Piano picture of the day

10 November 2006, 11:29 AM

quote:
Originally posted by OperaTenor:
A Bosie Imperial with 97 keys at George Fox University, in Lincoln City, OR. It's a small, wealthy Quaker college. I almost went there for my sophomore year of school. Here's a link where you can hear it: George Fox Music Department

That's not the proper orientation for a piano on a stage.

Photographic/Artistic license?

Bad, very bad.

10 November 2006, 03:03 PM

Zorba

Naw, its a double sided stage - the main seating is behind you (the photographer)...

--------------------------------
-Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
http://www.doubleveil.net
1918 Hobart M. Cable
"No-one would knowingly provide Franz Liszt with a mediocre piano." -E. M. Good

10 November 2006, 05:23 PM

Zorba

Isn't this "rebuilt" Bluthner just GORGEOUS?!?

It can be yours for 85K...

--------------------------------
-Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
http://www.doubleveil.net
1918 Hobart M. Cable
"No-one would knowingly provide Franz Liszt with a mediocre piano." -E. M. Good

14 November 2006, 04:04 PM

rontuner

I don't think there's enough room on the platform to play that Chickering...

14 November 2006, 05:09 PM

OperaTenor

I'd dedicate a room to that piano.

15 November 2006, 10:28 AM

rontuner

Here's another backwards to the stage picture.

15 November 2006, 06:34 PM

ChickGrand

quote:
Originally posted by rontuner:
I don't think there's enough room on the platform to play that Chickering...

This one (in the Liszt Museum in Budapest) is not nearly as ornate as the other Chickering Liszt owned (also in that museum, in another room), but both were a bit more ornate than the usual issue of this model. The other has a positively unsightly music desk with carvings rising like stalagmites from the music rest, where this one has just those stalagtite-like carvings (grapes?) hanging from the cheeks.

A very decent rebuild candidate of this same model sold yesterday on Ebay for about $4500, with much of the work already in progress and new bass strings and hammers in the box ready to put on. A rebuilder had over-committed himself. I gave it serious thought, though I only noticed it in its last minutes before auction close. Rebuilt or well-preserved examples range from $65,000-165,000. Surprisingly, there's a fair number of them on the market on a regular basis.

16 November 2006, 11:24 AM

markj

quote:
Originally posted by OperaTenor:
quote:
Originally posted by markj:

That's not the proper orientation for a piano on a stage.

Photographic/Artistic license?

Bad, very bad.

Uh, Mark, how about they posed the piano for the photo to show it off in the concert hall, and they thought having the house in the background looked better than the backstage?

Are you for real?

Last I checked I was real.

Or is this reality I live just an illusion?

17 November 2006, 10:42 AM

Zorba

Look at that Mural! Looks like something one of my dance sisters (The ever talented Lana) would paint.

--------------------------------
-Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
http://www.doubleveil.net
1918 Hobart M. Cable
"No-one would knowingly provide Franz Liszt with a mediocre piano." -E. M. Good

17 November 2006, 12:23 PM

OperaTenor

At least the piano's oriented properly.

17 November 2006, 04:00 PM

rontuner

20 November 2006, 01:06 PM

OperaTenor

Why do you suppose they never caught on?

20 November 2006, 01:15 PM

Zorba

Maybe Ron or someone else knowledgeable will chime in - I'd suspect hidebound conservatism myself. They were reputedly hard to restring. So what?

Here's another failed idea, a very rare 1860s Chickering Cocked Hat:

It can be yours for $9,500!

--------------------------------
-Zorba
"The Veiled Male"
http://www.doubleveil.net
1918 Hobart M. Cable
"No-one would knowingly provide Franz Liszt with a mediocre piano." -E. M. Good

20 November 2006, 02:42 PM

ChickGrand

That off-centered music desk would drive me nuts. I realize it's a result of keeping the sliding mechanism simple, but really, I'd rather some engineer had spent an hour of his day figuring out how to get the same movement while still centering all the way to the left side.

21 November 2006, 11:14 AM

rontuner

Screwstringers probably failed because they were too different... Different tools needed, different techniques? I don't really know - just guessing. Here's a Broadwood with an interesting music rack.