It was a beautiful sight! On the stage of Sunset Center was a glorious array of magnificent looking keyboard instruments — most of them were museum quality reproductions of Flemish, French, German and other European instruments from the seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The earlier instruments were highly decorated and lovely to look at. There was one exception, and that was the totally utilitarian, shiny black (like patent leather) nine-foot Hamburg Steinway concert grand piano of recent vintage.  Surrounded by such beautiful and delicate period instruments, the big black modern Steinway looked about as intrusive as a gunman at a garden party. However, the Steinway’s distinction is that it represents the final evolutionary stage of many of the keyboard instruments surrounding it on stage. It also helped to provide an appreciation of its predecessors by hearing the same musical examples played on it, as well as on several of the earlier instruments.
Our affable host for the occasion was the distinguished Carey Beebe, whose Australian atelier devoted to period keyboard instruments is world renowned. Hearing him speak about keyboard instruments, you instantly know that his passion for period instruments runs very deep indeed. Beebe’s guided tour, of the instruments was accompanied by a technician with a video camera projecting instantly on an overhead screen details of the instruments that otherwise would not have able to be seen by the audience.
Harpsichordist Yuko Tanaka came out and played short selections on some of the Flemish and French harpsichords (one of which allegedly had been owned by the infamous Marquis de Sade). She demonstrated some of the more important features of these instruments — especially the two-manual harpsichords that permitted doublings and a kind of cantabile playing by allowing softer accompaniments on one of the keyboards.
Forte pianist David Breitman gave us an effective demonstration by playing the opening moments of the slow movement of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto on three forte pianos as compared to the Hamburg Steinway — it was significant that the quicker decay on the older instruments encouraged a faster tempo and significantly changed the character of the theme. Festival concert master Libby Wallfisch joined Breitman on stage to play excerpts from a Beethoven piano and violin sonata. It was a lovely demonstration of how the inherent qualities of each instrument caused the two players to vary their performance style.
Winding up the session Mr. Beebe returned to stage and asked for questions from the audience. Never for a loss of information to impart, Mr. Beebe answered every question in his inimitable and witty fashion. It was interesting that during this hour-long presentation, the subject of tuning in various temperaments never came up at all — perhaps because Mr. Beebe, if the question arose, might have easily filled a complete hour on this subject alone.
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