COMMENTARY : A New American Piano, Made in Japan : A test drive of the Boston line, which promises much for the mid-price range, is pleasant but inconclusive.

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 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.

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, along with 90 well-dressed and friendly piano dealers from Maine, New York, Florida, Texas and California, among other places, 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 over brilliant, 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.

Of course, it is too early to tell. As with an automobile, one has to live with a piano for a certain time before its qualities and defects become obvious. But Steinway Musical Properties’ strategy in founding the Boston Co. may eventually succeed in its unstated but clear purpose to compete with the Asian piano makers Yamaha, Kawai and Young Chang.