Karl Rönisch is a
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
manufacturer in
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
The owner Karl Moritz Hermann Rönisch was awarded an imperial and
royal warrant of appointment to the court of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
.
The company exported to Russia and, to avoid high tariffs, built a factory in
St. Petersburg in 1897, parts for which were still manufactured in Dresden, in the main factory.
In 1918, Hermann Rönisch, the son of the company's founder, sold the "Carl Rönisch Hof-Pianofabrik" to Ludwig Hupfeld AG in Leipzig after his grandson, who had been designated as his successor, had been killed in the First World War. He had been associated with Ludwig Hupfeld as a business partner since 1902.
In 2009, the company merged with
Blüthner and the production was moved to Blüthner factory in
Leipzig, Germany. In 1945, most of Rönisch's main factory in Dresden's Innere Neustadt fell victim to the air raids on Dresden. Since 1948, instruments bearing the Rönisch brand name have been built at the "Leipziger Pianofortefabrik", the main factory of Ludwig Hupfeld AG in the Böhlitz-Ehrenberg district of Leipzig.
Recordings made with instruments by Karl Rönisch
* Gudrun Schaumann, Wolfgang Brunner. Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Albert Dietrich, Johannes Brahms, Theodor Kirchner, Carl Reinecke. ''The Circle of Robert Schumann Vol.2''. Label: Capriccio. Played on pianos by Rönisch (1872) and
Streicher (1836 and 1870).
*
Alexander Baillie, John Thwaites. Johannes Brahms. ''Sonaten für Violoncello und Klavier, Vier ernste Gesänge''. Label: Somm. Played on pianos by Rönisch (1860),
Ehrbar (1877) and Streicher (1878).
* Primrose Piano Quartet. Johannes Brahms. ''The Piano Quartets''. Label: Meridian Records. Played on pianos by Rönisch, Blüthner and Streicher.
*
Stenzl Pianoduo. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ''Sonaten KV 448, 497, Fantasie f-moll KV 608''. Label: Ars Musici. Played on two pianos by Rönisch (c. 1862 and 1872).
*
Werner Güra,
Christoph Berner. Franz Schubert. ''Die Winterreise''. Label: Harmonia Mundi . Played on a Rönisch piano (1872).
*
Marlis Petersen,
Anke Vondung, Werner Güra,
Konrad Jarnot, Christoph Berner. Franz Schubert. ''Licht und Liebe''. Label: Harmonia Mundi . Played on a Rönisch piano.
*
Daniel Johannsen, Andreas Fröschl. Hugo Wolf. ''360° Hugo Wolf''. Label: Spektral Records. Played on a Rönisch piano (1872).
Current grand piano models
Current upright piano models
References
External links
Official homepage of Karl Rönisch
Manufacturing companies based in Dresden
Piano manufacturing companies of Germany
Purveyors to the Imperial and Royal Court
Piano makers
German brands
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