Francesco, I know it's not easy, but why don't you try to describe to us the sound that the Bechstein you told us about in this discussion has? (Forgive the question, which is not easy to answer; it's more or less like trying to describe the taste of a strawberry to someone who has never eaten one).
Alright, I'll try.
Well, I think that to answer this question I must go back to the first time I played this magnificent piano... about three or four years ago, I don't remember precisely, but I was in elementary school... it hadn't been restored yet... it had still all its charm and purity (I'll explain below why "had").
I opened the keyboard lid and saw a magnificent ivory keyboard, pleasantly yellowed by time. I still remember that on some keys the ivory moved a little... it rose slightly. I tried playing a few chords... I started with E-flat major, I still remember it... who knows how! I played an E-flat major chord with my right hand, and with my left a double octave of E-flat. Having played only that chord, I asked my teacher, who was there at the time, to give me a hand lifting the soundboard lid, to give an even better voice to the magnificent instrument.
Having done so, I continued playing... perhaps for half an hour. It was... very out of tune, the action slow and creaky, a bit stiff, and the sound absolutely... enchanting: as bad as its condition was, I had already fallen in love with its sound... sweet, expressive... I wouldn't know how to describe it well. The treble region was characterized by bright notes (even if out of tune), singable, light but at the same time expressive. I was also very struck by the "softness"—allow me this term—of the bass notes: they were indeed a rhythmic and melodic support, but they were so "controllable" that a chord played in a fairly low register did not bother the ear, as sometimes happens even on excellent upright pianos... the bass notes merged with the treble in a vibrant harmony so beautiful that a single chord was very pleasant to listen to... It seemed to me that playing right and left hands together, the high notes sang, and at the same time the low ones followed and supported them... a marvel, in short. I had never played on a piano so... similar to me. I know it might seem "crazy" to compare oneself to a piano (besides, theoretically, I would be 108 years old!!!), but it resembled me terribly: quiet but expressive, ... shy, even if this adjective is generally not used for instruments, and incapable of only one thing: being aggressive. There was no way, that piano did not want to be aggressive... Paolo later confirmed this to me by explaining that it is a piano with a typical romantic sound.
When I closed the piano, the thought that I would play it again was not a hope. It was a certainty.
And yet several years passed before I could do so. Three, or perhaps four. When I learned that it had been restored, I initially felt an irrepressible joy, like a dream coming true. I played it for half an hour, and it was like finding oneself in front of an old friend whom one hasn't seen for a long time but to whom one is very attached.
Then, every time I went to play it (from May of this year onwards, about once a week, for about an hour or two), I began to worry... the keyboard, which I initially thought had only been sent for restoration, was replaced with one made of resin... or worse, plastic, I don't know for certain. Some strings were replaced... but most remained the original ones... which is why the sound is always the same, perhaps improved and... now in tune...! Even the action remained the same, original from 1903...(Fortunately)... However, the restoration could have been done better. The bridge vibrates a little, perhaps it's not well fixed...
But from here on, you know the story... Bye!
PS:... Sorry Gian... rereading it I realized that rather than answering your question, I have told a story of my knowledge of the piano... if you have other more specific questions, don't worry, I am here...
