Boesendorfer Magazine 2008/01

BÖSENDORFER The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

N0. 2 | April 2008

Interview: Kristin Okerlund 180 Years of Bösendorfer The Resonance Case Principle

Postage paid | Publisher’s post office: 1010 Vienna L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH, Bösendorferstraße 12, A-1010 Wien, [email protected], www.boesendorfer.com | If undeliverable, please return to sender

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O b i t u a r y

B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

In Memoriam: Oscar Emmanuel Peterson August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007 Bösendorfer grieves for a friend ...

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ammit, Norman, where does this box go? I also gotta have such a thing!” A long friendship began in the late ‘70s with these words, spoken by the great jazz pianist to his impresario, Norman Granz. The box to which Oscar Peterson was referring was none other than a Bösendorfer Imperial and the occasion was a special concert evening in Vienna with many encores. “I hung around till the audience left, then sprinted ceremoniously back to the piano to rejoice in its incredible sound quality once again. Norman was so overwhelmed by my initial reaction that he forgot to tell me that a Bösendorfer representative was waiting for me to let the company know whether I was satisfied with the instrument they had put at my disposal. Shortly afterwards they contacted me and offered for me to select a piano according to my taste the next time I was in Vienna – an offer I couldn‘t refuse!” (From the German version of Oscar Peterson‘s autobiography, A Jazz Odyssey: The Life of Oscar Peterson, pp. f.)

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he day before Christmas Eve, on Sunday, December 23, 2007, the legendary Canadian jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson died in his home in a Toronto suburb at the age of 82. Oscar Peterson suffered a stroke in 1993, from which he nonetheless recovered. His famous left hand remained significantly affected, however. Peterson last performed in Austria in November 2003. It was the great gala concert in

the Golden Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein on the occasion of Bösendorfer‘s 175th anniversary.

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orn in Montreal on August 15, 1925, Peterson began his career as a professional musician at the age of 17. In 1947, he led his own trio for the first time. His big international breakthrough came as Norman Granz (Peterson’s impresario and friend) invited him to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall for the concert series Jazz at the Philharmonic. The keyboard magician was also famous for his work with smaller ensembles such as duos and trios. He very often played with bassists Ray Brown, Niels Henning, Ørsted Pedersen, as well as guitarists Barney Kessel, Joe Pass and Herb Ellis. These chamber music-oriented ensembles usually got by without percussion. Peterson played with the giants of jazz history, among them Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington. He has been awarded eight Grammys, including one in 1997 for his life’s work. Over a dozen universities have granted him honorary doctorates. In 2000, he was awarded the UNESCO International Music Prize. Oscar, we thank you for having given – with our “box” – so much to music and jazz lovers around the world! Stefan Radschiner

Oscar Peterson in the Golden Hall of Vienna’s Musikverein in November 2003, on the occasion of Bösendorfer’s 175th anniversary – his last performance in Austria. |2

E D I T O R I A L

Editorial Dear readers!

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, the year Bösendorfer was founded, is one of the most significant years in the history of piano building. Ignaz Bösendorfer’s goal to build pianos of the highest quality and with a unique sound continues to be the Austrian piano maker’s highest priority.

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nowledge passed down from generation to generation, as well as 180 years’ experience in the art of piano building, form the foundation for the unique quality and extraordinary wealth of tone colors exhibited by Bösendorfer pianos. In this context, Bösendorfer Technical Director Ferdinand Bräu, in part one of the Factory series, reports on the resonance case principle and Bösendorfer’s distinctive features in terms of design and sound (p. 14). As a prelude to this series on Bösendorfer’s handcraft, take a look at Robert Wöhrer on the cover performing demanding bridge notching work.

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ösendorfer’s new CEO Yoshichika Sakai – whom we also wish to introduce to you in this context – speaks about the significance of the Viennese sound for the international

music world and why Bösendorfer will remain an Austrian company even under Yamaha ownership (p. 11).

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hat tradition and innovation optimally complement one another is displayed by the CEUS computer piano as well as the high-end Bösendorfer loudspeakers, which are built in addition to the pianos at our piano factory in Wiener Neustadt.

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wish to express my sincere gratitude for the considerable positive feedback on the first edition of the new Bösendorfer magazine. In this spirit, I wish you considerable pleasure reading this anniversary edition. I also look forward this year to the pleasure of meeting many readers personally at our location in the Graf Starhemberg-Gasse in Vienna or at the recently renovated Bösendorfer Downtown in the Musikverein building.

Simon Oss Sales Manager Asia

Contents In Memoriam: Oscar Emmanuel Peterson .................................. 2 Editorial · Imprint ................................................................................... 3 Interview: Kristin Okerlund The Multifaceted Art of the Répétiteur ........................................ 4 A Movie Star Piano ................................................................................. 6 The “Crash Piano” – the Two Moors Story .................................... 7 Exclusive Bösendorfer Factory Concert with Jancy Körössy and Ramona Horvath .............................................. 8 Wooed and Won Tobias Moretti Fulfills a Dream ........................................................ 9 Inaugurated with Schubertian Melodies – 180 Years of Bösendorfer ................................................................... 10

Yoshichika Sakai – Lover of the Viennese Sound Becomes New Bösendorfer CEO ..................................................... 11 The 180th Anniversary Grand Piano Limited Edition .............. 12 Collaborative Concerts ........................................................................ 13 The Touching Sound – Part 1 The Resonance Case Principle ......................................................... 14 Soundscape Experts ............................................................................ 16 CEUS – “On-the-Job Training” .......................................................... 18 Bösendorfer Audio and Music in the Grand Hotel Vienna ............................................................................. 19 HIGH END Show, Munich 2008 ...................................................... 19 Contact .................................................................................................... 20

Imprint · Editor, media proprietor, publisher: L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH, Graf Starhemberg-Gasse 14, A-1040 Vienna, Austria, Tel. +43 (1) 504 66 51-0 · Design and layout: FineStudios®, Vienna. Produced and printed in Austria. Distribution: self-distribution to Bösendorfer friends and interested parties. Editorial office address: L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH, Attn.: Simon Oss, Graf Starhemberg-Gasse 14, A-1040 Vienna. Senior editors: Agnes Domfeh, Simon Oss. Authors: Mario Aiwasian, Dieter Autengruber, Ferdinand Bräu, Agnes Domfeh, Manfred Häfele, Dr. Rupert Löschnauer, Dr. Michael Nießen, Simon Oss, Mag. Stefan Radschiner. Photos: Mario Aiwasian, John Borge, David A. Czihak, Agnes Domfeh, Herbert Druml, FineStudios®, Monika Frank, Grand Hotel Wien, Harri Mannsberger, David M. Peters, Mag. Stefan Radschiner, G. Ringhofer, Christian Schoppe. Translation: Albert Frantz. Primary direction and disclosure according to media law: Magazine for persons interested in music and friends of Bösendorfer in Austria. Errata and printing errors, etc., including price quotations, excepted. No liability is assumed for unsolicited pictures and manuscripts submitted. Reprints permitted exclusively upon written consent of the publisher. All rights reserved. Contributions marked by name present the author’s opinion, not always that of the publisher. No legal action will be countenanced for sweepstakes.

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B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

Interview: Kristin Okerlund

The Multifaceted Art of the Répétiteur

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he has been employed by the Vienna State Opera since 1993 and has worked with conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Seiji Ozawa and Bertrand de Billy. In this interview, Kristin Okerlund spoke about her activity as répétiteur, as well as the Master’s program she heads at the Konservatorium Wien University.

Photo: John Borge

Kristin Okerlund studied at the St. Louis Conservatory of Music, the University of Illinois and at the Konservatorium Wien University (Vienna Conservatory). She concertizes internationally as soloist as well as accompanist to Bernd Weikl, Walter Berry, William Warfield, Johan Botha, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Nancy Gustafson, Angelika Kirchschlager, Ildiko Raimondi, Heinz Zednik, Neil Shicoff, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Bo Skovhus, Edita Gruberova, Heidi Brunner, Janina Baechle and many others.

Simon Oss: Ms. Okerlund, what is your typical daily routine at the opera? Kristin Okerlund: We normally have rehearsals from 10 to 1 and from 5 to 8. For classic coachings I work with each person for one hour, sometimes two. That depends on how long the role is and how long the singer needs. We also often have scenic rehearsals. There are only orchestral rehearsals for premieres or new stagings; otherwise, all rehearsals are with the piano. Simon Oss: The job specifications for a répétiteur far outreach purely pianistic ability, as you’ll reveal. Where do you see the essential tasks? Kristin Okerlund: “Coaching” is – as the name suggests – work with the singer in which you repeat, repeat, and repeat. We’re there to instill into the singers that they sing the right notes, have the correct rhythm and that the language is correct. Then we go further and work on the music. Simon Oss: To what extent do you carry out vocal corrections? Kristin Okerlund: It’s incredibly important to have a good ear. If a singer sings too high or the voice sounds too “throaty,” then I point it out to them, but technically – I find – a répétiteur should not work with a singer. That’s a very delicate matter. We can give tips, of course, but when someone doesn’t really have a strong foundation you can very quickly push a singer to a place where he or she can’t do any more. I’ve often experienced that. Simon Oss: Doesn’t such work have a very high potential for conflict? Kristin Okerlund: That’s also a part of correpetition, seeing the perils, the psychological and then working differently with each singer. A singer often comes in and you hear their life story, their problems and, if I may say so, you play the role of the psychiatrist. Simon Oss: Apart from these didactic abilities, what knowledge and ability does a répétiteur need to have in your opinion? Kristin Okerlund: In terms of languages, German and Italian need to be mastered – you need to be able to correct. French |4

Kristin Okerlund concertizes internationally as soloist as well as accompanist to renowned singers. She lives and works in Vienna. is also important, and English primarily for communicating. Russian, Czech ... that would be great of course, but you can’t do everything. It’s also important to breathe with the singer, since everyone has a different rhythm. You also notice with conductors that when they really breathe with the singers it works much more easily, much better and more naturally. You also look with singers at where they should breathe, where it makes sense with the language and the musical phrase. Simon Oss: The répétiteur thus takes on quite a few of the tasks that would typically be assigned to a conductor then? Kristin Okerlund: Exactly. And in the past, nearly all conductors were also répétiteurs and thus learned how to work with singers and to breathe. Nowadays that’s perhaps a major deficiency.

Photo: Herbert Druml

Kristin Okerlund at the 2006 Heiligenkreuz Festival with clarinetist Roger Salander. Simon Oss: Having worked intensely with singers in such a manner, do you sing personally or expect your students to sing? Kristin Okerlund: [laughing]: I drive my students crazy. I’ll never forget my first job at the Vienna Kammeroper. I was répétiteur for Werner Henze’s “English Cat,” and it was incredibly difficult to play – I practiced for months so that I could really play it well. The first coaching was with Helmut Wildhaber. He came in and I started to play. It was a place in which the soprano sings. I simply kept playing and concentrating and he didn’t enter. So I said, “You need to sing!” and he replied, “How am I supposed to enter when I don’t hear the soprano?” And I said, “Yeah, but she’s not here now!” – “No, you need to sing!” – “Why? I’m a pianist – I don’t need to!” He actually showed me how important it is, as no one had ever told me that before. So I needed to make up for it very quickly. And now I require all my students to sing always. They don’t like it, but it simply has to happen. Today I had a rehearsal, the singer had about ten words and I needed to sing everything else, the Leonora aria, the duet ... but it has to happen, it’s incredibly important. Simon Oss: Are there also special pianistic demands? Kristin Okerlund: You somehow need to be educated all-round. First, you need to study solo piano in order to attain the necessary technical proficiency. And when an orchestra for example requires a piano, organ or celeste, then the répétiteur also plays them. Then you need to be able to sight-read. I see that in my students – if you can’t do it naturally then it’s incredibly difficult. The singers call me up and say they’d like to work. Then they come, set the score down and expect the pianist to be able to play. And that has to happen, in fact. Sometimes you need to be able to transpose on the spot and sometimes even play from an orchestral score. In terms of sound, we répétiteurs always try to sound like an orchestra, whereby the playing is associated with lots of free-

dom. If you look at two different piano reductions, they can be totally different, because somebody took the orchestral score and compressed it so that a pianist can play it. And he took out the things he considered important, while someone else considers something else important. Therefore, I tell my students that whenever something is too difficult to play, they can simplify it, or, by contrast, they can add octaves if it requires more orchestral support. Simon Oss: Do you therefore adjust the playing to the singer? Kristin Okerlund: You do need to support a bit or give less. It always depends on the singer and the piece. But when somebody comes to me and wants to sing Wagner with a tiny little bird voice, then I refuse to just sit there like a bird and play softly, since afterwards the orchestra also won’t do that. Simon Oss: As a répétiteur, do you also have special demands on your piano? Kristin Okerlund: I find it important to have a great instrument. If the nuances are there in terms of sound, that results in another quality and a different sort of support for the singers. You could ask any singer whether they’d rather sing with the Vienna Philharmonic or with any old average orchestra. They would all say the Vienna Philharmonic since they’d then sing better when they have this support and this quality of sound. It’s no different with the piano. Personally, I’m a Bösendorfer fan. The Bösendorfer is now very clear in the treble and nonetheless has a round sound in the bass. I think I had only played a Bösendorfer once in my life before coming to Vienna, Brahms’s Handel Variations at a competition. And you know, that was it! There are tones that you only have on a Bösendorfer. It was so much fun. That’s also the case for me in the opera – you can imitate the orchestra’s sound and give more support. I think it’s great!

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B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

A Movie Star Piano

How a piano by Ignaz Bösendorfer became a movie star thanks to the search for a prop.

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hen MR Film, as producer of the film La Bohème with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón, inquired about a grand piano for the studio of both artists, it had already been discretely hinted that a historic piano (“brown veneered”... “turned legs”...) would be needed as a prop for shooting the film... At the beginning of shooting, a classic Bösendorfer Model 170 was brought into the artist room of the ORF Rosenhügel Studio. The singers, first and foremost Rolando Villazon, were pleased with the beautiful instrument. One day we were surprised by a call from the prop master, who inquired about the brown piano for the Landlord’s salon in Bohème. The instrument would be urgently needed. A joyful event he prop master’s one last hasty tour through the old factory warehouse with our service manager then led to a joyful event: Under a heavy cover stood the old Ignaz Bösendorfer grand, which exhibited the desired turned legs. The big surprise was that this was one of those incredibly rarely encountered Ignaz Bösendorfer grand pianos from the late Biedermeyer period. Worldwide, barely a dozen of this model survive today. The beautifully preserved piano fits stylistically into both epochs relevant to the film project: the Biedermeier on the one hand as Bohème’s historical “real-time,” and the Belle Époque as the cinematic “real-time” for this production (1902, to be precise), for already at the time it was considered something special to be able to call an instrument from the Biedermeier period one’s own (Landlord’s Salon). It would have been difficult to find a more worthy and har-

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Agnes Domfeh, together with Rolando Villazón, is happy about the newly surfaced Ignaz Bösendorfer grand. monious entry for this “Grand Dame” from Bösendorfer. Agnes Domfeh LA BOHÈME is a film production by MR Film, in co-production with Unitel (Germany), produced with the support of ÖFI (Austrian Film Institute), FFW (Film Funds Vienna), ORF Film-/Fernsehabkommen (Austrian Broadcasting Service Film/Television Accord).

Recommendation: The exquisite cast of La Bohème as well as Robert Dornhelm as stage director and Walter Kindler behind the camera make the film a genuine event! Anna Netrebko Mimi Rolando Villazón Rodolfo Musetta Nicole Cabell George von Bergen Marcello Adrian Eröd Schaunard Vitalij Kowaljow Colline et al.

Left: A worthy comeback for the old Ignaz Bösendorfer grand piano as leading actor in the “keyboard instrument” category in La Bohème. |6

TWO MOORS STORY

The “Crash Piano” – the Two Moors Story

In the spring of 2007, a tragic piano story went halfway around the world. The TWO MOORS FESTIVAL in Devon in southern England was finally, after two years of fundraising, able to purchase its very own Bösendorfer “Imperial.” Yet during delivery the unimaginable happened.

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or two years, the artistic directors of the Two Moors Festival (Dartmoor & Exmoor), Penny and John Adie, and the ladies and sirs of the honorable festival committee collected money until they could at long last purchase a new grand piano that they wished to deploy in the various concert venues throughout Devon. The new piano was to be delivered and inaugurated in April. Yet that’s when precisely that happened which ought never occur: Shortly before setting up at its new primary location, the Bösendorfer Imperial suddenly lay helpless on its back like a beetle. A nightmare. Mr. Adie’s despondence went through the media world: “Bösendorfers are like the Stradivarius of the piano world.... They are simply irreplaceable.”

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ur company got in touch with the presenters and offered a substitute instrument that could then be safely delivered on September 28, 2007 directly from Vienna by the Hengster company, our delivery partner of many years. The festival started on October 12, 2007 as scheduled, with a great instrument and lasted until the 20th of October. Even Her Royal Highness, the Countess of Wessex (wife of Prince Edward), graced the festival with her presence. In the coming year, the piano is to form the focal point of the concerts and a concert in Austria is to take place in collaboration with the Austrian Cultural Forum and London as foreign commerce center. Stefan Radschiner

Images that went halfway around the world: The Bösendorfer Imperial’s unbelievable crash.

Piano Delivery II: The cooperation partners Two Moors, the Hengster shipping company and Bösendorfer cautiously, not to mention with major media interest, accomplished the delivery of the long-desired Bösendorfer Imperial concert grand. 7|

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B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

Exclusive Bösendorfer Factory Concert with Jancy Körössy and Ramona Horvath

During a jazz concert in Vienna’s Radiokulturhaus in October 2007, jazz veteran Jancy Körössy told about his fondness – which has now existed for exactly 50 years – for Bösendorfer and the Imperial in particular.

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everal weeks later, the pianist and his artistic partner, fellow pianist Ramona Horvath, completed a tour through our factory in Wiener Neustadt on the occasion of Jancy’s personal anniversary concert in Bösendorfer Hall – and they were thrilled. Thrilled by the dedication, the precision and the conscientiousness with which the factory’s employees build their instruments. The employees’ passion for their work, so clearly palpable to the two artists, as well as the the inimitable sound of the instruments produced there, allowed Jancy Körössy to make the following spontaneous suggestion right then and there: “I wish to express my gratitude to all the wonderful people in the Bösendorfer factory with an exclusive concert.” The idea was received joyfully by the plant management and thus, on November 27, 2007, the very first factory concert, dedicated to Bösendorfer employees, in the history of the company took place. Horvath and Körössy, full of emotion and in the best of spirits, presented their concert full of verve to the personnel. Technical brilliance, the highest degree of musicality as well as empathetically harmonious playing in succession and the subsequent immersion into the nearly dance-like dialog with their respective pianos wowed the employees.

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ommentary from the employees’ circle speaks for itself: “... musical fireworks at their best!”“The harmony and the talent of both pianists were palpable,” or “It fills us with pride to experience what an important contribution we’re making to the music world by producing our Bösendorfer pianos.” Agnes Domfeh

Jancy Körössy, together with his artistic partner Ramona Horvath, wowed the employees of the Bösendorfer factory in Wiener Neustadt. Jazz veteran Jancy Körössy and the young pianist Ramona Horvath, a bridge between generations ancy Körössy (born in Cluj, Romania in 1926) is considered a “giant of jazz” among music critics, one of the world’s most interesting jazz musicians. He ranks among the pioneers who invented Romanian jazz in the late ‘60s and who made the leap into the 21st century. He settled in the U.S. in 1970, where he developed his activity as pedagogue and interpreter, with numerous tours in the States and in Mexico. In 2001, he returned to Europe (Bucharest, Paris), where he performs numerous concerts and holds annual master classes.

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amona Horvath (born in Romania in 1975) is a graduate of the Bucharest University of Music. Her prolific activity as soloist and chamber musician began already in 1992, on the stage of the Romanian Atheneum, and continues with performances in Romania, Germany and the U.S.

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Then and now: Jancy Körössy in 1957 with his first Bösendorfer grand piano (left) and in 2007 with the Model 280 at Bösendorfer Downtown in Vienna (right).

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IANO DUO: The close collaboration between Jancy Körössy and Ramona Horvath began in 2003, and soon thereafter the PIANO DUO was founded, with jazz arrangements from the Romanian classics and folklore, as well as from the great pool and cultural heritage of classical music. The lectures and successful performances of both musicians at international festivals have not failed to leave a lasting impression: In the summer of 2005, the Romanian Radio Company petitioned a series of recordings by the duo for their national heritage.

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Wooed and Won Tobias Moretti Fulfills a Dream

Tobias Moretti has been granted numerous accolades in his life to date, such as the Bavarian Film Prize (1995), the Golden Lion (1996), the Silver Tulip (1997), the Italian Telegatto (“Tele-Cat”), the Bavarian Television Prize (1999, 2004), the Adolf Grimme Prize (2000, 2002), several Romy Awards, as well as the Eysoldt Ring of the German Academy of Performing Arts. Now he has granted himself something: a Bösendorfer grand piano. obias Moretti is a member of the international Bösendorfer family. Moretti, who initially commenced composition studies at the Vienna University for Music and the Performing Arts following his school leaving exam, changed to the Otto Falckenberg Acting School in Munich. He celebrated his first television and film successes at the end of the 1980s. In addition to his film activity, he continues to perform in plays on various stages. And it is thus that Tobias Moretti arrived at his Bösendorfer grand piano: “The piano and I encountered one another at the Theater an der Wien: The instrument was made available to us in January 2007 for Der Seelen wunderliches Bergwerk (“Fantastical Pits of the Souls”), an evening about the Romantic era and industrialization, accompanied by the chamber orchestra moderntimes 1800. During this work I fell in love

with this instrument at the spur of the moment, ‘wooed’ it fervidly at the Bösendorfer company and ‘won’ it a couple months later. I had dreamed of a Bösendorfer already as a composition student in Vienna, due to its unique tone, soft and yet brilliant; it’s a great Tobias Moretti – welcome to the pleasure for me that this Bösendorfer family! dream has now been fulfilled.” Agnes Domfeh

Photo: Christian Schoppe

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Tobias Moretti encountered “his” Bösendorfer grand at the Theater an der Wien. While working on Der Seelen wunderliches Bergwerk he fell in love with the instrument “at the spur of the moment” ... 9|

© Lionel Flusin

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Anniversary

B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

Inaugurated with Schubertian Melodies – 180 Years of Bösendorfer

As Ignaz Bösendorfer started his own piano manufacturing business in 1828, the young Franz Liszt, with his impulsive playing technique, was wrecking nearly every piano made available to him. Upon the advice of several friends, he tried doing this to a Bösendorfer grand – which withstood his playing! At a single blow, the Bösendorfer became famous as a concert grand – and this at a time that did not want for piano makers. At the time the Bösendorfer company was founded, there were over 150 piano builders active in Vienna alone …

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n March 26, 1828 – the year Bösendorfer was founded – the Austrian composer Franz Schubert played his first and only public concert, in the concert hall of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of the Friends of Music) in Vienna; on November 19 of that year he died at the age of just 31. In 1928 – exactly 100 years later – Wilhelm Backhaus proclaimed, “I have loved Bösendorfer pianos since the day I first touched one, and I have found again and again that they play themselves, so to speak, since they accommodate the pianist’s every intention in terms of sound and technique. A midrange of aromatic tonal beauty, fresh as the morning dew, is framed by a powerful bass register and a sparkling, glittering treble, and all moods, from pathos through to flirting grace, are suitable for this piano.... The first Bösendorfers were no doubt inaugurated with Schubertian melodies and they are in there to this very day....” The three main properties of a quality piano arl Hutterstrasser – Bösendorfer proprietor as of 1913 – sketched the following in a brochure on the occasion of Bösendorfer’s centenary in 1928: “… the three main properties of a quality piano: inexhaustible fullness of sound, elastic variety and unlimited stability …” and reckoned that these properties “… can be found unified in Bösendorfer pianos and it is these qualities that have pave the way to our instruments’ success throughout the entire world.” This description can be taken entirely seriously in light of the aforementioned legend creation surrounding the “Bösendorfer’s” outstanding quality. Franz Liszt was still raving in 1870 – decades after his debut on a Bösendorfer: “The perfection of a Bösendorfer drowns my most ideal expectations … .”

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Expansion years udwig Bösendorfer took over his father’s business in 1859, the year Ignaz died. Ignaz had entrusted the secrets of piano production to his son in time. Ludwig, a highly talented musician with an extraordinarily good ear, improved the instruments such that the Bösendorfer name would become inseparably linked with the terms “music” and “touching sound.” The company moved to a new factory in Neu-Wien in 1860, with an attached concert hall seating 200. This new factory also quickly became too small and in 1870 Bösendorfer moved once again, this time to the company building located at Graf Starhemberg-Gasse 14 in Vienna’s 4th District. The office and salesroom were set up in Palais Liechtenstein on Herrengasse. Since Prince Liechtenstein’s riding school

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Ludwig Bösendorfer played the concert grand for Emperor Franz Joseph I during an exhibition in Vienna in 1892. exhibited a noteworthy acoustic, Ludwig Bösendorfer persuaded the prince to turn the riding school into a concert hall. The rebuilding work was completed in 1872 and Hans von Bülow inaugurated the hall with a concert. Thanks to its outstanding acoustics, the new Bösendorfer Hall was the most frequented concert hall for chamber music in Vienna for decades. Incidentally, Vienna’s first high-rise building was built at this location in 1931–32.

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arl Hutterstrasser’s sons Alexander and Wolfgang became partners in the company in 1931. Arnold F. Habig, President of Kimball International Inc. (U.S.), became the new Bösendorfer proprietor. The Habig Foyer at the Bösendorfer headquarters was named after him. In 2002, the piano manufacturer came into the possession of the BAWAG P.S.K. banking group. A takeover of the banking group by the U.S.based fund Cerberus once again resulted in the sale of the Bösendorfer company. Setting the course for the future mong over 100 interested parties, following months of negotiations and precise business plan analysis, Yamaha won the bidding for Bösendorfer in December 2007. The essential reasons for this were the Japanese corporation’s sales and marketing experience (Yamaha has built uprights since 1900 and grands since 1902), as well as the guarantee that the company will remain in Austria and their deep respect for the Viennese sound.

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Hans Czihak und Simon Oss

P o r t r a i t

Yoshichika Sakai – Lover of the Viennese Sound Becomes New Bösendorfer CEO

Decades of management experience, a cosmopolitan lifestyle and deep respect for the Viennese sound characterize the new Bösendorfer CEO. He greeted personnel with a piano recital in Bösendorfer Hall.

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lready in the first press conference on December 21, 2007, Yamaha Manager Hiroo Okabe (Member of the Board of Directors and Managing Executive Officer, Musical Instruments Business Group) and Hitoshi Fukutome (General Manager, Piano Division), emphasized that Bösendorfer and its production would remain in Austria. Yoshichika Sakai – Bösendorfer Retaining the unique sound CEO as of January 2008 and strengthening sales are the new owners’ top priorities. Already one month after signing, Yoshichika Sakai (b. 1953) came to Vienna to become the new CEO. Rather than doing so loquaciously, he greeted employees with a Chopin waltz on a Bösendorfer Model 225 concert grand.

cal instruments and hi-fi products in the Scandinavian and Baltic countries. The management experience he gained there led him to England once again in 2006 and finally to Bösendorfer. Mr. Sakai: “I was really happy when I was informed that I’d become CEO of Bösendorfer. It’s such a respectable name and working for such a famous brand and such highquality pianos is a dream for anyone who’s active in the music industry.” The human factor oshichika Sakai was especially taken by his first visit to the Wiener Neustadt factory. “I was very surprised when I saw the production in the factory. I was so astonished that the production is so personal – there’s a face behind each individual part, a human being.”

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The beginnings oshichika Sakai had his first piano lessons at the age of seven, yet he did not receive his first acoustic piano until the age of ten. This gift from his parents motivated him very strongly and he thus continued playing the piano even while studying law. In Yamaha he eventually recognized the possibility of combining his love of music with his profession.

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First experience abroad in the United States oshichika Sakai has already move fifteen times. He had his first lengthy stay abroad in the United States, where he was responsible for digital instruments for seven years and was in close contact with pop and jazz musicians. “I met many artists at the time, such as Toto, some of the Jacksons, Chick Corea, Tony Scott … but no classical musicians.”

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Cultural enrichment – Europe fter a renewed stay in Japan, in 1992 Yoshichika Sakai obtained responsibility for distributing keyboards and digital pianos in England. He sees the five years that he spent in this capacity as especially important. “Coming to Europe was very important for me, as I discovered so many different cultures, different countries, and different people. It was a real ‘eye opener.’ When I lived in California I thought this is it. But that wasn’t the case. Different cultures need to exist and you need to respect them.” Following another sojourn in Japan, Yoshichika Sakai took over, as Managing Director, responsibility for Yamaha musi-

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The very personal manner in which Bösendorfer instruments are crafted greatly impressed Yoshichika Sakai. Setting the course for the future reserving the unique Bösendorfer sound is of the greatest importance for Yoshichika Sakai, for which reason Bösendorfers will continue to be built in their time-tested manner in the Austrian factory: “The Viennese sound and Bösendorfer are one and the same! Nothing about this will change and I do not have the slightest intention of changing the unique Bösendorfer sound that is so tied to the factory’s unique craftsmanship.” Yoshichika Sakai sees his task above all as strengthening brand recognition, expanding customer service and preserving the touching sound.

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Simon Oss 11 |

Anniversary GRAND

B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

The 180th Anniversary Grand Piano Limited Edition

1828 – The world in the age of the pre-German revolution. We describe the “Vormärz” (“preMarch”) as the period between the end of the Vienna Congress of 1815 and the beginning of the civil-liberal 1848 March Revolution in the German states. Within this period, 1828 was a special year for the history of piano building, as Ignaz Bösendorfer received permission on July 25 to set up shop as a piano maker. Shortly before, on March 26, the Austrian composer Franz Schubert gave his first and only public concert in the concert hall of Vienna’s Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of the Friends of Music) – on November 19 he died at just 31 years of age.

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was also the year in which the foundling Kaspar Hauser appeared on the streets of Nuremberg, the Reclam publishing company was founded in Leipzig, and Andrew Jackson was elected U.S. President. Moreover, French novelist Jules Verne, Norwegian novelist Henrik Ibsen and Swiss businessman and initiator of the Red Cross movement, Henry Dunant, were all born in this year. 2008 – 180 years of Bösendorfer: Celebrate with us! e wish to celebrate our 180th birthday in 2008 together with you and have designed and built a special, limited-edition 180th Anniversary Grand Piano model for the occasion. The Anniversary Grand is available in all model sizes from 170 to 290 cm as a limited and numbered edition of 50 pianos.

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The 180th Anniversary Grand – reminiscent of elegance he multifaceted stylistic history of instrument building naturally affords us a broad spectrum of formal possibilities. For the 180th Anniversary Grand, we decided on a classically elegant contour. Thus, the case, for example, is encircled by a decorative groove, elaborately cut by hand, and the leg ferrules were adapted to the classical contouring. The inside of the fall board and key blocks are made of exclusive Vavona Maser wood. Each instrument is endued with an emblem identifying it as part of the 50-piano Limited Edition series. In its simplicity, the music stand with its elegant, grooved ornaments is reminiscent of the Jugendstil epoch. Celebrate with us and treat yourself to an exceptional Bösendorfer!

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For further information contact our Sales Director Worldwide Andreas Kaufmann: Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 505 35 18-38 Fax +43 / (0)1 / 504 66 51-390 [email protected]

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The inside of the fall board and key blocks are made of exclusive Vavona Maser wood. Each instrument is endued with an emblem identifying it as part of the 50-piano Limited Edition series.

TASTEN.LAUF

Collaborative Concerts

Since last season, the Bösendorfer piano company has undertaken a highly successful collaboration with the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of the Friends of Music) in Vienna and its general manager Dr. Thomas Angyan.

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asten.lauf is the name of a four-part concert series in the Metallic Hall – one of the Musikverein’s four new halls – in which Bösendorfer, in collaboration with the Musikverein, presents young pianists from all corners of the globe. The goal of this cooperation is to create a forum for aspiring artists, not yet necessarily known in Vienna, from home and abroad, where they can present their pianistic virtuosity and their artistic concepts to an audience interested in piano music. With the project, Bösendorfer once again demonstrates a main objective of its work for and with artists, supporting, in a forward-looking manner, young talents who are entirely worthy of such support.

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hus, fourteen-year-old pianist Valentin Fheodoroff, truly still a youngblood Austrian (he jumped in on short notice for the Norwegian pianist Klaus Jorgensen, who had fallen ill), Bösendorfer scholarship winner Christoph Traxler, on March 27, 2008 Ana-Marija Markovina, the Croatian pianist living in Cologne, and finally, on May 29, 2008, the winner of the most recent Bösendorfer Piano Competition, Andreas Donat, all played or will play in the Musikverein’s Metallic Hall this season. We should make particular mention of the fact that in Frau Dr. Andrea Wolowiec of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde we have found a partner who helps out not only us, but also the artists – most of whom are making their debuts in the

In collaboration with the Musikverein, Bösendorfer presents young pianists from the world over in four evenings spread out over the current season.

famous venue – in any way she can and who has a sympathetic ear for any request.

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hese concerts, which cover a broad and interesting pianistic and programming spectrum, all take place on Thursdays and are also available as a subscription. Audience interest is so great that the concerts to date in the 2007–2008 season have all been sold out. The concerts begin at 8:00 PM and tickets are available at the Musikverein ticket office at a genuinely low price of 10 euros. Exact details regarding programming can be found in a specially produced complete program booklet for the Musiverein’s four new halls. Due to the present season’s enormous success, Bösendorfer has decided to continue this collaboration into the 2008–2009 season also under the company’s new management. The new concert dates and artists will be announced in due time.

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ollowing the concerts, friends of the Bösendorfer company are invited to a small buffet in our Bösendorfer Downtown location in the Musikverein building to meet and speak with the artists personally. Dr. Michael Nießen

After the concerts, friends of the Bösendorfer company have the opportunity to meet and speak with the artists personally at our Bösendorfer Downtown location. 13 |

F A C T O R Y

B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

The Touching Sound – Part 1 The Resonance Case Principle

The sound of the Bösendorfer piano – “The Touching Sound” – is considered a synonym par excellence for the Bösendorfer brand. The identification of a “Bösendorfer” is predominantly marked by its specific sound. This unmistakable and unique tonal character, the typical, richly colored timbre, is directly connected to the instruments’ construction and design. Bösendorfer grand pianos are classic examples of the Viennese school of piano building and piano-making tradition. The extended arm of the soundboard f you wished to summarize the specific peculiarities of the construction that make possible the typical sound character’s uniqueness in the first place, you would arrive at the “resonance case principle” designation. This term is the very best all-in-one description for this piano building concept. In the resonance case principle, one proceeds from the basic consideration of decisively involving the sub-frame and the rim of the case, along with the soundboard which is primarily responsible for amplifying the sound, to form a complete resonating body for sound production. The subframe construction and case thereby practically become an extended arm of the soundboard. The resulting influence on the sound characteristic is enormous. This basic conceptual approach became common in the Viennese piano building tradition and for nearly 180 years has been perfected by Bösendorfer in particular.

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shed instrument to a great extent. These convenient properties of the wood are especially valuable for an instrument’s sound quality. Bösendorfer instruments have a significantly higher percentage of resonating spruce compared to all other piano manufacturers in the global market. From purchasing the wood he Bösendorfer production facility in Wiener Neustadt is equipped with a generous amount of wood storage space that is stretched out over a surface area of roughly 4500 m2. Purchasing wood occurs exclusively at the beginning of the year, as sapped wood for Bösendorfer instruments is processed in December and January without exception. Wood from trees felled in the cold season best fulfills the high quality prerequisites demanded for parts of the instruments that are relevant to their sound. A tree acclimates itself during this season – that means it is not in a growth phase and exhibits low humidity. Spruce, common beech, maple, hornbeam, linden and alder woods are used for Bösendorfer pianos.

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In the resonance case principle, the sub-frame and the rim of the case are also definitively involved in sound production. Resonating spruce ne of the prerequisites for successfully implementing the resonance case concept is the selection and treatment of the wood. What is significant here is the high proportion of the resonating spruce which is employed. Care in selection, storage, drying, screening, and finally the further processing of the wood all influence the quality of the fini-

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Purchasing wood occurs exclusively at the beginning of the year, as sapped wood for Bösendorfer instruments is processed in December and January without exception.

Especially careful drying of the wood in two phases aw material is selected from our wood suppliers, with whom we have worked closely for decades, according to the strictest criteria. Qualitatively suitable logs are screened and marked on-site by our purchasing and wood processing specialists. The raw wood is then delivered as lumber during the first months of the year. Before it can be used for making pianos, however, the lumbers first have to lie in the open air. Having arrived at the wood storage yard, the planks, with thicknesses varying between 20 and 80 mm, are stacked with the aid of commensurate shims, such that optimal air circulation is obtained for preserving and even conditioning.

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rings can be achieved with this elaborate method. To be continued … Ferdinand Bräu Technical Director

Drying phase I – open-air drying he precise duration of open-air drying is determined by various factors: It is not only the thickness that is decisive, it is also the type of wood. The following is a rough rule of thumb: every centimeter of thickness requires one year of drying time, which yields a storage period of between two and five years at the lumberyard. Tight and even tree rings are an important prerequisite to optimal sound conductivity. Only wood with the best possible properties is suitable for use in a Bösendorfer piano. For soundboards and rib wood we use native spruces that are grown at altitudes of over 800 m above sea level.

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Drying phase II – storage in air-conditioned interior space rofessional extraction of the wood is followed, as mentioned, by careful storage. Apart from the up to five years at the lumberyard, a subsequent storage period of four to six months in an air-conditioned interior space is necessary in order to achieve the conditioning required for further processing in the most protective manner possible. Given correspondingly long storage periods in the open air, wood humidity sinks to approximately 12 %. After the first cutting work, the wood, now indoors, is once again stacked in order to reach the desired target humidity of roughly 7 to 8 %. The humidity of the wood is reduced correspondingly slowly and protectively during this 15- to 24-week storage period at an even temperature of 27° C and a relative air humidity of 35 %. Shims are also used here to allow for air circulation. Wood humidity can be controlled and monitored at regular intervals by using a measuring sensor. Bösendorfer is the only piano manufacturer in the world that practices this especially careful two-phase wood drying process and that entirely abstains from the use of dry kilns in the conventional sense, in favor of quality.

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Strict quality criteria he soundboard planks and the rib posts naturally deserve special attention. For this reason, only the best resonating wood is drawn on for these components. The exceptionally strict criteria for soundboard and rib wood are an even and very tight tree ring structure, rectilinear growth, total freedom of branches and a so-called “riftsawn” structure, i.e., one showing vertical grain. This can only be achieved by first quartering the spruce logs and only then chopping them into individual planks. Nearly exact vertical orientation of the tree

As the soundboard is primarily responsible for amplifying the sound, an even and very tight tree ring structure, rectilinear growth, total freedom of branches and a so-called “riftsawn” structure are absolute prerequisites.

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The Bösendorfer production facility in Wiener Neustadt is equipped with a generous wood storage space that is spread out over a surface area of roughly 4500 m2. 15 |

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B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

Soundscape Experts

Bösendorfer’s Concert Technicians – Our Service Department

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ne of the prerequisites for achieving precise and the best service are our technicians with their technical adroitness, schooled ear and special understanding for musicians’ desires and demands. Passion for the Bösendorfer brand is a matter of course for each of our technicians. Out of that passion arises the special ability to extract both the subtleties as well as the piano’s powerful attributes. The specialist knowledge perfected by our technicians gives our customers the security of knowing that their instrument is in reliable and competent hands.

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ur technicians’ services especially manifest themselves at the particular site and during concrete work on the instrument. Technical versatility, a high degree of atmospheric flexibility and a sure instinct are indispensable properties for Bösendorfer technicians, in order to demonstrate the highest degree of professionalism: • in concert halls • in orchestra pits • at musicians’ homes • at universities and conservatories • on open-air stages • in studios, etc. Below are a few interesting procedures:

Adjusting the drop screw mong the essential work is the adjustment and regulation of the action. Hundreds of individual parts of an action fall into place to create a harmonic whole. The work requires considerable feeling (for key depth) and a good eye (beating, release [Abfallen] and nutation [Abnicken]) to adjust these parts perfectly on top of one another. After all, the action is the gateway between the pianist’s hand and sound production by the hammer striking the string. Thus, when a pianist touches the keys and presses them, he or she feels the entire ideal combination of gravitation, inertia and inner muscular resilience. This is one reason for dedicating a maximum of attention and precision to the mechanical concept and its regulation.

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Attaching the dampers ust as winter must give way to spring, a note struck at any given time needs to make room for the next. In order to shape these natural processes of harmonic transfer from one note to the next as inaudibly as possible, each instrument is furnished with dampers. This device succeeds in repressing the physically highly complex sonic structures of strings vibrating at varying strengths, thereby making possible the desired succession and lengths of notes. The pianist is thus given a valuable additional shaping element. Many treatises on these damping possibilities in piano playing have already been written. The precision in adjusting the dampers is accordingly important. The dampers perform a wonderful counterpoint to the desired unfolding of sound, as the notes’ silence is necessary in order to prepare new sounds.

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Voicing the hammers oicing is the crowning work following all preparatory work. The instrument is given its decisive and characteristic Bösendorfer sound by shaping the hammers. This work may be compared to a sculptor’s shaping work. The sound is shaped step by step via the technician’s imagination – in this case, a tonal imagination. The work is developed by constantly checking the sound of a few keys next to one another, for as long as all notes fit one another precisely and conform to the strings. A triumphant unity of notes tonally adjusted to one another, one which allows the harmonic interplay in all its facets of tone color and differentiation of bass, midrange and treble registers to become an artistic foundation – that is the goal of every voicing.

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Temperature and air humidity ver 80 percent of a Bösendorfers consists, incidentally, of the highest-quality spruce, which makes for optimal transfer of sound. Despite the most careful selection and years of drying in open-air storage, the wood remains a living substance that reacts sensitively to significant changes, particularly those of temperature and air humidity. It is therefore very important to create stable storage conditions and to monitor them regularly. Where you feel good, your instrument also feels good. A constant temperature of approximately 20° Celsius and a relative air humidity of 50 to 55 percent are ideal. Please bear in mind that it is not only the immediate environment, it is also the entire climate of the room in which the piano is located that is decisive; then successfully performed service activities such as tuning, regulating the action and voicing will be long-lasting.

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Manfred Häfele

Our services: • • • • •

Tuning Repairs Appraisals Rentals Service packages We offer all our services via a detailed and informative cost estimate.

Contact the service department Please contact us at: Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 504 66 51-27 or by email: [email protected]

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B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

CEUS – “On-the-Job Training”

In addition to the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna, we were able to win the Konservatorium Wien University (Vienna Conservatory) for a comprehensive test during the course of CEUS’s “on-the-job training” tests.

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rof. Franz Zettl, chair of the keyboard instrument department, gave us the following feedback: “In the fall of 2007, the Bösendorfer piano company was so generous to make available to us, the Konservatorium Wien University, a CEUS computerized grand piano for teaching. I have to confess that I was personally always convinced by this instrument in connection with the computer for high-quality teaching at a university. For comparison I wish to offer the following example: Whenever I’ve improved something in a student’s posture that affects the sound or technique, I’ve tried to capture these passages on video. This was enormously helpful for awkward passages. Not that this or that student didn’t believe what I improved, but the visual and of course aural proof is considerably more valuable. This was the only possibility 25 or so years ago.

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owadays, with CEUS it’s not only easier, it now occurs one to one. It’s indeed possible that a student displays astonishment if you criticize their interpretation, but in many passages the improvement is confirmed. That is precisely what you need for teaching at the highest standard or level. This holds for all students, and I can therefore not only recommend this instrument to every high-ranking educational institution, but financing its acquisition ought not to be a problem from a commercial standpoint. We know how many grand pianos are sold to a university. Here, there’s a leading-edge instrument that only needs to be acquired once, since you would use it when needed for all classes and only when you wish to show the student the passages positively or negatively.”

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aving already been implemented this last year in recording studios, onstage and in radio stations, for us, the practical test at leading universities was the logical next step for further development. We’ll report on a high-tech solution for networked teaching at two universities in our next edition. Mario Aiwasian Product Manager, CEUS & CEUSmaster

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Prof. Franz Zettl, head of the keyboard instrument department at the Konservatorium Wien University, recommends the Bösendorfer CEUS “to every high-ranking educational institution.”

AUDIO DIVISION

Bösendorfer Audio and Music in the Grand Hotel Vienna

The new presentation idea for the high art of state-of-the-art music reproduction. Audio bei der Oper (Audio near the Opera), the elegant audio shop in the Ringstrasse Galleries, presented the latest sound recordings and high-definition music films on Sunday, February 24, at the Grand Hotel Vienna (Salon Galerie), together with Bösendorfer Audio.

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he well-known music presenter and audio expert Dr. Ludwig Flich (Klangbilder, Musik-Matineen), serving as moderator, once again guided guests through an exclusive musical afternoon. The combination of state-of-the-art electronics with traditionally recognized craftsmanship was also reflected in Musik im Grand Hotel. High-definition music films and the latest audio recordings were demonstrated with premium global brands such as Bösendorfer Audio, Musical Fidelity, JJ electronic and Sharp. The many visitors were able to hear for themselves the unique sound of the Bösendorfer Vienna Classic 2 loudspeakers. The most diverse music examples were presented by Dr. Flich, from Oscar Peterson’s contrabass to the Bösendorfer speakers’ right to the “Queen of the Night.” One had the feeling of being live in the concert hall or in the recording studio. This special atmosphere is created by Bösendorfer speakers, based on the acoustic-active principle (by Austrian acoustic researcher Hans Deutsch), which sets a new standard for fidelity. This principle involves the interaction of state-of-theart technology in recording and amplifier construction with Bösendorfer speakers, which made for realistic sonic experiences.

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rom Beethoven’s String Quartet, Op. 18, No. 4, to Jazz at the Pawnshop (Lady be good-propius/FIM 12/1976), to the first New Year’s Concert in 1979 (Strauss’s “Tick-Tack” Polka), via bloopers on CD recordings (subway rumbling audible in the studio and the like), to music in high-definition video (Mozart’s Magic Flute – BBC – Blu-ray, etc.), all the way to the sound of the Viennese Bösendorfer grand (Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1, third movement), the audience indulged itself in audiophile milestones. On this Sunday afternoon, Ludwig Flich presented a “prepremiere” of the young star pianist Matthias Soucek and his latest Beethoven sonatas recording. A special highlight of a varied program! The audiophile requirements that hearing is like discovering and that wonderful music requires commensurate reproduction were, from the audience’s perspective, entirely fulfilled on this Sunday afternoon in the venerable Grand Hotel in Vienna. If you wish to be invited to the next presentation in the Musik im Grand Hotel series by Audio bei der Oper and Bösendorfer Audio, you can find complete information at: www.audio-bei-der-oper.com Dieter Autengruber

The Grand Hotel Vienna 19 |

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B Ö S E N D O R F E R – The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria

At your service – for 180 years

You can find all relevant information about the history of the Bösendorfer company, our products, our presentations, services … at our website: www.boesendorfer.com. Or contact us directly with your request – we’ll be happy to welcome you!

CEO – Yoshichika Sakai [email protected] Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 504 66 51-31, Fax extension 39

Bösendorfer Hall, Artist Services – Stefan Radschiner [email protected] Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 504 66 51-44, Fax extension 39

Sales Director Worldwide – Andreas Kaufmann [email protected] Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 505 35 18-38, Fax +43 / (0)1 / 504 66 51-39

Artist Services – Dr. Michael Nießen [email protected] Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 504 66 51-46, Fax extension 39

Sales Manager Asia – Simon Oss [email protected] Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 505 35 18-43, Fax +43 / (0)1 / 505 29 48-143

Service Department – Bettina Gruber [email protected] Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 504 66 51-27, Fax +43 (0)1 / 505 29 48-127

Sales Director Europe – Harald Kinsky [email protected] Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 505 35 18-29, Fax +43 / (0)1 / 504 66 51-39

Bösendorfer Audio – Dr. Rupert Löschnauer [email protected] Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 504 66 51-34, Fax +43 (0)1 / 505 29 48-134

Territory Manager USA West – Ray Chandler [email protected] Tel. 208 863 26 88 Territory Manager USA East – Eric Johnson [email protected] Tel. 203 520 9064 Bösendorfer Downtown – Agnes Domfeh Canovagasse 4 · A 1010 Vienna · Austria [email protected] Tel. +43 / (0)1 / 505 35 18, Fax extension 20 | 20

SENDER: L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH · Bösendorferstr. 12 · A-1010 Vienna, Austria Postage paid · Publisher’s post office: A 1010 Vienna