Bad performance because of the surprises in the piano??

[Dikai]

very bad experience.  i usually practice on a steinway (about 100 years old) at school, it is the best steinway i've ever played on, pretty much everything i dream it happens.  well, every steinway is different, but i suppose after a 100 years, everything just becomes right.

then... the story begins, a couple of years back i had a recital and my last piece was the liszt hungarian rapsody no. 2, the piano: BOSTON... geez, the keys don't repeat so fast, (if i don't let go the key ENTIRELY, it refuses to make the sound again), in the fast repeating-note section, i sounded so stupid.  even worse, the recital was recorded, and the worst, i was given a copy of my recording... ouch...

anybody had bad experiences with having to play on a bad piano during performance??  although steinway is definitely a favorite, but every steinway is different, especially new ones, the pedals are so stiff.  i would have to say my favorite concert piano is yamaha.  no weird surprises, fast response, granted, the touch isn't quite so great, the keys from yamaha compared to steinway, it feels rather synthatic.  nevertheless, you can never go wrong with it

[Brian Healey]

That's funny, because Boston is made by Steinway. The Bostons I've played sound great, but even with a good brand there can be bad pianos, mainly due to their upkeep

I'm sure everyone has a similar story. I gave a free concert at a community center once, where I had to play on a horribly (and I mean horribly) out of tune piano. That's probably the only time anyone's gotten booed at a free concert!

Just kidding about the getting booed part.


Strategery,
Bri

[Bartolomeo]

Yep.  Sometimes I fix pianos a little before I play them.  On one occasion there was an accumulation of dust and debris in a couple of key bushings so the affected keys wouldn't return properly.  On another there was a pencil lead stuck between two keys that was causing sticking.

One piano that I play with some frequency has hammers so worn that any sort of dynamic control is impossible.  When you try to play louder it just thumps more.  It is tuned regularly, at least.  But I'm tempted to borrow a P-90 and bring it there as that would be an improvement.