Recent discussion of the problems of fitting Chopin's Fantasie
Brilliante, Op. 49 in F, onto a roll, reminded me that I, too, have
that piece of music, not on Duo-Art but on an original Hupfeld
Phonoliszt roll which I play on my Phonoliszt expression piano.  This
roll was cut on September 2, 1910, and is 35.4 metres long, which
equals 116 feet in old money, and has an outside paper diameter of 2
1/2 inches.

The rapidly repeated chords under discussion are dealt with flawlessly
by my piano, at FF, which is a testament to the original design and
construction of my piano, being as it is, unrestored and still in
excellent playing order.

The roll is Pt 12055, recorded by Harold Bauer, and I don't mind
betting that the Duo-Art version is a transcription of this original
Hupfeld recording.

The rapidly repeating chords are punched on this roll as single punches
separated by a land of paper that is almost the width of two individual
punches.  The repetition is also helped by the fact that the piano,
which was built in 1909, has a two-stage pneumatic system, and by the
fact that a single punch is large, being on a 73-note roll rather than
an 88-note roll.

This is by no means the longest roll available.  My longest is 43 metres,
or 141 feet.

The expression system on the Phonoliszt is similar to one half of the
Red-Welte system, with a floating expression level and three fixed
levels.  Melody accenting in the treble is limited to using a split
half-blow hammer rail.  In spite of these apparent limitations the
performances achieved from original hand-played recordings are every
bit as good as the average Duo-Art.

Many people consider that for classical music you cannot beat the
original Red-Welte system fitted to a large German piano.  The
Phonoliszt, in spite of its limitations, is still a superb performer.

Best regards,
Nicholas Simons,
UK