COMPACT DISC REVIEW

                                                                                                    COMPACT DISC REVIEW
                                                                                                                        By
                                                                                                                Jack Rummel

Beyond the Maple Leaf
Peter Bergin, piano
(No name, no number)

Maple Leaf Rag / Pine Apple Rag / The Entertainer / Solace / Elite Syncopations / Gladiolus Rag / The Cascades / Heliotrope Bouquet / Euphonic Sounds / The Tiny Entertainer.

     A bit north of Traverse City, Michigan lies the Music House Museum, home to a colossal array of phonographs, juke boxes, theater organs, orchestrions, other items that make music, and, of course, pianos. Peter Bergin, a talented pianist who resides nearby, is a supporter of the Museum and has become familiar with the pianos in its collection.
     To create this CD, he has chosen 10 different pianos and orchestrions to record 10 different Scott Joplin works. The recording quality is very good, which allows the listener to assess the particular qualities of each instrument, ranging from subtle differences to obvious contrasts, and thus elevating what might otherwise be “just another Joplin CD” into a category uniquely its own.
     I must profess a bias toward the 1924 Chickering Baby Grand, as my very first piano, inherited from my grandmother, was a restored 1905 Chickering Baby Grand. Other listeners will undoubtedly have their own preferences. In addition to the Chickering, the remaining instruments are a 1917 Cremona Automated Piano, a 1925 Weber Duo-Art Reproducing Piano, a Cable Studio Piano from the 1920s, a 1921 Trayser Upright Player Piano, a 1913 Link Model C Orchestrion, a 1910 Paul Losche Orchestrion, a 1904 Conover Cable Giraffe Grand in an eight foot tall case, a 1927 Mason & Hamlin Grand and a 1925 Wurlitzer Tom Thumb Piano once owned by Rudy Vallee.
     Bergin plays each selection as written with only an occasional added trill or frill. The one exception is The Tiny Entertainer, which is the A-B-A sections only of Joplin’s Entertainer and arranged for the 61-note Tom Thumb keyboard. Tempos vary, sometimes within an individual rag, while dynamics are mostly mid-range. The liner notes are very complete and include color photographs and descriptions of each instrument.
     As a souvenir of the Museum, or for those who have a strong interest in early 20^th century pianos, Peter Bergin has created a disc that will rank high on the list. However, for ragtimers who are simply seeking a pleasant collection of Joplin rags, the somewhat jarring effect of jumping from the sound of one piano to the sound of the next may be off-putting. Nevertheless, as the old saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life!”
     Available for $20.00 postpaid from www.berginmusic.com.