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Bösendorfer (L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH) is an Austrian
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
manufacturer and, since 2008, a
wholly owned subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company (law), company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company ...
of
Yamaha Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle div ...
. Bösendorfer is unusual in that it produces 97- and 92-
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
models in addition to instruments with standard 88-key
keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...
.


History

Bösendorfer, one of the oldest piano manufacturers, was established in 1828 by
Ignaz Bösendorfer Ignaz Bösendorfer (July 28, 1796 – April 14, 1859) was an Austrian musician and piano manufacturer, who in 1828 founded the Bösendorfer company in Vienna-Josefstadt. Biography The son of a carpenter, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts ...
. It has a history of producing highly respected instruments. In 1830, it was granted the status of official piano maker to the
Emperor of Austria The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Ho ...
. Ignaz's son
Ludwig Bösendorfer Ludwig Bösendorfer (10 April 1835 – 9 May 1919) was an Austrian piano manufacturer, son of Ignaz Bösendorfer and inheritor of his father's company Bösendorfer. He modernized the construction of the company's pianos, and made the company well ...
(1835–1919) assumed control in 1859, operating from new premises from 1860. Between 1872 and its closure in 1913, the associated
Bösendorfer-Saal Bösendorfer-Saal (Bösendorfer Hall) was a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, on Herrengasse in the Innere Stadt of the city. Connected with the Viennese piano manufacturer Bösendorfer, it was opened in 1872, and many famous musicians performed th ...
was one of the premier concert halls of Vienna. In 1909,
Carl Hutterstrasser Carl Hutterstrasser (11 June 1863 – 29 March 1942) was an Austrian piano manufacturer, owner of the company Bösendorfer. He was also a musician and sportsman. Life Hutterstasser was educated at the Akademisches Gymnasium in Vienna, and from 18 ...
purchased the company and was succeeded by his sons Alexander and Wolfgang in 1931. In 1966, the Jasper Corporation (later renamed Kimball International), parent company of Kimball Pianos, assumed control of Bösendorfer. In 2001 Bösendorfer returned to Austrian hands, when the
BAWAG PSK Gruppe BAWAG P.S.K. (german: Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Österreichische Postsparkasse Aktiengesellschaft) is the fourth largest bank in Austria. It was formed on October 1, 2005 by the merger of the separate banks P.S.K. and BAWAG. , the ban ...
purchased it. On 21 December 2007 BAWAG signed an agreement to sell 100% of Bösendorfer to
Yamaha Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle div ...
. Bösendorfer continues to make handcrafted pianos in the same Vienna factory. Almost 300 of these premium pianos are made each year.


Characteristics

Bösendorfer pioneered the extension of the typical 88-key keyboard, creating the Imperial Grand (Model 290), which has 97 keys (eight octaves).
Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...
initially ordered this innovation in 1909 as part of a custom piano, as he wanted to transcribe an organ piece that extended to the C below the standard keyboard. This innovation worked so well that this piano was added to regular product offerings and quickly became one of the world's most sought-after concert grands. Because of the 290's success, the extra strings were added to Bösendorfer's other line of instruments such as the 225 model, which has 92 keys. The extra keys, at the bass end of the keyboard, were originally hidden beneath a hinged panel mounted between the piano's conventional low A and the left-hand end-cheek to prevent their being struck accidentally during normal play; more recent models have omitted this device and simply have the upper surface of the extra natural keys finished in matte black instead of white to differentiate them from the standard 88. The Bösendorfer sound is usually described as darker or richer than the purer but less full-bodied sound of other pianos, such as
Steinway & Sons Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to ...
or
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
. On the Imperial Grand, this characteristic tonal quality in part derives from the inclusion of nine additional bass notes below bottom A. These extra keys were originally added so that pianists could play
Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary f ...
's transcriptions of
J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
's organ works, which required the 32′ bass pipes (usually played on the pedal organ). As very little other music makes direct use of the extra strings, they usually contribute to the piano's sonic character not through being played directly but via
sympathetic resonance Sympathetic resonance or sympathetic vibration is a harmonic phenomenon wherein a passive string or vibratory body responds to external vibrations to which it has a harmonic likeness. The classic example is demonstrated with two similarly-tuned ...
, when other strings in the piano are struck, contributing additional body to the tone. Moreover, the bass notes of the Bösendorfer, including the extra bass keys, are very powerful, adding volume in demanding literature. Bösendorfer Kuhn pianos come with 10 Swarovski leaded-glass crystals inserted along the steel structure. The million-dollar Kuhn has 72 crystals installed under the strings. The rim of a Bösendorfer grand piano is built quite differently from that of all other grands. Instead of veneers bent around a form, the rim is made in solid sections of spruce and jointed together. Spruce is better at transmitting sound than reflecting it. This is perhaps why Bösendorfers tend to have a more delicate treble and a bass that features the fundamental tone more than the higher harmonics. There are also two other features of Bösendorfers that are shared with only a few other piano brands: one is a removable ''capo d'astro'' bar in the treble, which facilitates rebuilding of the instrument and, Bösendorfer says, provides greater acoustic separation from the plate, decreasing tonal absorption; the other is single-stringing, providing each string its own individual hitch pin on the plate instead of connecting it to a neighbouring string. This design may slightly improve tuning stability and is an advantage in case of string breakage. The latest development in the Bösendorfer range is the CEUS digital grand piano reproducing system, which incorporates a computer-controlled mechanism that records a performance on a digital storage medium (magnetic disk or memory chips) and plays it back. The requisite equipment can be fitted to most Bösendorfer pianos to allow the direct recording of pieces while capturing all the keyboard velocity data as a .boe file. Bösendorfer uses a proprietary format to record key and pedal movements as a digital file.


Models

Bösendorfer makes eight models of grand piano from 155 cm to 290 cm in length (5'1" to 9'6") and two vertical pianos,120 cm and 130 cm in height (47" and 51"). The Imperial Grand is one of the world's largest pianos. Each numerical Bösendorfer model directly corresponds to its length in centimeters. For example, a Model 170 is 170 centimeters long (approximately 5'7"). The following tables describes the current Bösendorfer models:


Grand pianos

Current Grand Piano Models


Upright pianos

Current Upright Piano Models


Conservatory Series

To appeal to a wider market, Bösendorfer designed the Conservatory Series for colleges and universities that could not afford Bösendorfer's standard black-model pianos. The production of the two CS Series pianos spends less time in "non-critical areas", cutting down costs of production and purchase, making them more affordable than standard models. The cases and frames are of satin finish, rather than polished and, initially, the pianos were loop-strung rather than single-strung, but those practices have since been abandoned.


Special and Limited editions

Bösendorfer has produced a number of specially designed pianos named after famous composers such as
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
,
Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
and
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
, as well as pianos designed for special occasions, such as Bösendorfer's 170th and 175th anniversaries.


SE reproducing piano

Under the ownership of Kimball, Bösendorfer built and sold a small number of 290SE automatic reproducing pianos. The 'SE' designation was for Stahnke Engineering, whose founder,
Wayne Stahnke Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Anthon ...
, invented the mechanism. The 290 was fitted with electronics and mechanics to record on magnetic tape and playback through electro-mechanical actuation of the piano. After the release of the Microsoft Windows v3.1 operating system, the 290SE could be attached to a PC computer for recording, editing and playback. The 290SE system was the first commercially available computer-controlled "
player piano A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern i ...
" capable of accurately reproducing both the notes and intensity of a performer's playing. This system was not further developed or patented due to its high cost. Competitors soon introduced patented reproducing piano technologies such as the
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
Disklavier Disklavier is a brand of reproducing pianos manufactured by Yamaha Corporation. The first Disklavier was introduced in the United States in 1987. The typical Disklavier is a real acoustic piano outfitted with electronic sensors for recording and ...
in 1982. Thirty seven SE models were produced between 1984 and 1986, including the 225SE, the 275SE, and the 290SE Imperial model pianos. In the 290 range, this included some 290 to 290SE conversions, while one third of the production were 290SEs that sold for $90,000. The research that went into the 290SE later laid the foundation for the CEUS computerized reproducing piano system.


Designer models

Bösendorfer produces a limited number of Artisan Models annually, each available for order only during the calendar year in which it was developed. An example of a designer model is the Bösendorfer
Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal ...
Crystal Grand piano. Three of these special pianos were produced in 2003 in honour of Bösendorfer's 175th anniversary. Each piano's case is encrusted with 8000 crystals and layers of gold. Three notable architects who have designed Bösendorfer piano models are
Theophil Freiherr von Hansen Baron Theophil Edvard von Hansen (; original Danish name: Theophilus Hansen ; 13 July 1813 – 17 February 1891) was a Danish architect who later became an Austrian citizen. He became particularly well known for his buildings and structures in ...
(1866),
Josef Hoffmann Josef Hoffmann (15 December 1870 – 7 May 1956) was an Austrian- Moravian architect and designer. He was among the founders of Vienna Secession and co-establisher of the Wiener Werkstätte. His most famous architectural work is the Stoclet Pa ...
(1909) and
Hans Hollein Hans Hollein (30 March 1934 – 24 April 2014) was an Austrian architect and designer
(1990). There were only two Hans Hollein 225 models produced in 1990; one can be found in the lounge of the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, Florida.


Bösendorfer artists

Among the earliest artists to be associated with Bösendorfer was
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
, who at least once opined that Bösendorfer and Bechstein pianos were the only instruments capable of withstanding his tremendously powerful playing, although he purchased and officially endorsed Steinway & Sons pianos. The renowned twentieth-century American composer–conductor
Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
has also performed on a Bösendorfer. Another great pianist who championed Bösendorfer pianos was
Wilhelm Backhaus Wilhelm Backhaus ('Bachaus' on some record labels) (26 March 1884 – 5 July 1969) was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly well known for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. He was also much ...
. In his memoirs,
Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein ( pl, Artur Rubinstein; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.
recounts having insisted on a Bechstein instead of the hall's Bösendorfer before a recital in Austria. After the performance, the then-head of the Bösendorfer company came backstage to meet this young artist who refused to play a piano highly cherished by his Russian namesake,
Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sa ...
; Rubinstein claims he thereafter always sought out Bösendorfers when in Austria. Both Rubinsteins were Steinway & Sons artists and played these pianos when in the United States. In the late 1970s, following a concert performed in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, jazz pianist
Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...
turned to his impresario,
Norman Granz Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American jazz record producer and concert promoter. He founded the record labels Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve, and Pablo. Granz was acknowledged as "the most successful impresar ...
, with the words: "Dammit, Norman, where does this box go? I also gotta have such a thing!" Such was his reaction to playing a Bösendorfer 290. Musician/comedian
Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...
also played Bösendorfer pianos. More recent examples of notable artists who have played the Bösendorfer include Russian pianist
Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter, group= ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet classical pianist. He is frequently regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time, Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his int ...
(who in later years chose to promote
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
claiming it had a preferable pianissimo sound and control, according to his own interview); Hungarian pianist
András Schiff Sir András Schiff (; born 21 December 1953) is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist and conductor, who has received numerous major awards and honours, including the Grammy Award, Gramophone Award, Mozart Medal, and Royal Academy of Musi ...
; Austrian pianist
Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is known particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven.Stephen Plaistow"Brendel, Alfred" ' ...
; Italian pianist
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (; 5 January 1920 – 12 June 1995) was an Italian classical pianist. He is considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. According to ''The New York Times'', he was perhaps the most reclusive, e ...
; American
free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...
pianist
Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...
and American singer-songwriter
Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
; German pianist
Wolfgang Rübsam Wolfgang Friedrich Rübsam (born October 16, 1946, in Gießen) is a German-American organist, pianist, composer and pedagogue. Biography After his musical training with Erich Ackermann in Fulda, Germany, Rübsam studied at the Musikhochschule ...
; Austrian pianists
Friedrich Gulda Friedrich Gulda (16 May 1930 – 27 January 2000) was an Austrian pianist and composer who worked in both the classical and jazz fields. Biography Early life and career Born in Vienna the son of a teacher, Gulda began learning to play the piano ...
,
Walter Klien Walter Klien (27 November 1928 – 9 February 1991) was an Austrian pianist. ] Career Klien was born in Graz in 1928. His mother was the artist Erika Giovanna Klien (1900-1957). She emigrated to the United States in 1929, and their only furth ...
and
Paul Badura-Skoda Paul Badura-Skoda (6 October 1927 – 25 September 2019) was an Austrian pianist. Career A student of Edwin Fischer, Badura-Skoda first rose to prominence by winning first prize in the Austrian Music Competition in 1947. In 1949, he perform ...
; British pianists Leon McCawley and
Mark Gasser Mark Gasser (born 6 July 1972) is a British concert pianist. Career Gasser was born in Sheffield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1972 to Austrian and Scottish parents. He studied with John Humphreys at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, ...
as well as the Irish pianist
John O'Conor John O'Conor (born 18 January 1947) is an Irish pianist and pedagogue, and former director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Early career Born in Dublin, O'Conor attended Belvedere College in that city. During his early Dublin studies, his ...
. Ukrainian pianist
Valentina Lisitsa Valentina Lisitsa, ; russian: Валентина Евгеньевна Лисица, translit=Valentina Evgen'evna Lisica, ) (born 25 March 1970) is a Ukrainian-American pianist. Lisitsa independently launched her career on social media, without ...
has recorded DVDs of Chopin and Schubert-Liszt on a 1925 model Bösendorfer, and has released a new video set of a recital using the 97-key Bösendorfer Imperial. Minimalist composer
Charlemagne Palestine Chaim Moshe Tzadik Palestine (born 1947), known professionally as Charlemagne Palestine, is an American visual artist and musician. He has been described as being one of the founders of New York school of minimalist music, first initiated by La ...
chose a nine-foot Bösendorfer as the vehicle on which to perform his 1974 composition ''Strumming Music''. Released as his first compact disc in 1991, it features in excess of 45 minutes of Palestine forcefully playing two notes in rapid alternation, slowly expanding into clusters, with the sustain pedal depressed throughout. As the music swells (and the piano gradually detunes), the harmonics build and the listener can hear a variety of timbres rarely produced by the piano. Jazz pianist
Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a ...
performed the solo improvisations (his Köln Concert) at the Cologne Opera House in
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, Germany, on 24 January 1975 on a Bösendorfer and became a Steinway & Sons artist in 1981. The jazz singers/pianists
Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...
and
Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and othe ...
performed on Bösendorfers many times throughout their careers. In a recent interview for Broadway.com, Academy Award-winning composer
Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...
stated that he purchased a Bösendorfer after the initial success of his musical
Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...
.


Recordings

Bösendorfer pianos have appeared on numerous records. Some examples are:


Classical

*
Aldo Ciccolini Aldo Ciccolini (; 15 August 1925 – 1 February 2015) was an Italian pianist who became a naturalized French citizen in 1971. Biography Aldo Ciccolini was born in Naples. His father, who bore the title of Marquis of Macerata, worked as a typogr ...
recorded his second traversal of the piano music of
Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...
on a Bösendorfer; his first traversal was on a Steinway. Both are included in French EMI set 50999685824 2 5, offering record listeners an unusual opportunity for direct comparison of the two instruments. * Peter Hill recorded
Havergal Brian Havergal Brian (born William Brian; 29 January 187628 November 1972) was an English composer. He is best known for having composed 32 symphonies (an unusually high total for a 20th-century composer), most of them late in his life. His best-known ...
's complete piano music on a Bösendorfer ImperialCameo Classics catalogue entry for CC9016CD – ''Havergal Brian: The Complete Piano Music''
/ref> at the Northern College of Music for Cameo Classics. John Ogdon highly praised the recordings in his review for Tempo. *
Gerhard Oppitz Gerhard Oppitz (born 5 February 1953, Frauenau) is a German classical pianist. He studied with Paul Buck, Hugo Steurer and Wilhelm Kempff. In 1981 he was appointed professor at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater MünchenJohannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
on an Imperial Grand. *
Awadagin Pratt Awadagin Pratt (; born March 6, 1966) is a concert pianist born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Life Awadagin Pratt began piano lessons at six with Leslie Sompong and violin lessons at age nine, having moved to Normal, Illinois. With a violin s ...
more recently recorded
Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...
's
Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', french: Tableaux d'une exposition, link=no is a suite of ten piano pieces, plus a recurring, varied Promenade theme, composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The piece is Mussorgsky's most famous pia ...
, his own transcription of
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
's
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 ''Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor'' (BWV 582) is an organ piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. Presumably composed early in Bach's career, it is one of his most important and well-known works, and an important influence on 19th and 20th century pas ...
, and
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
's
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel The ''Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel'', Op. 24, is a work for solo piano written by Johannes Brahms in 1861. It consists of a set of twenty-five variations and a concluding fugue, all based on a theme from George Frideric Handel ...
on an Imperial Grand. *
Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter, group= ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet classical pianist. He is frequently regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time, Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his int ...
recorded Bach's
Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...
on a Bösendorfer at Salzburg in two settings of 1972 and 1973. *
Carol Rosenberger Carol Rosenberger (born 1933) is a classical pianist. In 1976, Rosenberger was chosen to represent America's women concert artists by the President's National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. She has given performance ...
recorded music of Liszt,
Griffes Charles Tomlinson Griffes ( ; September 17, 1884 – April 8, 1920) was an American composer for piano, chamber ensembles and voice. His initial works are influenced by German Romanticism, but after he relinquished the German style, his late ...
,
Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
, and
Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
and
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's ''Appassionata'' and op. 111 sonatas on an Imperial Concert Grand. * Moritz Rosenthal played a Bösendorfer for his celebrated series of recordings for
HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
. * Terry Riley's 1986
minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...
piano piece written in
Just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to ...
, '' The Harp of New Albion'', was recorded on a Bösendorfer Imperial grand piano, specially tuned for Riley himself. *
Robert Silverman Robert Herschel Silverman, Order of Canada, CM, born May 25, 1938 in Montreal is a noted Canadian pianist and piano pedagogue.Stereophile ''Stereophile'' is a monthly American audiophile magazine which reviews high-end audio equipment, such as loudspeakers and amplifiers, and audio-related news. History Founded in 1962 by J. Gordon Holt. ''Stereophile'' is the highest-circulation ...
'' magazine then recorded a similar piano at the Maestro Foundation recital hall in Santa Monica, California replaying the files;
John Atkinson: "Ludwig van Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas," ''Stereophile'', January 2001
the resulting CDs were issued as a 10-disc set. * Robert Ekelund – Two albums of piano pieces performed by economist and pianist Robert Ekelund, performed on the Murray N. and JoAnn B. Rothbard Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand Piano in the Mises Institute's Conservatory. Ekelund als
performed
Brahms Rhapsody Op. 79, No. 2; J.S. Bach, Gigue, French Suite No. 5 (G-major). *
Valentina Lisitsa Valentina Lisitsa, ; russian: Валентина Евгеньевна Лисица, translit=Valentina Evgen'evna Lisica, ) (born 25 March 1970) is a Ukrainian-American pianist. Lisitsa independently launched her career on social media, without ...
Chopin's 24 Études D.V.D. track. Op. 10 and Op. 25 Études. *
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
's
Le Sacre du Printemps , image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg , image_size = 350px , caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of ' , composer = Igor Stravinsky , based_on ...
,
The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...
and
Petrushka Petrushka ( rus, Петру́шка, p=pʲɪtˈruʂkə, a=Ru-петрушка.ogg) is a stock character of Russian folk puppetry. Italian puppeteers introduced it in the first third of the 19th century. While most core characters came from Italy ...
played by Dag Achatz and
Roland Pöntinen Roland Peter Pöntinen (born 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish pianist and composer. Pöntinen was born to an Ingrian Finnish father and Swedish mother. He studied at the Adolf Fredrik's Music School and the Royal Swedish Academy of Musi ...
on
BIS Records BIS Records is a record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. It is located in Åkersberga, Sweden. BIS focuses on classical music, both contemporary and early, especially works that are not already well represented by existing recordings. ...
was played on a Bosendorfer Model 275 *
Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka Kimiko Douglass-Ishizaka (born 4 December 1976) is a German Japanese composer, pianist, and former Olympic weightlifting, Olympic weightlifter and powerlifter. Music Born in Bonn, Germany, Douglass-Ishizaka (known as Ishizaka) started playing ...
has recorded
J. S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
's
Goldberg Variations The ''Goldberg Variations'', BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may also hav ...
for public domain release on the Internet by the
Open Goldberg Variations The Open Goldberg Variations is a non-profit project that created a high quality studio recording and typeset score of Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations, and placed them directly into the public domain. By releasing an entirely free ve ...
project, an initiative sponsored in part by Bösendorfer. She played a C290 Imperial fitted with the CEUS system. Accompanying the recording—offered in
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
,
FLAC FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference software p ...
, and 24 bit 44 K
WAV Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or WAV due to its filename extension; pronounced "wave") is an audio file format standard, developed by IBM and Microsoft, for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is the main format used on Microsoft Wind ...
formats—is a freshly made copy of the full score. Ishizaka also recorded Bach's
The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...
on a Bösendorfer 280. * Costantino Catena has recorded on new Bösendorfer VC280 the CD "Dedications—
Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
-
Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
/ Costantino Catena plays the new Bösendorfer 280VC" for Camerata Tokyo *
Zoltán Kocsis Zoltán Kocsis (; 30 May 1952 – 6 November 2016) was a Hungarian pianist, conductor and composer. Biography Studies Born in Budapest, he began his musical studies at the age of five and continued them at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in 19 ...
recorded on Bösendorfer, together with conductor Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the complete work for piano and orchestra by Bela Bartok for Philips.


Popular

*
Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...
was known for using Bösendorfer pianos during many of his shows. *
Peter Bence Peter Bence ( hu, Péter Bence; born 5 September 1991) is a Hungarian pianist, composer and music producer. He has gained considerable popularity with his piano arrangements of Despacito (Fonsi/Yankee/Ender), Michael Jackson, Queen and Sia colle ...
used a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial to record a cover of Toto's Africa. *
Richard Clayderman Richard Clayderman (; born Philippe Pagès , 28 December 1953 in Paris) is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville, Olivier Toussaint and Marc Minier, instrumental renditions of popular ...
used a Bösendorfer for his recordings. *
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
in his album '' Punch the Clock''. *
Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...
used Bösendorfer almost exclusively from 1977 until 2006. *
Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...
and
Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...
of the band
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
employed the Bösendorfer in the song ''
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...
''. *
Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
in his album '' Up''. *
Rick Wright Richard William Wright (28 July 1943 – 15 September 2008) was an English musician who was a co-founder of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He played keyboards and sang, appearing on almost every Pink Floyd album and performing on a ...
played a Bösendorfer grand piano on " Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 8)" from the
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
album, ''
Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to: Film, television, and theater Film * ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland * ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...
''. * Roger Waters chose a Bösendorfer grand piano "9-foot-six, please" as his luxury item on ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...
'', though only after he was denied a satellite link to watch
Arsenal Football Club Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (incl ...
matches. *
Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song "Ne ...
playing a Bösendorfer grand piano in
Cry for Help "Cry for Help" is a song by British dance-pop singer Rick Astley, released as the first single from his third studio album, '' Free'' (1991). It was written by Astley and Rob Fisher, formerly one half of the 1980s pop outfits Naked Eyes and Cl ...
videoclip. *
Bradley Joseph Bradley Joseph (born 1965) is an American composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music. His compositions include works for orchestra, quartet, and solo piano, while his musical style ranges from "quietly pensive mood music ...
in his album ''
Rapture The rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an Eschatology, end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurre ...
''. *
Giovanni Allevi Giovanni Allevi (; born April 9, 1969) is an Italian pianist and composer. His song "O Generosa" is the current theme tune of the top flight of Italian football, Serie A. Biography Education Allevi attained a first-class diploma both in piano a ...
in his album '' 13 Dita''. *According to composer
Jim Steinman James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...
,
Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synthe ...
played a Bösendorfer on the
Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...
album ''
Bat Out of Hell ''Bat Out of Hell'' is the 1977 debut album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. It is one of the best-selling albums in history. The album was developed from a musical, ''Neverland'', a futuristic rock version of ''P ...
'' in 1977, which was a deviation from Steinman's preference for Yamaha pianos. *Dr. Evil plays a Bösendorfer in the ''
Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and '' Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced ...
'' movies ('böse' means evil in German). *The Greek composer
Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...
used a Bösendorfer grand piano on his albums '' Heaven and Hell'' (1975) and ''
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
'' (1979). *Singer/songwriter
Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
has recorded and toured exclusively with Bösendorfers since 1993. *
Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a ...
in
The Köln Concert ''The Concert'' is a live recording of solo piano improvisations performed by Keith Jarrett at the Opera House in Cologne (german: Köln) on 24 January 1975. The double-vinyl album was released in 1975 by ECM. It became the best-selling solo a ...
. *
Matthew Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, musician, producer, and songwriter. He is primarily known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for English rock band Muse (band), Muse. He is recognised ...
of the rock band
Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
has recently started using a Bösendorfer. *The electronic dance music band
Above & Beyond (band) Above & Beyond are an electronic music group consisting of English DJs Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Finnish DJ Paavo Siljamäki. Formed in 2000, they are the owners of London-based electronic dance music labels Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep, ...
used
Paavo Siljamäki Above & Beyond are an electronic music group consisting of English DJs Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Finnish DJ Paavo Siljamäki. Formed in 2000, they are the owners of London-based electronic dance music labels Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep ...
's Bösendorfer grand piano on their song "Small Moments" (2012). *
Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...
of the rock band
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
is seen playing a large Bösendorfer on the song, "
Who Are You ''Who Are You'' is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Who, released on 18 August 1978 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. Although the album received mixed reviews from critics, it was a ...
", filmed during a recording at
Ramport Studios Ramport Studios was a recording studio on Thessaly Road, Battersea, south London, owned by the Who. The studio was built in an old church hall. Several major albums were recorded at Ramport, including 1974's ''Crime of the Century'' by Supertram ...
and featured in the movie, The Kids are Alright.


In popular culture

* A Bösendorfer was featured in the 2017
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
–nominated film ''
Call Me by Your Name Call Me by Your Name may refer to: * ''Call Me by Your Name'' (novel), a 2007 novel by André Aciman * ''Call Me by Your Name'' (film), a 2017 film based on the novel, directed by Luca Guadagnino ** '' Call Me by Your Name: Original Motion Pictur ...
''. * A Bösendorfer, with artwork by Japanese artist
Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts media (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts as well as co ae ...
, is seen in the video for
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...
's 2020 song "
Toosie Slide "Toosie Slide" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake from his commercial mixtape '' Dark Lane Demo Tapes'' (2020). It was released as the lead single on April 3, 2020, through Republic and OVO. The song is titled after social media influencer Toosie ...
". * Bösendorfer samples are used extensively in Yamaha's flagship
Clavinova The Clavinova is a long-running line of digital pianos created by the Yamaha Corporation. The name is a portmanteau of the two words ''Clavier'' meaning 'keyboard instrument' and ''nova'' meaning 'new'. It is similar in function to an acoustic ...
lineup. * A Bösendorfer was mentioned, shown and played in the final episode of the Netflix Show "