I think I have already said several times that when I learn a new composition, I feel like I am meeting a new person. It is like we are having a conversation where we are slowly getting to know each other. Well, the same thing happens when we play on different pianos. If you play violin, flute, clarinet, or any instrument you can bring to your rehearsals and concerts, the feeling is always the same. You play your instrument that you know and trust. Of course, the conditions and the environment are different, and we have to take that into account, so it changes the feeling a little, but that confidence you already have in your musical instrument is unbreakable.
With the piano (or, for example, the organ) the matter is different. If I have a performance on an acoustic piano, whether it is a grand piano or an upright piano, I have to go to the venue and try the piano first, to get a feel and get to know how it reacts to my fingers and hand movements. How it reacts to my energy. My action provokes a reaction that the piano gives - the sound.
The first two photos were taken in the concert hall where I accompanied the choir in one concert, a bit more than a month ago. I attended a few rehearsals with the singers but also one day I could practise there alone, to get used to the piano.
My excitement when I see a piano doesn't end just when I am supposed to play in it for a performance. When I see a piano, I have to get close to it. Even if it is forbidden to touch it! Or locked. Or found in different public spaces. There were a few ones I had the opportunity to meet recently.
At the railway station
So, the morning I was travelling to Madrid I saw an upright piano at the railway station in Alicante. It was covered, I suppose to protect it from the humid air and the pigeons (their excrement - as the birds could not really harm a piano).
What did I do? :D
I put my hand under that cover and found the keys. Some parts of the keyboard were missing, and it was out of tune. Poor scattered piano, but I anyway didn't have time to play. I had to pass the luggage check and board the train.
In the hotel
There was a black, shiny upright piano in the hotel where I stayed in Madrid, but it was forbidden to play on it. The singer I collaborate with asked before I arrived... I understand as everyone would like to "play" it and in the end, the poor piano would finish like the one I saw at the railway station. Destroyed. What they didn't know is that I would just caress it with my playing, but anyway, I didn't want to insist and ask again when I arrived. I just saw it and was wondering if would it be a Yamaha or Kawai piano.
In the Chapel
The event where my singer friend and I played was held in one chapel that is part of a music school complex. I went that afternoon to have a rehearsal, but I took this photo already at the event. It is my leg, with the scores waiting for my turn haha. The piano was not the best, they took it here from one classroom. However, I get used to it during the rehearsal so it sounded well in the end.
In one classroom
This was the funniest one I saw that day. After the rehearsal, that same afternoon I strolled around the music school and entered one classroom. The doors were open so it was an invitation for me to enter and explore. A piano, ok. But a poor one, in what condition... it was missing the bottom panel. Seems that it also had a speed limit.. tiempo máximo... 😂
Please, don't drive the piano too fast?!
Though that poster was saying something else. The maximum time you could spend there (I suppose playing, practising) is 40 minutes. It is not a long time for someone who had to prepare a more serious piece, but for a little student, it is - let's say- ok for one practice session. I left the classroom without playing the piano and went back to the chapel. Let's conclude that I was lucky I didn't get this one for the performance in the evening.
But that would be an interesting experience then, getting used to this old one and trying to get the best out of it ;)
