Thursday 30 March 2006

Stansted airport
Alison and I had a grand day out today at Finchcocks trying out pianos and a harpsichord for the Schetky recording. Bill Dow had kindly prepared the 1801 Broadwood that I played on the soundtrack of Vanity Fair, the 1756 Kirckman harpsichord whose marquetry is a mirror image of the 1755 one in Edinburgh, and square pianos by Stodart and Broadwood. But the most fun were a Clementi piano from around 1800, whose very rich tenor and bass could do effective battle with Alison's cello, and unexpectedly a Viennese piano by Rosenberg from around the same time. We wanted an English piano but after trying out two complete keyboard cellections, I don't think we'll find one that sounds tough enough. Next stop will be more Viennese ones.