Bösendorfer (L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH) is an Austrian piano manufacturer founded in 1828 and wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation since 2008. Bösendorfer is unusual in that it produces pianos with 97- and 92-key models in addition to instruments with standard 88-keys.
History
Bösendorfer, one of the oldest piano manufacturers, was established in 1828 by Ignaz Bösendorfer. It has a history of producing highly respected instruments.
In 1830, it was granted the status of official piano maker by the Emperor of Austria.
Ignaz's son Ludwig Bösendorfer (1835–1919) assumed control in 1859, operating from new premises from 1860.
Between 1872 and its closure in 1913, the associated Bösendorfer-Saal was one of the premier concert halls of Vienna.
In 1909, Carl Hutterstrasser 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 purchased it.
On 21 December 2007, BAWAG signed an agreement to sell 100% of Bösendorfer to Yamaha Corporation.
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 commissioned 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 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 reproduces it. 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 and two vertical pianos, . 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 long. These tables describe the Bösendorfer models:
Grand pianos Models: ModelLengthKeys15588170 VC88185 VC8820088214 VC8822592230 VC88280 VC88290 Imperial97
Upright pianos Models: ModelHeightKeys1208813088
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, Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt, 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 Stahnke Edition automatic reproducing pianos based on 3 of the 'Imperial Line' models 225, 275 and 290. The 'SE' designation was for Stahnke Engineering, whose founder, Wayne Stahnke, invented the mechanism. These instruments were fitted with sensors, electronics and mechanical systems to record and play back piano performances extremely accurately through electro-mechanical actuation of the piano keys and pedals. These instruments were designed to work with either performances stored on cassette tapes as digital data, or with an attached MS-DOS IBM PC computer. Using the computer, the SE instruments could be used for recording, editing and playback. The SE system instruments were the first commercially available computer-controlled "player piano" 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 Disklavier in 1982.
The Bösendorfer SE instruments were used in a number of well-regarded commercially available audio recordings published on CD, where the performance was recorded on the SE system, but the piano was recorded playing back the performance later in a studio or hall, sometimes on a different instrument. Other audio recordings were produced using converted piano roll recordings from the early 20th century, including a two-disc series entitled 'A Window in Time' featuring performances by Rachmaninoff and produced by Wayne Stahnke.
Thirty-two SE pianos were produced by Bösendorfer between 1984 and 1987, including the 225SE, the 275SE, and the 290SE Imperial model pianos. In the 290 range, this included some 290 to 290SE conversions. One third of the production were 290SE models. Most of these instruments are still in use as of 2024.
The research that went into the SE reproducing system later laid the foundation for the CEUS computerized reproducing piano system, though much of the resulting design was completely different.
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 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 (1866), Josef Hoffmann (1909) and Hans Hollein (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, who claimed that Bösendorfer and Bechstein pianos were the only instruments capable of withstanding his tremendously powerful playing. The renowned twentieth-century American composer–conductor Leonard Bernstein has also performed on a Bösendorfer. Another pianist who championed Bösendorfer pianos was Wilhelm Backhaus.
In his memoirs, Arthur Rubinstein claims to have 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; Rubinstein claims he thereafter always sought out Bösendorfers when in Austria.
In the late 1970s, following a concert performed in Vienna, jazz pianist Oscar Peterson turned to his impresario, Norman Granz, with the words "Dammit, Norman, where does this box go? I also gotta have such a thing!", in reference to a Bösendorfer 290. Musician/comedian Victor Borge also played Bösendorfer pianos.
More recent examples of notable artists who have played the Bösendorfer include Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter; Hungarian pianist András Schiff; Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel; Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli; American free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor and American singer-songwriter Tori Amos; German pianist Wolfgang Rübsam; Austrian pianists Friedrich Gulda, Walter Klien and Paul Badura-Skoda; and British pianists Leon McCawley and Mark Gasser.
Minimalist composer Charlemagne Palestine 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.
Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett performed the solo improvisations (his Köln Concert) at the Cologne Opera in Cologne, Germany, on 24 January 1975 on a Bösendorfer and became a Steinway & Sons artist in 1981.
Recordings Bösendorfer pianos have appeared on numerous records. Some examples are:
Classical (recordings made with historical Bösendorfer pianos) Wolfgang Brunner, Michael Schopper. Anton Bruckner. Piano Works. Label: CPO. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (before 1835). Christoph Eggner. Anton Bruckner. Piano Pieces from the Kitzler-Studienbuch. Label: Gramola. Christian Lambour. Schubert, Ries, Hummel, Kuhlau, Reinecke, Czerny. Almost Mozart: Fantasies after Mozart. Label: Koch Schwann. Played on pianos by Bösendorfer (1846) and Broadwood (1812). Hardy Rittner, Teunis van der Zwart. Johannes Brahms. Early Piano Works Vol. 2. Label: Dabringhaus und Grimm (MDG). Played on an Ignaz Bösendorfer piano (1849–1850). Yves Saelens, Jan Vermeulen. Robert Franz. Lieder. Label: Etcetera Records. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1851). Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Teunis van der Zwart. Johannes Brahms. Horn Trio Op. 40, Violin Sonata Op. 78, Fantasies Op. 116. Label: Harmonia Mundi. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1875). Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov. Albert Dietrich, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms. Violin Sonatas Op. 100 & 108. Label: Harmonia Mundi. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1875). Alexander Melnikov. Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Igor Stravinsky. Four Pianos, Four Pieces. Label: Harmonia Mundi. Played on pianos by Alois Graff (c. 1828–1835), Érard (1837), Bösendorfer (c. 1875) and Steinway (2014). Italian Piano Quartet. Johannes Brahms. Piano Quartets Op. 25, 26 & 60. Label: Symphonia. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1880).