The Paulello Piano

[JohnGavin]

This is a blurb from a recital on medici.tv by Louis Debargue
Has anyone heard of this piano? It sounds interesting to say the least.

Debargue is performing today on an extraordinary and unusual piano, the Opus 102 by Stephen Paulello. This marvel boasts 102 keys, 14 more than a traditional piano, giving it a singular harmonic palette and what Debargue calls an "infinite" dynamic range. In his words, it is a piano that "will never be out of fashion… it will naturally make its way among the legendary instruments and inspire many generations of musicians and music lovers."

[mINE109]

On 1/15/22 1:35 PM, JohnGavin wrote:
> This is a blurb from a recital on medici.tv by Louis Debargue Has
> anyone heard of this piano? It sounds interesting to say the least.

Looking at the website, I see it's a similar design to the Stuart & Sons
Piano of Australia. Straight-strung is intriguing; Barenboim had one
custom made with that design.

https://www.stephenpaulello.com/en/pianos

> Debargue is performing today on an extraordinary and unusual piano,
> the Opus 102 by Stephen Paulello. This marvel boasts 102 keys, 14
> more than a traditional piano, giving it a singular harmonic palette
> and what Debargue calls an "infinite" dynamic range. In his words, it
> is a piano that "will never be out of fashion… it will naturally make
> its way among the legendary instruments and inspire many generations
> of musicians and music lovers."

https://www.stuartandsons.com

There's a set of cd covers showing recordings. I'm unfamiliar with the
artists.

[Dan Koren]

On Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 2:35:18 PM UTC-5, JohnGavin wrote:
>
> Has anyone heard of this piano? It
> sounds interesting to say the least.
>

There are a few snippets on YouTube.
Sounds nice, but not so much nicer to
cause excitement.

One doubts this will catch on. It would
be interesting to hear what a top tier
pianist could produce on this piano.

dk

[Dan Koren]

Furthermore, the notion Mr. Debargue is
limited by the quality of the instruments
he is playing rather than by his pianistic
skills is simply laughable.

We heard Richter, Gilels, Michelangeli,
Jean-Rodolphe Kars and quite a few
others produce marvels of color and
texture from oridinary Stoneways no
one could have ever imagined were
possible.

I seriously doubt the Paulello piano
would win in a head to head double
blind comparison against a perfectly
tuned and regulated Fazioli, Yamaha
or Bosendorfer in the hands of a truly
great grand master like Henri Barda
or HJ Lim.

dk

[Dan Koren]

On Saturday, January 15, 2022 at 2:35:18 PM UTC-5, JohnGavin wrote:

> This is a blurb from a recital on
> medici.tv by Louis Debargue
>

Why would Debargue need a
piano with 102 keys when he
can barely play one with 88?

dk

[Tdn Prime]

I think that is a chance of help the knowledge of other type of piano building. The world of concert grand and of the piano building is largely dominated by Yamaha CFX, Steinway D and Shigeru Kawai. Most of piano builder, over the years, have pursuit more or less the sound idea of Steinway. Paulello is a luthier, not a Corporation or a big factory. He has personal views of piano building, sound, and he made a new proposal. Enriching the harmonic register of the piano with eight complete octaves and a fourth does not seem to me a bad idea. Parallel strings design is not considered good by some piano builders. It's interesting that Paulello (and Chris Maene) don't think so. For example, on the Official Site, Fazioli writes:
"The crossed-stringing design, proven through the experience of a multitude of professional pianists and millions of instruments built over more than 100 years, offers the following benefits:

Greater string length with the same soundboard dimensions.
Optimization of bridge positioning on the soundboard.
More compact cast-iron frame, without increasing weight, to better withstand the string tension (greater tuning stability).
Greater mobility of the soundboard with a significant increase in dynamic range, colour and power of acoustics.

All other kinds of piano design (e.g.: such as the one with parallel strings in use two centuries ago) can be considered obsolete for the high-quality performance requested by the classic piano literature from Mozart till today." https://www.fazioli.com/en/design-concepts/

Lucas Debargue is right to show how there are valid alternatives and also make known the mastery of a local craftsman.