]

Jentul Jay yup. Yamaha with Bösendorfer

[@josiper6662]

@@Avery_Piano bösendorfer is Austrian, although it's parent company is yamaha

[@Salzburgerstiegl]

Yes Only the ownership is Japanese, but they are still build in Austria, a bit outside Vienna.

[@hastensavoir7782]

Jentul Jay Steinway Steingraeber Bechstein Bluthner Grotrian August Förster Seiler Sauter Feurich Schiedmayer Winkelmann Ronisch etc.

[@poly_hexamethyl]

Bösendorfer is now Japanese-owned? Oh man, that is sad! :-(

[@louis-marlowe]

What's the piece right at the start of the video? I hope that wasn't Aimard just improvising.

[@deantsou4168]

Debussy - Reflets dans l'eau

[@deantsou4168]

Now I am wondering what the second piece in this video is?

[@johnstaf]

@@deantsou4168 Chopin 1st concerto and Brahms Handel Variations.

[@sasholyubakonstantinovi9082]

what model is that? model I or II ?

[@aurelbetz2172]

model I

[@Marklar0]

really too bad that they wont stop talking for long enough for us to hear the piano

[@thomastereszkiewicz2241]

I have a 1922 Bechstein 73 inch Model C I believe which I have rebuilt and worked very hard on. Nice sound but only 85 keys which kind of bugs me.

[@vanewfies]

If your Bechstein has only 85 keys then it's a model A not a model C.

[@snoolee7950]

dear bechstein bro's, the human voices on this video are a little loud and more than a little sizzly. please attend to your recorded audio post production.

[@AlessioAndres]

It sounds close to perfection but the keys are visibly too light. That's alright. It should be fine in about 7 years of hidration.

[@user-tn7wj7jv6g]

sorry , the truth has to be told .by me and many of my piano tech coligues : its rare that an old bechstein grand will sound really great for concerts. its not like steinways or even bosendorfer or even bluthner. i myself play on an upright bechstein 120 cm from 1990 which is magnificent. the old uprights also can be rebuilt and sound great but with old grand bechstein its just almost rare to get a great resolt . regards shlomi