It’s less about the tuning of the piano itself than the knock on effect it has on the pianist. Even if the audience can barely tell the difference, the pianist themself certainly could, as could the conductor!
Tuning the instrument may well have had a large effect on the audience’s experience overall, because the pianist will play much better on an instrument they enjoy playing—it’s a totally different experience hearing someone perform while they’re enjoying their own art, vs someone who’s distracted by an annoying F# that sounds slightly off in every scale.
It’s less about the tuning of the piano itself than the knock on effect it has on the pianist. Even if the audience can barely tell the difference, the pianist themself certainly could, as could the conductor!
Tuning the instrument may well have had a large effect on the audience’s experience overall, because the pianist will play much better on an instrument they enjoy playing—it’s a totally different experience hearing someone perform while they’re enjoying their own art, vs someone who’s distracted by an annoying F# that sounds slightly off in every scale.
Yeah, I would also imagine that’d be the dominant factor in the real world.