SARANAC — A very special delivery arrived at the Saranac United Methodist Church on Wednesday.
The Mason & Hamlin Model CC Concert Grand Piano, Virtuoso X Series 2026, traveled from Haverhill, Massachusetts, to the “church in the holler,” and was eagerly welcomed by pianists Vassily Primakov and Natalia Lavrova of New York by way of Russia.
For their Hill & Hollow residency, they will record all 32 of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas, which will be released in two volumes in 2027, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the German composer and pianist’s death.
The Juilliard School classmates and professional piano partners co-founded their own label, LP Classics.
“Mainly, the reason why I was shopping for a special piano was it is a very special project, and I didn’t want to record it on just, let’s put it bluntly, on a mediocre instrument, right. You want to make sure you have a great instrument that responds to you that has great color, great nuances, that you can sort of push the limits,” Primakov said.
Through a friend of a friend, he discovered Mason & Hamlin.
“I will be honest, I didn’t know that they’re making pianos. I always loved their old instruments, but I didn’t realize that they’re sort of re-emerging, and this new instrument is quite a beast in every possible way,” Primakov said.
“It’s the largest concert grand on the market right now. Basically, it has that combination of Old-World sound with very modern technology. It has great action. We’re very excited,” Lavrova said.
“When they describe it they use the phrase, ‘an Old World American sound.’ I like that phrase because Mason & Hamlin is an American brand, and it always had that very special, hmm, deep velvety sound. I really do like that,” Primakov said.
The piano required extra movers, four men to be exact, because it weighs 1,500 pounds.
“It’s quite the beast,” Lavrova said.
“You will see the difference because next to a Steinway Grand, which is usually 9 feet, this little guy is 9.4 feet,” Primakov said.
The Yamaha artist describes the instrument as “beautiful” during his initial explorations on the instrument.
“I’m really looking forward to it. You play a great instrument, it really makes your job easier. You don’t have to be as stressed. Some things just happen naturally without any extra effort on my part. So yeah, I think it’s going to be very beautiful because this has, as I mentioned earlier, it has a lot of capability of making a lot of nuances, colors and shadings, to go to softest, softest pianissimo to biggest fortissimo possible,” he said.
BEETHOVEN PROJECT
In the past, the collaborators have done all sorts of projects under the auspices of Hill and Hollow Music.
“This project particularly came to me probably about a year ago when I started thinking about it in a sense that I wanted to get back to playing more Beethoven sonatas. It’s always been my go-to thing,” he said.
Primakov performs six sonatas in his NYC concert series.
“That was the moment I started thinking what if I actually sign myself up for this Mt. Everest and actually decide to record all of Beethoven’s sonatas? Then it all came together sort of miraculously because at the very same time Natalia was traveling, and she visited Angela Brown at Hill and Hollow,” he said.
Lavrova left that meeting with the idea that they should return to Saranac because they always had such a great and productive time here. But, they just needed a project.
“I said, ‘Oh, but I do have kind of a project in mind, and it is to do the Beethoven sonatas.’ Then of course, I came to Hill and Hollow, and I emailed them and I pitched the project and they got very excited. Then it was set, and I was like ‘Oh, damn, I really have to practice. This is happening,’” he said.
When Primakov started his career in his twenties, his manager told him his “Beethoven was very good.”
“That meant a great deal because she was German. So when a German person tells you that you’re very good at something that means something because they’re not big on compliments. But then, you know, I was in my twenties, of course, did I listen? Not really. I was, ‘Oh I want to try this, and I want to try that.’ So, I kind of deviated. Beethoven was always in my repertoire, but never as serious as it is now, of course. Then, I started gravitating back to it, back to the roots, back to how I hear those sonatas, and I want to basically put my stamp on it. If it sounds too selfish, so be it,” he said.
Recording Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas is not a challenge most pianists tackle ever.
“I think for us, even though I am just going to be the recording engineer/producer you could say on this project, for all pianists, as Vassily said, this is a Mt. Everest of a project. It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The fact he and me, by default, get to do this in this surreal setting of the North Country with wonderful people that we’ve known for probably 15-plus years is incredibly special. We’re not taking this for granted, and we’re just so grateful that we are being welcomed here and provided these amazing amenities and comforts and this ideal surrealistic environment to just engross ourselves into this musical project without distractions of our busy city lives. That makes a huge difference. It’s being more than just the works of Beethoven, and I think it just adds this extra layer to be able to do it in this place,” Lavrova said.
Primakov can’t imagine a better place starting with their stay at “amazing” Harvey’s Cottage and Brown, an “amazing host.”
“We are surrounded by the most beautiful nature. We don’t have to worry about our daily routine such as emails,” he said.
“As you see, I don’t even have reception here. It’s perfect,” Lavrova said.
“We just focus on music, and then once we’re done with music, we just focus on what we’re going to eat. We plan our meals. We cook, and we just sit on porch and talk more about music, and what we’re going to do tomorrow,” Primakov said.