COMMENTARY : An American Piano Made in Japan

Where art and commerce meet, there may be a profit. That seems to be the hope of Steinway Musical Properties, which this week introduced in New York and here in the City of Orange, the products of its new, fourth subsidiary, the Boston Piano Co.

“Designed by Steinway & Sons,” and manufactured at a plant in Ryuyo, Japan, the new line of instruments--not including, incidentally, a concert grand--promises much for the so-called mid-price range, the range below the cost of a Steinway.

Boston Piano Co. manager Bob Dove makes a big point of saying, “This is not a Steinway made in Japan.”

What he said next, when the piano was unveiled Thursday at the convention of the National Assn. of Music Merchandisers at the Doubletree Hotel in the City of Orange, told another story: Pointing to his own, tasteful and elegant, dark blue suit, Dove averred, “And this is not a dark blue suit.”

In myriad ways, pianos are like cars. They come in many sizes with different characteristics, finishes and are available at different prices. When shopping for one, we all need to take a test drive, but we cannot pretend that we know a lot about the product afterward.

The test drive I took on the Boston Piano line Thursday was pleasant, but inconclusive.

The piano, dead-white and good-looking to the eye, sounded attractive and functional. It seemed to have nice resonance in the middle and a bright, but not overbrilliant, top. The action, on several pianos tried, seemed new-piano tight and, as far as one could tell, efficient.

The pianos--about a dozen in a large and comfortable meeting room off the main ballroom--did not show, on first hearing, a tremendous amount of character, but, hey, this was a test drive, not an exhaustive study.

A lively mid-range, in the octaves around Middle C, ought to prove most attractive to musicians’ ears. Two octaves higher, around that place singers call High C, the sound seems to become more dull.