Meet

Nicolás

Bernáldez Gómez

Why were you looking for an instrument?

“This year, I got an apartment where I could practice freely, so I decided to look for a new piano. After two years here in Amsterdam, I started to miss the feeling of practicing at home, just like I used to in Spain. Before I was loaned this Pleyel, I didn’t have a piano at home in Amsterdam. I always had to practice at the conservatory. Some of the grand pianos there are wonderful, but you can also find many that are in poor condition. This instrument has definitely expanded my ability to develop my own sound and expressive skills.”

Which grand piano from our collection did you choose, and why?

“When I began my search for an instrument with the foundation, the Pleyel was the only one immediately available for trial at the Andriessen Pianos – Grand Pianos workshop (Haarlem), so I hesitated a bit about taking it home. At the time, I couldn’t compare the grand piano to other instruments. But from the moment I tried the Pleyel for the first time, I felt it was a wonderful instrument with an enormous dynamic range and a unique touch. So the decision wasn’t a difficult one to make!”

What are you looking forward to now that you have the Pleyel on loan from the foundation?

“It’s not very likely that I’ll give concerts outside my home with my Pleyel, but I’m definitely going to compose a lot of works on it and use it to teach many lessons! I’ve also recorded quite a few videos for my social media accounts, so those count as mini-concerts ;-)

“In addition, I’m currently working on Chopin’s First Piano Concerto, a piece that’s perfectly suited to this instrument. After all, Chopin used a Pleyel as his personal instrument. I can now play the technical passages with ease, and the sound is clear, yet at the same time very warm.”