the Welte-Mignon "player-piano"

[Constantin]

For those with an interest in the Welte-Mignon "recordings," the new DVD of Mahler's 4, by Riccardo Chailly with the Gewandhaus Leipzig has a "Bonus" feature with an up-close look at the functioning mechanism of the Welte-Mignon, as it "performs" on a Steinway.


The great Welte-Mignon "Maintenance Technician" engineer, Hans-Werner Schmitz ("Mahler und Sein Klavier") demonstrates the pneumatic action which enables the "fingers" and "feet" of the Welte-Mignon to "play" the Steinway.


Henry-Louis de la Grange has provided in an appendix to his fourth volume on Mahler ("A New Life Cut Short"), an extensive explanation of how the Welte-Mignon operates.  But to actually SEE the mechanism in action is truly a bonus worthy of being called a "bonus" on a DVD "extra."


An additional bonus on this DVD is Mahler's performance of the M4 final movement, with the Welte-Mignon "playing" from the "blueprint" left by Mahler. 

[barry guerrero]

Thanks. I had no idea that they had done that (Arthaus?).  How's the soprano?

[Constantin]

"Thanks. I had no idea that they had done that (Arthaus?).  How's the soprano?"


It's Accentus (www.accentus.com)

The soprano, Christina Landshamer is excellent, but for some reason the entire performance was not as moving as I had expected...can't put my finger on it--it just didn't move me.   Maybe next hearing?

[Constantin]

The Welte-Mignon Extras are really lovely.
Expert analysis of how the machine works -- SHOWING it in action

and

The performance by Mahler on a Steinway, by itself in the middle of the Leipzig Gewandhaus.  (funny--that was more moving for me than Chailly's performance of M4)

For me, Mahler's playing has never sounded better!

(maybe it was the ambiance of the Gewandhaus or that beautiful Steinway in the middle of the auditorium, playing Mahler's "blueprint.")

[waderice]

I have an earlier effort on CD where Gilbert Kaplan provided funding for recording the Mahler Welte-Mignon piano rolls, with the two songs played by themselves and later with two singers.  I don't recall who the soprano was, but the mezzo was Claudine Carlson.

One of the issues posed in the booklet notes for the CD brought up where the singer has to accompany the piano, rather than the pianist accompanying the singer.  I presume that this is the case here in this Leipzig Gewandhaus effort as well.  Of course, the singer will find herself in an abnormal and unusual position where she has to try to anticipate the accompanist rather than the accompanist the singer.  This quite possibly puts a "crimp" on her performance delivery and might result in a recording where she supposedly did as well as she could, but not as well as she would have wanted, considering the different circumstances she is not used to.

I thought that this was worth mentioning and needs to be kept in mind when a singer has to deal with a recorded accompaniment.

Wade

[Constantin]

Excellent point, Wade!

I should have clarified that the Chailly performance includes the soloist, and the "EXTRA" featuring the Welte-Mignon, is the W-M attached to a Steinway, with no soloist or anyone else visible in the Gewandhaus.

Yes, the soloist would have to make all the adjustments, if an attempt was made to accompany a Welte-Mignon piano roll.

One of the concerns I had when reading Henry-Louis de la Grange's description of the MANY variables in adjusting the W-M, was his statement that the technicians of the time, knew how to make all the adjustments to accommodate a particular pianist, the size of the room, and the idiosyncrasies of the piano being used.

Most of these technicians were killed or displaced during WWII, and it would have been very hard to find someone who was familiar with W-M's very unique requirements.

From watching the EXTRA on the manipulation of the W-M, it's one of those happy moments when one realizes that Hans-Werner Schmitz is just exactly one of those rare individuals who has been a "close friend" of the Welte-Mignon.  His engineering mind knows exactly how to get out of it what its inventors intended.

Perhaps that's why this little "extra" performance by Mahler sounds, to me at least, the best I've ever heard Mahler's playing of his own music sound.

[Sturmisch Bewegt]

What is the timing of the piano roll performance ?

[Constantin]

The program guide lists it at 7:39.

I time it at 7:11, from the first note to the last reverberations.

I had always wondered how Mahler thought his M4 should sound, and this piano roll "blueprint" certainly gives listeners a chance to hear the closest thing to hearing Mahler play the piano right in front of them.

Despite all the reading about how the Welte-Mignon worked, it's illuminating to see the Vorsetzer (in front of the piano) play the grand piano from Mahler's "fingerprint" piano roll blueprint.

While it's playing the M4 finale, we see the levers and rollers activating the pedals, and the little pneumatic bellows pushing out "fingers" to play the keys.

Seeing it in action is so much easier than descriptions in words.

[James Meckley]

I time it at 7:11, from the first note to the last reverberations.

Interesting; on Gilbert Kaplan's Mahler Edition CD set (Conifer), his recording of movement iv lasts 7:15 from the first note to the last reverberations—four seconds longer. I recall reading there is some ambiguity when setting the Welte-Mignon device with regard to playback tempo and this confirms it, although this is hardly a meaningful difference. I doubt a tempo change of just under one percent would even be noticeable to most listeners, much less carry any emotional significance.

James

[Constantin]

Yes, James.

De la Grange explained the difficulties of taking into account the many variables in setting or calibrating playback of the Welte-Mignons.

Not only is there the dearth of capable technicians, but the actual "piano roll" material (used for "recording" the performances for playback) was changed over the years.

As I recall, the technicians had to keep this in mind when they set up a W-M for a client.
Gradually, the W-M firm made improvements to the instruments, which also introduced new variables.