Straight-String Grand Piano "Barenboim-Maene": Constructive Features, Development Prospects, Performance Practice

Main Article Content

Ivan V. Kalatai

Abstract

This article is devoted to the new acoustic grand piano “Barenboim-Maene”, which appeared in 2015, the distinctive feature of which is the parallel arrangement of all strings. It describes the prerequisites for appearing the piano, the history of its developing by Daniel Barenboim and Chris Maene. The publication presents the process of implementing the idea, provides an analysis of this piano design peculiarities. The comparative characteristics of the Barenboim-Maene instrument concert version are reflected in relation to the modern and most common high-end Steinway&Sons grand piano, model D274. The choice of the compared brand is due to the level of engineering thought laid down by its authors and the quality of its products for more than a hundred years. It is noted that the design peculiarities of the piano “Barenboim-Maene” have similar features with the historical claviers of the XVIII – first third of the XIX centuries.
Forecasting the future prospects of the new instrument existence on the academic concert stage is based on significant trends in piano performance, in particular, the search for additional timbre and style resources. Unlike musicians who chose the path of historically informed performance [recently, the term “authentic performance” has been replaced by the phrase “historically informed performance” or HIP], D. Barenboim preferred to create a new instrument based on the synthesis of the modern acoustic musical instruments design and of the historical original claviers. Based on D. Barenboim’s recommendations, on the analysis of the works performed by him on the piano “Barenboim-Maene” the article highlights this instrument possible repertoire range.


Keywords: grand piano “Barenboim-Maene”, straight string grand piano, acoustic grand piano, Daniel Barenboim, Chris Maene.

Article Details

How to Cite
Kalatai И. В. (2024). Straight-String Grand Piano "Barenboim-Maene": Constructive Features, Development Prospects, Performance Practice. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 54(1), 124–133. https://doi.org/10.17674/2782-3601.2024.1.124-133
Section
Musical Performing: History and the Present
Author Biography

Ivan V. Kalatai, M.I. Glinka Novosibirsk State Conservatory, Novosibirsk, Russia

Lecturer at the Special Piano Department