Piano Travels Without Pianist

Many pianists form a close bond with a particular instrument, and the more prominent performers have the luxury of touring with their favorites. So it is for Andras Schiff, who performed Book 1 of Bach's “Well-Tempered Clavier” on Oct. 27 at the 92nd Street Y on his preferred Steinway. With the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy two days later, it was a fluke that allowed Mr. Schiff to use the same instrument last Thursday in a performance of Book 2.

Between the New York performances, he was to have played on Oct. 30 at the Strathmore Center in North Bethesda, Md. While he waited to see the storm's progress, the piano went on ahead, vacating its normal resting place at Steinway Hall on West 57th Street. That was lucky for Mr. Schiff, because Sandy's high winds sent a crane boom into a dangling position, forcing the closing of the surrounding streets. The piano would have been inaccessible for Thursday's concert. Mr. Schiff canceled the trip to Strathmore when the storm 's strength became apparent, and a mover brought the piano back to New York on Wednesday.

In a telephone interview on Monday from Chicago, Mr. Schiff said the temporary loss of his favorite piano, which he has been using for four or five years when performing in the New York area, would have been insignificant in comparison to the widespread suffering caused for many by the storm and that he could have played the Y's house piano, a perfectly good instrument. But in talking about the logistics, Mr. Schiff took the opportunity to describe the special feeling he has for the Steinway he uses.

“It has a very wonderful sound, a beautiful basic sound but also very colorful, a great range of dynamics and tonal shades and colors,” he said. “And also it has a very pleasant action, quite light. It's not physically very hard work to play.”

Of the postponed Strathmore concert, Mr. Schiff said: “A postponed performance is not a disaster. A disaster is what happ ened to these people.”