Played the Mason and Hamlin again

I haven't touched our Mason and Hamlin Model A for months. With the cover off, the aromatic hard rock maple fills the room with its pleasant scent. I've been mad at the stupid dealer we bought it from-The Music Group. They were otherwise know as PianoHouse Burlington when they came to Saskatoon in May 2008 and October 2008, but the owner, Willem van Suijdam, had to sell that part of his operations in 2009. I found a fault in the lid at the hinge joint in February 2009. The problem was never resolved by Mr van Suijdam, so I contacted Mason and Hamlin directly in January 2010. They shipped me a new lid in April 2010, but I had to pay the customs brokerage as well the technician, Bruce Gibson, who will be installing it for me tomorrow. Needless to say, it's been a great inconvenience as I had to uncrate the lid today and haul it into the house with my wife. Mason and Hamlin do make quality pianos in Boston (only 300 per year), but The Music Group (aka Mason and Hamlin House) are horrible dealers. DO NOT BUY A PIANO FROM THE MUSIC GROUP! Interestingly enough, the only other Saskatoon person to buy a new Mason and Hamlin piano is another teacher, BJM teacher and musician Don Griffith. He bought a 9'4" Model CC94 from the dealer in Calgary.

So, I finally played the piano again. I tried Brahms Op 118, Nr 2. When I first tried to play it a few years ago, I was really rusty reading music and I thought it was impossible. I've managed to negotiate the first two pages so it sounds sort of like what it should be. I was first drawn to this piece during a commentary about it on either CBC Stereo or CJRT one Sunday afternoon when I lived in Oakville back in my undergrad days. Being no expert on music theory, it really struck me when the commentator pointed out that Brahms turns the tune inside out (about 1:47 into this version) and how exceedingly beautiful that 'simple' change is - indeed. I first downloaded the sheet music from SheetMusic Fox, but there is an even better source - IMSLP.

Next, I tried the Chopin Waltz Op 69, Nr 1. It was a piece I remembered way back from high school and was one of the first pieces of music I searched for when we bought our used Bell upright piano in November 2007. Next, I tried Op 69, Nr 2. Quite rusty, but hopefully, I can practise some more when there is more time. I think I'm going to buy the Cambridge Handbook of Expertise - it espouses the view that practice does make perfect. Now, I will never be Clara Haskil, but hopefully, I will be a better pianist. I have a Clara Haskil recording of Mozart's Twinkle Twinkle variations and Samuel was so drawn to it he asked about who played it. I said she died a long time ago (1960), but she was such an incandescent talent. I got the 7 CD Philips set from Amazon last year. I already had some of the CDs in that set, but I finally added the Mozart KV 466/491 and Beethoven Op 37 to my collection. Elisha really liked the CD of Schubert's D960. It was Clara Haskil's playing that drew me to Chopin's 2nd Concerto. Before I heard her recording, I did not like it very much.

Our little Elisha really loves classical music. When he first saw the Bernstein/Zimerman DVDs of the Beethoven piano concerti, he started conducting. He really likes Op 58 the most. Now, he's into pretending to play the flute, cello, violin and drums. He'll be attending the Suzuki summer string programmer in July. I recently got von Karajan's Beethoven symphony set on DVD and his favorite there is the 9th ("I want music singing"). Amazingly, I got this DVD set (on Amazon.ca Marketplace) for about half the price I paid for the 1977 LP set I bought when I was in junior high school. Sometimes, there is progress?