LDV98-9

19 FRANÇOIS-FRÉDÉRIC GUY One needs to ‘get into’ the touch of the instrument. The attack is immediate, producing a distinctive, unique sound, sometimes reminiscent of the early Bösendorfer pianos. The keys rise so quickly that they can be played without muscular effort, in the fastest tempi. In the Finale of the B minor Sonata, for example, one can play Presto as marked, and the tricky sextolets flow (almost) without difficulty. To be sure, there isn’t much power in reserve in the treble, so one shouldn’t force it. The bass is splendidly defined, with extraordinary richness and depth. Finally, the pedal I mentioned earlier, which Chopin marks in his nocturnes especially – it allows the bass to breathe before the next bar while maintaining an impeccable legato in the melodic line – finds ideal expression on this Pleyel. The most characteristic example is the first section of the great Nocturne in C minor, op.48 no.1. So I have now found a piano that reproduces the clarity and fluidity of Chopin’s music. On today’s instruments, those precious qualities are often transformed into a certain superficiality. Remarkable as these modern pianos are, they sometimes produce high notes that are too glitzy, a bass that isn’t sufficiently well defined in fast tempi, and poor balance in terms of volume.