Word: heebner
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...them two years later were marred by everything from the sound of overhead airplanes to freezing temperatures that kept the piano out of tune. Further attempts since then have achieved somewhat better results, but nothing close to contemporary sound standards. Last year Simonton turned the rolls over to Walter Heebner, 46, a master of modern recording techniques. Played back on a modern Steinway in an acoustically ideal studio, and recorded by a battery of seven microphones, Welte's legacy produced an astoundingly good hearing for the late virtuosos...
Whimsy & Butterflies. So far, Heebner has recorded 46 Welte artists and gleaned from the rolls enough music to fill 40 LPs. He still has 60 artists unrecorded. Having despaired of distributing the records through major labels because of their inevitable involvement-with discount sales, Heebner plans to sell his albums by mail order-twelve LPs a year in editions of 5,000 priced at an unvarying $12.50 each. For openers, three LPs in a handsome package will be offered to Book-of-the-Month Club members this week at $17.95 for monaural and $19.95 for stereo...
...Heebner is counting on musicologists and students of the piano to provide him with something of a perpetual trust fund; the records, he thinks, will never go out of date. But flawless and fascinating as they are, careful listeners may find them full of disturbing surprises. Many of the classic works are given performances that are difficult to reconcile with modern piano interpretation. The effect of changing taste and style on the music is startlingly apparent...