When I was a young student at The Curtis Institute of Music, I had the incredible fortune of studying under the legendary pianist Jorge Bolet. While most of the practice rooms at Curtis had Steinway pianos, Mr. Bolet’s teaching studio (1E in the old building) had 2 beautiful Baldwin pianos. I was later to learn that this was because Mr. Bolet was a Baldwin artist, and I believe that the Baldwin pianos of that time provided the pianistic tools that helped him express his mastery of the romantic piano literature, particularly the music of Franz Liszt, which he recorded extensively.
The Baldwin SF-10 featured in this video is a 7 foot grand piano, built around the year 2000, that was part of Baldwin’s prestigious Artist series. If memory serves me correctly, these were the models that Mr. Bolet used in his studio. This piano was hand-built in the USA, and is an excellent example of Baldwin’s craftsmanship at its height. Featuring tremendous power and clarity, it’s easy to see and hear why Mr. Bolet loved these pianos so much, especially whenever he played his beloved Rachmaninoff or Liszt.