Norwegian audiophile label 2L has released yet another stellar surround-sound recording, this time of Edvard Grieg's standard literature work, his Piano Concerto in A Minor. That in itself might be of casual interest to some, perhaps mostly to those with oddly glowing tubes on their monstrous amplifiers. But what lies behind the recording should be worthy of note to a considerably broader audience. It's an intriguing mix of music history, obsolete technology, DIY ingenuity and a simple acceptance of all things unconventional in order to marry the former.
More than just an opportunity to have a state-of-the-art recording of Grieg's landmark work, 2L actually had to raise the dead in order to make it happen. For the soloist on this recording - Percy Grainger - left this mortal coil some fifty years ago. His interpretation of Grieg was hailed by the composer for its "enchanting, profound, serious, and childlike naturalness," prompting him to conclude "I had to become sixty-four years old to hear Norwegian piano music interpreted so understandingly and brilliantly." And it began a friendship between the composer and performer during the former's last years. So we have a glowing recommendation by the composer for these interpretations. Now we just need a way to capture them for others to hear.
Enter the early predecessors to the player piano. One of the things that captured Percy Grainger's attention was Duo-Art piano rolls. A sort of cross between sheet music and punch cards, they were an early grandfather to the MIDI file. Piano works could be "punched out" onto rolls from the original sheet music, then edited to give the performance a bit more feeling and life, and finally fed through an attachment to the piano which would play the work while allowing the operator to control things such as dynamics and tempo fluctuations. This advent of piano rolls, Duo-Art push-ups and pianolas werw hi-tech at the time, and, based on real performances and real instruments, offered a surprisingly life-like listening experience. Grainger recorded sixty-six Duo-Art rolls during his time, and Grieg himself recorded six of his solo piano works for pianola rolls before his death in 1907.
The whole process is rather fascinating, and you can find out more information on the Pianola Institute's website.
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Article comments
1 - David R. Perry
Also, it should be noted that the image Amazon has for this product is incorrect.
2 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Excellent Review...
I just hope that more companies embrace Blu-Ray for music, because, even though the 5.1 & 7.1 formats are awe inspiring, the LPCM uncompressed stereo track is the sweetest part. Especially if they take full advantage of the Blu-Ray bandwidth capabilities. It is another step towards accurately capturing analog digitally. From there, it is all about what kind of equipment you are running.
3 - SherwinJTB
Living in Australia this has caught my attention a little hehe
4 - Bryan Leech
The performance on this release is by a pianist considered by Grieg to be its greatest interpreter, so who's judgement do we take as to the use of rubato etc. Further, experience with Duo Art reproducing systems reveals that the playing unit used was not in ideal adjustment. I have heard the rolls of this recording numerous times on meticulously adjusted players. Percy plays very dynamically and the Duo-Art system was capable of capturing and reproducing his playing accurately.
By the way, only non-reproducing rolls of popular songs were made from the sheet music. Every great pianist of the period RECORDED for one or other of the competing reproducing systems.