The Graf Starhemberggasse facility used to the be the factory but now is mostly empty. The consolidation of space makes perfect business sense. The Salon on Bosendorferstrasse, in the back of the Musikverien will remain our primary presence in Vienna.

A very good FOB (friend of Bosendorfer) donated a model 225 to an important music department in the Midwest. However he specified that instead of black it be polished pyramid mahogany. As you can see this finish is beautiful and dramatic and quite different from the plain satin black most people are used to.  Now this is just my opinion and I am very very biased but I thought that mahogany piano on that stage was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen! It was so unexpected but fit so well, it had to be right!!

What do you think?

Pyramid Mahogony

225 pyramid mahogony on stage

The real question is, what is it? I would argue that it is not a Bosendorfer anymore since so many of the parts were not original. This flies in the face of common rebuilder philosphy, at least here in the US. This approach comes from the experience with American Steinway which says that a good rebuilder can actually make a piano BETTER than the original.

The issue is that assumptions made about one make of piano do not translate directly to another and most of the tweaks that people would take for granted in a Steinway actually deteriorates a Bosendorfer. If you own one, you can do with it what you want and there are some great high end technicians out there. You could done one of those wild bridge modifications, change hammers, Stanwoodize the action, add brass weights to the soundboard…LOTS OF STUFF, but I don’t know that you would end up with a better piano. Different, yes.

I’ve been trying to think of a proper analogy to keep from sounding like some corporate stooge and maybe here is one:

A major overhaul of a Bosendorfer by a high end tech, using some of the modifications above, is sort of like a sommelier choosing to take 3 expensive bottles of wine and blending them himself just before serving. Yes, the end result might be better than any of the 3 individual bottles, but many people want to see what the vinyard bottled, what the vinyard was looking for. They’re looking for the experience the maker intended, not what somebody else, skilled though they might be, thinks is right, just because he (or she) can.

These modification tools are great for helping older instruments, or ones that clearly have dificiences in important areas. This kind of modification is a relative recent development in this business. But doing so has ramifications.

This was music making of the highest order, in the most wonderful, casual, engaging setting you can imagine.

The result is a piano with much more character, range and overall playing quality with the distinctive sound Yamaha strives for in their concert instruments.

Le Merigot Hotel in Santa Monica

Namm has come and gone. We did something completely different this year by not showing at NAMM in our customary large booth with nice lighting, Viennese coffee and champagne.

Instead we hosted our dealers at the very nice Le Merigot in Santa Monica with the intention of giving them a relaxing break and a chance to talk with them (and take orders) in a more relaxed setting. The result was great..much less work, much less cost and much nicer all around experience.

The problem is that my relatively new Canon G9 camera disappeared. Whether or not I just lost it or it was taken out of my room is unclear and,ultimately, not important. But it does mean that a lot of good photos are gone, gone, gone.

We showed a revised CS and the new satin lacquer finish. Very well received.

So, imagine my surprise to see a shiny Yamaha CFIIIS on the stage. I’m rather partial to the CFIIIS, having managed the Yamaha US Artist Relations program for 10 years. Oh, and I also own one. I believe that the world needs more than one concert piano and Yamaha has worked very very hard to give the world one, with the resources to put it out where people can see (hear) it. You could call the world of concert pianos a zero sum game (any win for one is a loss for the others).  However, when faced with a monopoly, the game is somewhat different. If any instrument can fight it’s way onto the concert stage in a consistent and satisfying manner, then that instrument is good for all the ones fighting the same fight. The monopoly’s domain is slightly smaller and someone else has planted a stake.

This particular Yamaha was extremely satisfying. Plenty of power (remember, it’s Tchaik 1) with extraordinary tone and sustain in the soft lyrical parts. Yet, still with a sound of its own. Really nice piano…oh, and played by somebody pretty extraordinary herself!!

Here are a couple of items:

North American Dealers meeting in Las Vegas in August – big success

International Dealers Meeting in Vienna in September – big success

Bottom dropping out of the economy in October.. – real crap

Bosendorfer Piano channel on YouTube – cool in a nerdy kind of way.

(www.youtube.com/bosendorferpianos)

Finally I have a place for a lot of the video I’ve been shooting.

I took my new very fancy HD video camera and spent the Sunday of arrival finding Ludwig Bosendorfers grave in the Central Cemetery. It’s quite humble, away from any of the big-shot sections.

Michael Nissen of Bosendorfer, the current keeper of history there, tells me that that is how it was specified in Bosendorfers will. In fact, the story goes, he wanted only his first name LUDWIG.  It’s a little frustrating because Carl Schweighofer has a dramatic site, as does the Streicher family. And how often do we hear about either one of those pianos today,eh?

Ludwig Bosendorfer grave marker

Ludwig Bosendorfer grave