Becshein and Bosendorfer

[roxanne]

Hey everyone, its me again, i left a post a while ago and though some people read it nobody responded yet

I'm planning on buying a baby grand very soon so I really do need some very urgent advice on the bosendorfer vs bechstein argument....especially for the smaller end grand pianos like the L167 and MP192 of bechstein vs the 170 and 185 models of bosendorfer.

Please any of your ideas would be greatly appreciated, and i do really need to know quickly!!

Thanks alot!

[richard black]

There probably aren't many people here who are familiar with current models of each make. I can't say I am particularly, but I do get the feeling that Bechstein tends to need less maintenance to keep it at top performance than Bösendorfer. Still, they're all good pianos and a pleasure to play and own.

As for Samick and Yamaha, Samick doesn't own Bechstein. Yamaha owns Bösendorfer but I've not heard that there any practical implications of that yet. Maybe there will be in future, who knows?

[gyzzzmo]

I know i'm gonna be very generalising, but you have to buy what piano You like. Just dont buy it in a rush and take alot of time trying both models out. Prepare some pieces to performance level, play them on both piano's and buy the one wich gives you the best performance. Theyre both technically good brands ofcourse.

Gyzzz

[roxanne]

Hey Richard,

Thanks a lot for your advice, i was worried about buying an instrument made in korea or something!

My main concern is after all this piano will mainly be a piano i will practice on at home, and although bosendorfer boasts their extremely rich dark tone, with a big bass and a slighlty mellow treble area I kinda worry that by getting used to it I will find it very difficult to play in recitals and concerts on grands that will almost always be steinways which as you know are far brighter in comparison. Also I read somewhere that these pianos are better for germanic repertoire but sometimes feel sluggish or heavy for later music - chopin, prokofiev etc ...although this view is not my own.....
Although somewhere else i read that bosendorfer makes the best smaller end pianos for the home and private spaces....

 
at the moment i was kinda tending towards bechstein...for their apparently more 'transparent' sound (although ive never actaully played on one); because I assumed its a better piano to practice for someone who would play on steinways very often?



have u played on either make? any comments on them? After all, I do have to make a choice (however good my options are) and live with it for a long time!

[roxanne]

Hey gyzzz,

Well the problem is there is no dealer for bechstein or bosendorfer here where I live in Bahrain ( a small country near dubai). My mom is a friend of a dealer for both these brands who lives in Dubai and he offered to sell us one for a good price.

The only reason Im in a bit of a hurry is because atm I have a HORRIBLE yamaha c6 with uneven action in the keys and a really cheap sound, and this guy has offered to buy it from us and sell it to someone else in exchange for one of his pianos (and ofcourse the difference in price of which he is also giving me a good discount)

So whichever piano i decide on will come straight from germany, and so its impossible for me to try either make to help my deicision. Its why im trying to ask people out there to help me! I do know that both these brands make extremely good instruments, Im just trying to pick the right one.

Like i said in my previous post, im looking for the instrument more suited to prepare me for concerts on different pianos, (its why i was a little bit weary of boses because of their extremely unique sound which would be beatiful, but i worry i might find myself in trouble on pianos that require much harder work to get such a rich sound)

have u played on any? what did u think?

[gyzzzmo]

I've played enough on both Bechstein and Bösendorfer and i kinda like them both. Bosendorfer maybe abit more for solo or accompanying, Bechstein for orchestra since (to my experience) the sound is abit heavier and the touche abit less light. But i dont know about the models you spoke of. Another thing; theres also the practical side as Richard mentioned. I remember playing on some Steinway uprights (long ago) wich played very good when i started. But during my playing (i played piano in a musical) i could hear the piano becoming false, wich made it an awfull instrument at the end. And Bosendorfer seems indeed to need more tuning so the decision is probably abit tricky.

But are you sure that in whole of Dubai there is not a single pianodealer? As you noticed, youre going to buy a piano for a long time, so you have to be sure you have no way to try one out first, since thats usually pretty important.

Gyzzzmo

[richard black]

I kinda worry that by getting used to it I will find it very difficult to play in recitals and concerts on grands that will almost always be steinways which as you know are far brighter in comparison.

I wouldn't say that's true about the sound, but anyway the more you practice, on any piano, the more you will find it easy to switch between makes and models. I feel really annoyed with myself if I take longer than about 5 bars to adapt to a piano.

[roxanne]

Well as a pianist my biggest problem is adapting to a piano quickly, Im a bit of a spoiled child in that i dont believe the piano should tell you what to do. (OBviously u must listen and react, but i dont like the idea of a piano changing ur entire musical concept) I can imagine it is much easier to create a warm bronze kind of tone on a bose than it is on a steinway, and although this is beautiful, i dont want to be making it too easy for myself 6 hours a day, and then suddenly find myself on a piano where i have to make a huge effort to get the same kind of sound. It sounds like im asking for a difficult piano, although im simply looking for the make which best allows me to conceive as many different musical possibilities in all the piano repertoire to be fully prepared.

Also any idea on price comparison between the two makes?

THanks guys!

[onesurfer1]

Did u end up buying one?  I've played both.  I would go for the Bechstein!