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MMD > Archives > May 2018 > 2018.05.04 > 01Prev  Next


Player Pianos vs. Live Performances
By Ann Donoghue

A short, interesting article appeared today in National Review about
pianist Maurizio Pollini's recent performance in Carnegie Hall and the
juxtaposition to the performance of a player piano.  It even mentions
the "famous Ampico B".

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/maurizio-pollini-pianist-beautiful-imperfection-carnegie-hall/ 
  Pollini and the Player Piano
  By Daniel Gelernter
  Musical brilliance is not the same as mathematical perfection.

Ann Donoghue

 [ The articles opening includes this statement about piano rolls:
 [
 [ "[Aeolian] began to apply what was later called 'quantization' as
 [ a standard part of the editing process for new piano rolls.  The
 [ results were as neat as a pressed shirt, but they sounded odd:
 [ the notes were all there, but somehow the music had gone missing."
 [
 [ Like critics who complain that the Duo-Art 16 levels of expression
 [ aren't adequate, the writer should ignore the technical trivia
 [ and instead listen to piano roll performances with open ears and
 [ closed eyes!
 [
 [ Maurizio Pollini plays Chopin's Berceuse in D-flat major
 [ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRZBw9_4Jh0 
 [ Compare with the Duo-Art roll played by Josef Hoffmann
 [ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcp4RWK1T34 
 [
 [ Has the music gone missing?  What's different?  Why?
 [
 [ -- Robbie


(Message sent Fri 4 May 2018, 22:44:15 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.)

Key Words in Subject:  Live, Performances, Pianos, Player, vs

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