mate stubb Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Another one bites the dust - sad. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303789604579195862376886216 Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 Weird, you may get a login request if you follow that link - try googling "pleyel" news and you should get the article. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Well, there's one piano company I never heard of. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/storied-french-piano-manufacturer-to-close Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Here are two virtual versions. http://acousticsamples.net/oldblackgrand https://www.pianoteq.com/pleyel?page=pleyel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Well, there's one piano company I never heard of. You're kidding us - yes? . Frankly , a lot of this sort of thing happening , is to do with the REAL & ORIGINAL passionate master craftsman piano maker people(who actually started a name) - finally passing on with old age. And then , sadly , too many beancounters getting involved after that. Or dollar counters lets call it. Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I don't remember ever seeing a Playel. Maybe they're less common on this side of the pond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmp Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Playel was around long enough to go through many generations of craftsmen and bean counters. Never saw one myself, so I'd imagine there aren't many around here. It took a while for the name to register. --wmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 "Ending the era on a mournful chord..." Jeesh, poor choice of words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephonic Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 I' saw a few, growing up in Holland, but not that many. Supposedly they were more common in France. gear list.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 Playel has been around long enough for Frederic Chopin to have had an endorsement deal with them... Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluzeyone Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 Playel has been around long enough for Frederic Chopin to have an endorsement deal with them... Wow! That is sad. The only thing thats unchangeable is change its self..Alright that did it! Time to go play some blues! "A good mix is subjective to one's cilia." http://hitnmiss.yolasite.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MushMusic Posted November 14, 2013 Share Posted November 14, 2013 The sound that hooked me as a child was that of the Playel harpsichord Wanda Landowska played in her Well Tempered Clavier recordings. Under her fingers that thing was a vicious monster. Today, those JSB WTC recs are still unrivaled, mainly cause of that instrument. E.M. Skinner, Casavant, Schlicker, Hradetzky, Dobson, Schoenstein, Abbott & Sieker. Builder of tracker action and electro-pneumatic organs, and a builder of the largest church pipe organ in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 VERY sad. A piece of music history is gone. During my conservatory years, I used to hang with a friend who had a rebuilt Pleyel grand from the late 19th century. Playing it was an enlightening experience - like you gain a better understanding of why romantic music was written the way it was.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LX88 Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 I have seen them a few times in older film footage. I took note of it because it is unique. As I recall, there is footage of McCoy Tyner playing one with John Coltrane somewhere in Europe. And in the video "The Art of Piano", Alfred Cordot has one in his studio. Cordot was a teacher who asked his pupils to "dream" their music. Later on I heard Duke Ellington refer to this. He said he did not play piano, but dreamed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Such a crying shame. They were one of the special and unique piano makers with soul. I read , they were down to about 25 units per year lately , trying to survive. The all too familiar troubles explained @0:55 ...*SIGH*....> Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yannis D Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Played more than one Pleyel in my conservatory years in France. Sweet sounding pianos, full of romantic history. They got replaced by cheap japanese pianos with time (and its not just Pleyel). Cost of manufacturing (very high in France) played its role too... Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthoid Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 Well, there's one piano company I never heard of. You're kidding us - yes? No, I'm serious. Just never saw one here in the USA. When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 And in the video "The Art of Piano", Alfred Cordot has one in his studio. Cordot was a teacher who asked his pupils to "dream" their music. Later on I heard Duke Ellington refer to this. He said he did not play piano, but dreamed it. Cortot - Alfred Cortot. Sorry to be picking nits, but he was a *very* important interpreter and educator; he deserves to have his name spelt correctly. Also, I never heard that quote, but he was not any kind of mystic; he wrote a technique method, for example, which was absolutely rational and scentific in its approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MushMusic Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 The Playel harpsichord, 'Grand Modèle', is very rare, only a very few were made, and in the 1930s. It was a multi-stop double harpsichord that featured 4 string harps, including a 16 foot rank, 2 piano keyboards and a sostenuto pedal. Also the build was more like a piano than what the usual harpsichords are like, with a cast iron frame instead of wood. It is the one of the highest points of harpsichords. E.M. Skinner, Casavant, Schlicker, Hradetzky, Dobson, Schoenstein, Abbott & Sieker. Builder of tracker action and electro-pneumatic organs, and a builder of the largest church pipe organ in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wmp Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Awesome! That thing is mighty beyond any harpsichord I've ever heard. Sounds a bit like a piano in some places and an organ in others. That's some hellacious playing too. Thanks for the cultural enlightenment! I need all I can get. --wmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanderSchoot Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 When I finished the school for pianotuning and revision some 25 years ago, my first job was keeping the piano's and grands in tune of a quality piano workshop. They sold many German brands like Sauter, Seiler, Ibach, Schimmel and also Pleyel. There was a Schimmel upright that was an identical copy of the same height Pleyel upright..... Everything on the insight was identical, only the nametag I found out that Pleyel was party manufactored in Germany. That was the first of many discoveries about the illusion of ancient manufactors and their supposed secret craftmenship and skills no other company knew about. Like " grandmas recepies" from companies who do not have little old ladies coocking in cute little pots. Bottom line Pleyel wasn't Pleyel for much longer than people knew about. Bechstein is the worst exemple of them all nowadays , only the name has resemblence with the beautifull grand that once was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted November 16, 2013 Author Share Posted November 16, 2013 Wanda's hand position in that image looks uncomfortable, but her fingers look strong enough to punch thru concrete. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 Bechstein is the worst exemple of them all nowadays , only the name has resemblence with the beautifull grand that once was. That's sad to hear about, however good to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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