Hello MMD readers,

    Having attended the BALLET MECANIQUE performance last Fall in
Lowell, Massachusetts, featuring 16 Disklavier pianos (standard acoustic
pianos with MIDI solenoid players installed), I was interested in how
the 8 piano version would be, musically, at Carnegie Hall on April 2,
2000.

    Gabe Della Fave attended this performance and wrote a review which
appeared in the MMDigest 2000.04.02 issue, entitled "'Ballet Mecanique'
at Carnegie Hall".

    (I almost attended this concert, but the cost of driving from Maine
to New York City, plus the parking, hotel, turnpike tolls etc.
associated with a trip down there, eventually negated these earlier
plans.)

    To my amazement, the April 2nd presentation of the George Antheil
work did not feature 8 pianos - as advertised - but instead substitute
"loudspeaker" instruments, in the form of 8 Clavinovas!

    To have driven down from Maine just to hear an array of loudspeakers
on the Carnegie Hall stage would have been a major disappointment for me
- beyond the economic costs of making the journey there and back!

    If these synthetic instruments (called Disklaviers in the Carnegie
Hall program, by the way) were featured, I don't know which models were
set about the stage ... but the Website for the Clavinovas shows
cheesy-looking "grand piano" cases - about 3 feet long - with stops for
Jazz/Pop/Rock/Classic and some feature 'karaoke' capabilities (for party
sing-alongs). One model in the series had "six three-way speakers" for
the sound.

    Those interested in the subject of BALLET MECANIQUE should read Gabe
Della Fave's review about this particular performance.

    Meanwhile, I think the powers involved with this presentation have
some explaining to do.

    Regards from Maine,
        (signed) Douglas Henderson

ARTCRAFT Music Rolls
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/