boesendorfer magazine 2009 en

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BÖSENDORFER

A Sensational Piano—by Audi design

Interview: Dr. Rainer Keuschnig

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: True to His Roots

The magazine by Bösendorfer Austria N0. 4 | December 2009

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

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

Music and design lovers the world over have received the new Bösendorfer by Audi design con-cert grand with great interest. Together with the Audi design studio in Munich, an instrument has been created which continues the long tradition of the Viennese piano company: dressing the purest sound in innovative design.

A Piano Causes a Sensation

a u d i d e s i g n

opened together with the bass side rim. The coloring catches the eye when looking into the piano: While classic piano black dominates the exterior, the designers adjusted the interior to the typical Audi colors—the cast-iron frame is kept gray, and the damper felts are natural white.

The bench, developed especially for this piano, rounds out its modern image.

Innovation

The Audi design grand is a genuine Bösendorfer with its famous touching sound. It is also a sign of the continu-

ing innovation of the Austrian piano maker, which since the company’s founding in 1828 has been dedicated to the Vien-nese sound it carries into the whole world through its instru-ments.

Rupert Löschnauer

Axel Zwingenberger swings enthusiastically on the new design grand during the Jazz Festival at the Audi Forum Ingolstadt.

With the premier of the Audi design grand to a global audience in July for the 100th anniversary of the Ger-

man automobile manufacturer, Bösendorfer followed the formal and color language of the brand with the four rings. The new grand piano is the current highlight of Audi’s long-standing cultural commitment.

The most striking feature of the new Bösendorfer grand in Audi design is the closed side rim of the bass. It not only lends the instrument unusual presence and stability, it also allows it to project the bass more strongly into the audito-rium. The liberal surfaces make for a clear shape; there are no ornaments, and the edges and lines are sharply defi ned. The lid extends optically all the way down to the fl oor. For this complex lid shape, Bösendorfer design engineer Otto Haller developed a custom press mold that is unique in piano manufacturing.

Attention is called to the musician

Upon closer inspection it is evident that the lid is inserted directly into the case. When viewing from the side, the

elegant sweep of the treble side is thereby not interrupted by a seam. The lower edge of the case thereby discretely rises backwards, away from the pianist. An optical trick: “The at-tention is thus carefully directed to the musician,” Audi de-signer Philip Schlesinger explains. The delicate metal leg, with its aluminum look, makes for the sense of lightness on the treble side. The pedal lyre follows this simple and, by vir-tue of the aluminum fi nish, high-tech design. The interlock-ing metal adjustments necessitate a new dimension in preci-sion construction and manufacturing.

Without the otherwise typical fl anges on the sides, the keybed looks as though it were slid in. The hydraulically at-tenuated fall board is recessed, and the respective hinge integrated into the lid. The music rack is covered with a net material for optimal sound permeability.

The main lid, with its two-level prop stick made of metal, retains Audi’s alumi-num optics. It may be

Striking design: The most striking feature of the new Bösendorfer grand in Audi design is the closed side rim of the bass.

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In keeping with the Bösend-orfer tradition of partnering

regularly with famous architects and designers, together with the designers of Audi we have cre-ated a unique birthday gift to cel-ebrate the Ingolstadt automobile manufacturer’s centenary. The first article in the new Bösendor-fer Magazine is dedicated to the Bösendorfer grand in Audi garb. It combines tradition and innovation and is causing a world-wide sensation with its unusual stylistic vocabulary.

The new Conservatory Series (CS) models 170 and 185 are also gaining considerable attention and popularity. With

these models, Bösendorfer satisfies the desire of young art-ists and many music institutions by assisting them in enter-ing the world of the Viennese piano making tradition in a cost-effective manner, without compromising sound quality or workmanship. We invite you to read the article by Ernst Weichselbraun, the Head of Production at the Bösendorfer factory.

The top ranking which Bösendorfer enjoys in the interna-tional music world finds further confirmation in the art-

ists’ interviews included in this edition. The great jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, for instance, values not only the “Bösen-dorfer identity” but also states that Bösendorfer pianos “of-

fer the opportunity for the instrumentalist to find a variety of ways to produce the sound, dynamic, and whatever other aesthetic qualities one desires.”

Bösendorfer is alive. On the next twenty pages, we’re only able to show you a fraction of the many activities and

performances in which Bösendorfer instruments take center stage. Even in the fast medium of the Internet we can hardly keep up with all the Bösendorfer news within the world-wide companies of business partners and music lovers (as well as our company itself). Visitors to the Bösendorfer web site www.boesendorfer.com find new entries and expanded chapters virtually every day.

The close of our new magazine forms the traditional refer-ence to our Bösendorfer showroom in downtown Vien-

na’s Musikverein building. Not just a Bösendorfer showroom, it serves as a competence and communications center for all lovers of piano music. We look forward to welcoming you to Bösendorfer Downtown!

Yoshichika SakaiManaging Director

Dear Readers,

Editorial

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E D I T O R I A L

Imprint · Editor, media proprietor, publisher: L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH, Bösendorferstraße 12, A-1010 Wien, Tel. 01.504.66.51-0 · 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.: Dr. Rupert Löschnauer, Gymelsdorfergasse 42, A-2700 Wr. Neustadt. Senior editor: Dr. Rupert Löschnauer. Authors: Marion Alexander, Dieter Autengruber, Ferdinand Bräu, Noriyuki Kon, Dr. Rupert Löschnauer, Ursula Oberhollenzer, Simon Oss, Yoshichika Sakai, Mira Weihs, Ernst Weichselbraun. Photos: Stift Altenburg, Audi AG, David Brandt, Bösendorfer, Hans Czihak, Kammeroper, Robert Lehrbaumer, Dr. Rupert Löschnauer, Sawaro Masaru, Foto Nessler, Simon Oss, David M. Peters, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Yan Shi, Marlies Schnaibel, UDECOTT, Frank Wasser, de.wikipedia.ortg/wiki, Stefan Weber. 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.

A Piano Causes a Sensation ............................................................... 2Editorial · Imprint ................................................................................... 3“What’s that Gorgeous Piano?” ........................................................ 4Steel Pan, Calypso and Bösendorfer ............................................... 6Viennese Sounds in a Historical Landscape ................................ 7Imperial Concert Halls ......................................................................... 8Return of the “Emperor” Piano .......................................................... 9Interview: Gonzalo Rubalcaba ........................................................ 10Da capo Altenburg Music Academy! ............................................. 12

CS Grands: The New Generation ..................................................... 13The Touching Sound—Part 3The Resonance Case Principle ......................................................... 14Alexander Schimpf Wins 2009 Beethoven Piano Competition ........................................................ 16“Wall Street of Voices” . ........................................................................ 17In Anton Rubinstein’s Shoes ............................................................ 18CEUS is Unique ...................................................................................... 19Bösendorfer Downtown ................................................................... 20

Contents

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I n t e r v i e w

BÖSENDORFER: Dr. Keuschnig, how did you start playing the piano? Was the piano your instrument of choice?Dr. Rainer Keuschnig There was one at home. I think this was the case, as in all middle-class households, that pianos were on hand and were also played. Like all children who are advised to play piano, at five or six I banged around on the piano for half an hour every day. It was a tough path, as the “little old lady”—my first teacher—was a real house guest. She came for coffee, and in between my brother and I had our lessons. Then my interest increased some. A piano teacher came, who sparked a certain love of music in me.

Besides that, my father played chamber music once a week. A violinist from the Vienna Symphony was among the play-ers and they formed a piano trio. My father could play very well, yet due to the economic situation at the time he had to study law and he became a lawyer rather than musician.

At thirteen and a half I entered the master class of Prof. Raupenstrauch at the Vienna Conservatory, since my broth-er Peter already studied piano there. I was of course at the lowest end of this very famous class and slowly advanced, until I had a pivotal experience during my school-leaving exam. Herr Bock, the first percussionist of the Vienna Sym-phony, had always impressed me immeasurably—a facto-tum of the time. I thus studied percussion with Herr Bock’s successor, Herr Hammer. While doing so it all of a sudden became clear to me that I knew nothing about discipline, orderliness or rhythm. However, I practiced a lot and after only a year and a half I substituted constantly in the Vienna Symphony, which continued in the ORF under Max Schön-herr. And then something quite strange happened: all of a

“What’s that Gorgeous Piano?”Dr. Rainer Keuschnig is the pianist for the Vienna Philharmonic and one of the great advocates of the “Viennese sound.” In an interview with Mira Weihs and Simon Oss, he gives insight into his life as a musician, his thoughts on the “Viennese sound” and his very special love of Bösen-dorfer.

sudden, with Caridis, the Radio Orchestra played modern classical music. The orchestra inspector knew that I could play piano and said, “If Keuschnig can play percussion, then he’ll also be able to play piano, right?!” The first rehearsal was the next day: Music for Strings by Béla Bartók. As the first piece with a large orchestra, I had the honor of playing the piano part and it also went well. Since that time I’ve also been a good friend of Herr Caridis and followed him. For instance, I reopened the Munich State Opera with this piece. I then gave up percussion and, through the Ensemble Kontrapunkte and the ORF Orchestra, simply fell into the pool in which I’m still swimming.

BÖSENDORFER: As a pianist in an orchestra, as the only musician with such a large instrument, do you sometimes get funny looks?Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: [laughing]: Yes, of course you some-times get funny looks! You have to see what role you’re tak-ing on. Are you dominant or leading? But “I am me” doesn’t work. With the Vienna Philharmonic a string is bowed and people are listening. With good orchestras, the piano is a pivot.

BÖSENDORFER: In your opinion, what’s special about your orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic?Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: Rehearsals there go very fast. You think the second rehearsal is already the concert, which with pieces that the orchestra has almost never played is astonishing. The ability to react quickly is only possible via the daily opera work, where every day you’re forced to im-provise, listen and correct mistakes. You learn to give way to singing and perhaps not always to look at the conductor if he’s bothering you.

BÖSENDORFER: And in terms of sound?Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: We’re guardians of the Viennese sound. The horns thereby form an important part of the foundation. And for as long as I’m here, Bösendorfer will re-main one of the most important foundations of the sound. My potential successor, Herbert Rüdisser, is also an advo-cate of this sound.

Earlier in the ORF, an important place for pianos, there was always another piano onstage. I always had it removed. After some time they knew that I play Bösendorfer. It was thus more practical for them to put the right piano onstage from the beginning…

BÖSENDORFER: The Vienna Philharmonic is associated with the term “Viennese sound.” What is your understanding of this term?

Dr. Rainer Keuschnig, pianist for the Vienna Philharmonic, together with Mira Weihs, Artist Relations Manager for Bösendorfer, in the good company of Schubert and Brahms.

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“What’s that Gorgeous Piano?” Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: The Viennese sound is something in-completely complete, distinguished. It’s not purely about technical perfection, but rather you play with charm. That’s a Viennese mentality. It’s about creating colors, which you can do on a Bösendorfer. In my life I’ve often unfortunately had to play other pianos, which don’t produce colors. Yet that is one of the important arguments in favor of the Vien-nese piano.

And when you’re in Vienna you should live the Viennese tradition. I also wish that from other orchestras.

BÖSENDORFER: Does that mean that the Vienna Philharmonic and Bösendorfer pursue a common goal, namely cultivating the Viennese sound in order to sustain the variety of tone colors?Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: It’s like with Microsoft and Apple… the great (!) Viennese composers played Bösendorfer, as did Franz Liszt.

BÖSENDORFER: Viennese sound, Vienna Philharmonic, Viennese composers. How is it with Stravinsky for instance? Can an orchestra with the socalled “Viennese sound” play his music?Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: Of course! We played Stravinsky’s Symphony in 3 Movements—it’s practically a piano concer-to—everywhere. In New York and of course in Vienna; on a Bösendorfer, an Imperial. Above all, the Vienna sound means an abundance of tone colors and nuances. The Bösendorfer is of benefit to the music.

BÖSENDORFER: Is the piano’s brand important to you as an orchestral musician?Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: Oh yes. We just played this concerto for nine solo instruments in Japan. Everything was lined up in Vienna so that I’d get a Bösendorfer grand. Then I played the Imperial I know so well in Tokyo, in Suntory Hall. Yet in another concert hall there was a different piano onstage. It could hardly be controlled. It was really alien to me. Rough, really rough. For this fine music, with these pianissimi, it was hardly playable. On a piano it has to be possible to play your solo of course, but you have to be able to blend in with an ensemble just as well, with the same instrument. I can’t say, “Here I am! I play piano. I couldn’t care less about what the rest of you are playing.” If for example the oboes have soft, beautiful ties, then I’d like to be able to produce them on the piano as well.

BÖSENDORFER: In the perfect piano, you thus look for versatility. If you want to play loud on the Bösendorfer, does that work just as well?Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: That absolutely works just as well. Backhaus for instance was never too soft and always played Bösendorfers.

BÖSENDORFER: Dr. Keuschnig, in addition to your activity as pianist you are also dedicated to training students at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. What challenges do you have in this connection?

Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: We have a major problem in piano education. Students—probably in order to be able to carry out as large a selection process as possible—are required to play a nearly impossible number of pieces. There isn’t much time left over for specialties, for instance, how do I stroke the key or color a sound; otherwise no one would be able to cram the notes into their fingers. Everything is stored in the brain as if it were a five hundred gigabyte hard drive that always needs to be present.

Yet how do you color a sound, how do you play a mediant harmony, how can you produce colors on a piano, which in principle is monotone? You need time for these things and that is necessary for expressing music with any depth.

BÖSENDORFER: In conclusion, could you give us an account of a special moment from your musical life?Dr. Rainer Keuschnig: There are situations in the orchestra which for some strange reason lead to a good performance. Sometimes the music was rehearsed very poorly or there are problems between the conductor and the orchestra. Then for some reason somebody plays something beauti-fully and the orchestra blossoms all at once. I had such an experience with the ensemble Die Neue Reihe of the Berlin Philharmonic. Of course I played a Bösendorfer. Then every-body came and announced: “What’s that gorgeous piano?”

Mira Weihs, Simon Oss

Dr. Rainer Keuschnig

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Turquiose-blue water, long sandy beaches, tropical forests, scarlet red ibises, gloriously colorful butterflies, sugar

cane and tobacco, steel pan and calypso... that’s what we Eu-ropeans think about when we dream of the Caribbean. Both islands, Trinidad and Tobago, which together form the epony-mous insular state off the coast of Venezuela, fit beautifully into our vision. They are two marvelous little spots of earth, and already Christopher Columbus knew to report back on them when he landed there for the first time in 1498.

Today’s globe trotters land via the great “birds” of the inter-national airlines or the national Caribbean Airlines. Their

curious glances from the windows when approaching Port-of-Spain (Piarco Airport) have since recently been fixed upon a building whose shape could be a large Chaconia, the flower on Trinidad’s coat of arms. If you look more closely, however, you’ll notice that this flower has grown from concrete, steel and glass.

This brightly shining “flower” can’t be found in plants, but rather in modern cultural guidebooks and publications

of contemporary architecture and design. It’s called the Na-tional Academy of the Performing Arts and is the latest pride of a self-assured country whose population, thanks above all to considerable oil and gas deposits, has one of the highest per-capita incomes in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The National Academy of the Performing Arts in the heart of the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago should become,

according to the government, a permanent home for devel-oping talents in the liberal arts, with a particular emphasis on the national instrument, the steel pan. The US $70 million complex comprises state-of-the-art classrooms, two practice halls and an impressive 1500-seat auditorium with a coveted

acoustic design. Since recently, two Bösendorfer Imperial concert grands are also among its features.

In January of 2009, an experienced representative of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) visited our Bösen-

dorfer partner “All About Pianos” in Las Vegas to select a fleet of instruments for the state university’s new campus and the academy which then was under construction. There he found five Bösendorfers. For the other five instruments, the music expert traveled to Vienna, where he completed the order and used the opportunity to share product knowledge and experiences with the Bösendorfer technicians looking after the pianos.

All ten Bösendorfer pianos have meanwhile arrived in the Caribbean’s southernmost insular state. By selecting

Bösendorfer instruments, the renowned university continues its constant striving for competence and educational excel-lence, as the Viennese pianos are known and treasured the world over for their colorful, orchestral sound and their ar-tistic craftsmanship. As part of his contract, the long-stand-ing piano technician and owner of “All About Pianos,” Louis Spencer-Smith, will service the Bösendorfer pianos in Port-of-Spain for three years.

At the beginning of November, the new National Acad-emy for the Performing Arts celebrated its grand open-

ing, which was attended by Trinidad and Tobago President George Maxwell Richards and Prime Minister Patrick Man-ning. At two concerts on November 17, performed by UTT fac-ulty and students spanning many different musical genres, both of the new Bösendorfer grands were presented to an enthusiastic audience.

Louis SpencerSmith, Rupert Löschnauer

E v e n t s

Steel Pan

The steel pan is a musical instrument in the family of idiophones and was invented in Trinidad. “The pan,” as

locals call it, is made from a thin sheet of steel that is beat-en into a concave shape, contained in a round metal reso-nating body (traditionally an oil drum). Various sound-pro-ducing membranes are incorporated to produce a range of pitches when struck with drumsticks. Upon striking, each membrane vibrates like a little gong and allows the player to produce both melodies and harmonies.

Steel Pan, Calypso and BösendorferA fleet of Bösendorfer grands has arrived in Trinidad and Tobago.

The new, breathtaking National Academy of the Performing Arts building in PortofSpain was designed in the form of a Chaconia, the national flower.

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Herr von Ribbeck in Ribbeck im Havelland, in whose gar-den a pear stands…”—With his poem, Theodor Fontane

brought fame to Ribbeck im Havelland well beyond its bor-ders. Great poets, scientists and historical figures such as Einstein, Fouqué, Lilienthal, Duncker, Albert the Bear and Queen Louise lived in this historical area. Numerous manors, garden monuments and over 30 museums tell of their life and work. Was it the beauty of the palaces, parks and gardens that drew them to Havelland, the way Theodor Fontane also crossed Havelland on his literary journeys through the Mark of Brandenburg?

Modern-day nomads” travel by bicycle or—more comfort-ably—by car. To the Caputh Palace on Lake Schwielow,

to Luise’s palace “Still-im-Land” in Paretz or to the evidence of the Mark’s landed gentry, the von Bredows, von Rochows or von Ribbeck.

Wait! No one goes to Ribbeck today only for the pear. This is of course part of every excursion, as is the

nearby Ribbeck Palace. The palace, built in 1893 in a Neo-Bar-oque style, was taken over a few years ago by the Havelland administrative district and renovated with considerable in-vestment. It houses a well-equipped Fontane Museum—and since recently a Bösendorfer grand piano.

Havelland Music Festival

The piano was selected by Frank Wasser and Prof. Georg Sava in Vienna; together with Silvia and Wolfgang Klatt

from the Berlin piano store that bears their name. In July, the Bösendorfer celebrated its premiere concert with a song recital by soprano Ute Beckert, sensitively accompanied by Frank Wasser.

Frank Wasser is not only an internationally renowned pia-nist, he is also founder and head of the Havelland Festival,

which he also founded. Havelland distinguishes itself from the many music festivals by its quite original charm: for the

past nine years, Havelland’s palaces have opened their historic salons to music and literature. Piano concerts, or-chestras and soloists, harps, violins and guitars. A bit of jazz, a few readings, and old Berlin chansons. In its vari-ety, the Havelland Festival is hardly surpassed. Amongst Havelland residents and their guests (above all those from nearby Berlin) it is highly popular: experien cing special musical enjoyment in a special place guarantees sold-out halls.

This year marks the first time concerts also took place in Ribbeck Palace. In October, French pianist Bertrand Giraud

gave tremendous interpretations of Liszt, Brahms and Schu-bert in the palace hall “on a wonderfully tender-sounding Bösendorfer grand,” as the Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung later reported.

Soon thereafter, the new regular guest to Ribbeck Palace was able to demonstrate his brilliance and color palette

anew: in November, the Havelland Music Festival invited young pianists to the third International Piano Competition in the palace hall. Among 23 participants who qualified for the competition, Sorin Crecuin of Rumania won first prize. The competition is distinguished by the high level of the participants, and it is thus no wonder that every seat in the palace hall was taken for the closing concert.

Rupert Löschnauer

E V E N T S

Viennese Sounds in a Historical LandscapeThere’s more to Ribbeck than just a famous pear…

Ribbeck Palace—renovated in accordance with official conservation practice and rebuilt into a cultural tourism center.

Frank Wasser—successful pianist and cultural manager.

Sorin Creciun thrilled the audience on the Bösendorfer grand.

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E V E N T S

Since China has been displaying increasing interest in Eu-ropean classical music, more and more pianists from the

world’s most populous country are making themselves heard. Less surprising is that the People’s Republic is experiencing increasing demand for pianos of the highest quality. Thanks to the delivery of five additional Imperial concert grands by Bösendorfer partner Yan Shi, the colorful, touching Bösend-orfer sound can now be heard in the Taizhou Grand Theater, Huizhou Arts Center, Yantai Grand Theater, Chongqing Grand Theater and in the Wuhan Qintai Arts Center as well.

The Wuhan Qintai Arts Center

The modern “Chamber Music Hall” is shaped in the form of a “classic European shoe box,” popular throughout the world.

Cheng Qian thrilled the audience with his sensitive playing on the Imperial.

Imperial Concert HallsFive new Imperials expand the “Bösendorfer concert fleet” in China’s impressive venues.

On November 4, the fifth Imperial experienced its pre-miere in the Wuhan Qintai Arts Center. The concert hall

management, professors from the Wuhan Conservatory, fa-mous artists from Wuhan’s musical circles as well as famous personalities from politics, culture and economics all gath-ered in the concert hall of the large complex, which with six floors reaches to over 37 meters in height.

The concert was performed by pianists Cheng Qian, Jing Wen and Xiaoxiao Chou. Liping Jiang, head of the keyboard department at the Wuhan Conservatory and who had al-ready played the new Bösendorfer Imperial during the ap-proval process, enthusiastically summed up his feelings: “This Bösendorfer 290 grand has an outstanding quality. The beautiful sound of the treble is clear and transparent, the bass full and powerful. At the same time, its playability is very pleasing. The piano worthily shows that Bösendorfer is now the top instrument in the world.”

Simon Oss

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E V E N T S

In 1869, Austria and Japan commenced their diplomatic relations and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy donated a

Bösendorfer piano, designed specially for this historic event, to the Japanese emperor. The so-called “Emperor” piano had extraordinary wood- and gold-work containing putti and was adorned by fantasy creatures inspired by Baroque art. Unfor-tunately, the piano went into hiding after being donated to the Japanese emperor, but for the 175th anniversary of the L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH, the company decided to re-construct the piano based on extant paintings.

For the celebrations of 140 years of diplomatic relations between Austria and Japan, L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik

GmbH and Yamaha Corporation Bösendorfer Japan Group brought the reconstructed Bösendorfer model 290, “Emper-or” to Japan.

Several events have taken place this year to celebrate the unique relationship between Austria and Japan, starting with a press conference held by the Vienna Boys’ Choir at the Austrian Embassy in Tokyo on April 22, 2009.

Further musical highlights included were a concert by Bösendorfer Ring recipient Paul Badura-Skoda upon invita-tion of ambassador Dr. Jutta Stefan-Bastl, as well as a concert by the Benny Goodman Orchestra at the Fujitsu Jazz Festival in U-port Hall. Among the 1500 audience members were Mr. Mitsuru Umemura, President of Yamaha Corporation, and Se-nior Director Mr. Hiroo Okabe.

Noriyuki Kon, Simon Oss

Return of the “Emperor” PianoBösendorfer celebrates the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Austria and Japan.

The reconstructed “Emperor” piano was kindly provided by its owner, Mr. Louis SpencerSmith of Bösendorfer Las Vegas.

Drawing of the original Bösendorfer “Emperor” grand piano.

The Benny Goodman Orchestra at the Fujitsu Concord Jazz Festival (copyright Sawano Masaru).

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i n t e r v i e w

BÖSENDORFER: Mr. Rubalcaba, you were born in Havana, Cuba and come from a highly musical family. Your father Guillermo Rubalcaba is a pianist and your grandfather Jacobo Gonzales Rubalcaba was a composer. Whose influence on the young, developing musician Gonzalo was more formative?

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: My grandfather realized a labor as a com-poser, marching conductor, and pedagogue that marked the artistic dynamic of the beginning of the 20th century in the most Western province of Cuba. The genre of Danzon, through

Interview: Gonzalo RubalcabaRemaining true to his rootsCuban-born Rubalcaba is considered one of the world’s best jazz pianists. Herbie Hancock once ennobled him with the words, “This is the sound of the 21st century.” In addition to spectacular Cuban jazz-rock projects, the classical piano trio is among his great passions. And Rubalcaba loves Bösendorfer pianos.

military bands, is probably what defined him and where he left one of his important fingerprints. His deep sense of discipline and musical study was not limited to music, for he applied it inside the family with his children. Guillermo Rubalcaba, my father is the youngest of 4 brothers. He became at a very young age a very versatile musician, but it was definitely the piano with which he felt the greatest freedom of expression. Throughout the years (during 3 or 4 decades) he has evolved the genre of classical Cuban music through Danzon, Bolero, Cha Cha Cha, etc… with his constant ambition of understand-ing the new tendencies of how popular music is made in Cuba. My childhood was perfumed, assisted, and watched over by all who conformed my familiar environment and important pro-fessionals of Cuban music who had ties with my family.

BÖSENDORFER: Did you decide on a musical career early on?

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: I think so. I gave signs at a very young age (between 4 or 5 years of age) of an intense interest and desire to produce sounds through percussion.

BÖSENDORFER: You studied percussion, piano and composition at the conservatory and later at the Havana Institute of Fine Arts. Do you look back favorably upon this period? What knowledge and experience(s) from these years have you taken with you for your career in music?

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: The period of my specific musical forma-tion was more than favorable, it was determining, for to this day, I think that it was during this time that I received the the-oretic and intellectual tools to create solid bases of the mu-sician I am today. Even when the conceptual differences and contradictions were marked between the classical teachings and the dynamics of popular music, I modestly believe to have counted with the most valuable of both worlds. One of the most important lessons that I learned through my classical formation was, and is, to not deny anything from the worlds of music I was a part of and to find some common ground be-tween them.

BÖSENDORFER: When and why did you decide on jazz as your personal means of musical expression?

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: I discovered around the age of 10 or 12 that in my house there existed old LPs that contained the mu-sic of jazz figures such as Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, West Montgomery, Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and my attention was captured by the sound that these bands and soloists pro-

Playing the “sound of the 21st century”: Cubanborn Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

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Interview: Gonzalo RubalcabaRemaining true to his roots

duced. I felt that the barrier between preconceived music and the improvisation of the individuals did not exist. But it was not until between 12 or 13 years old when I discovered that within my friends at school, there was a group of them who were already very involved in what was jazz improvisation. I perceived that what they played and did was full of an energy that was due to our young spirit, as if this was what we were supposed to be doing. I think this was the hook that made me feel like I should be part of them.

BÖSENDORFER: You left Cuba in 1990, lived in the Dominican Republic for six years and then settled in Florida. What effects did this change have on your music, and does it continue to exert any effects?

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: The passage through Dominican Republic and then the United States brought and still brings experienc-es and learning in almost every department of my life. There is a constant necessity to understand everything and to dis-cover the origin of that everything; a necessity to understand the diction, the language, the behavior and the history of the men and acts that define these nations and their interactions with the world. As a professional of art, it is very important and determining to know how a nation, its nationality, its identity is composed, and this way I can live in it, embrace it, critique it, and appreciate it having understood where one fits within it.

BÖSENDORFER: You’re a wonderful pianist. Why did you decide on the piano as your instrument, in addition to percussion?

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: The piano was an obligated excuse to comply with the required age to begin my studies in percus-sion. At first I had two options: piano or violin, and it was my mom who oriented me to elect the piano. I began to study the piano not without difficulty so this wasn’t exactly the instru-ment of my dream to study, and it wasn’t until three years later that I fell in love with this precious instrument.

BÖSENDORFER: You like to play Bösendorfer pianos very much. What do you especially like about our instruments?

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Bösendorfer as a brand forms part of the musical history created and developed in Europe, which then affected the rest of the world. I am convinced that it is one of the most serious piano creators who also have the most constant evolution. These pianos offer the instrumentalist not only the identity of Bösendorfer but also the opportunity for the instrumentalist to find a variety of ways to produce the sound, dynamic, and whatever other aesthetic qualities one desires.

BÖSENDORFER: You perform mostly in groups—mostly trios or quartets—as well as solo. What do you find fascinating about “team work?”

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Working in groups is fascinating and I would say necessary, similar to the human need to socialize. The group projects offer a mass of intelligence that allow dy-

namic recycling and refreshment of the information given by each of the members of the group. But we can not forget that for the previous to be possible, the conditions need to be ful-filled in different ways: spiritual, chemical, academic, psycho-logical, social, cultural…

BÖSENDORFER: You also have a team of five at home. You’re happily married and have three eagerly maturing children. How do you reconcile your many concerts with being a family father?

Gonzalo Rubalcaba: I have been married for 23 years, a mar-riage consummated after just two years of courtship. Maria’s parents were involved with art and film. She was raised in an intellectual and artistic environment and had musical prepa-ration through 8 years of classical guitar material, which she declined to pursue professionally. We have three children (Joao, aged 19, Joan, 16 and Yolanda, 13 years old) who are definitely our best reason to live, love and make better music. The three have grown in an environment of artists and this influence re-mains to be seen but they do what they want with their lives. Maria and I agree that the most important thing in life is to do and be where and with whom we are happy.

The music career is definitely not static in one place, but I’ve had a wife who has a high sense of family and education of children and we had the support and help of my family. While I may not be able to always be there with them physically, I try to constantly stay in contact with them. When I am home, I in-teract with my family and make sure I fulfill all of their needs.

Marion Alexander, Mira Weihs, Rupert Löschnauer

He’s also a team player at home: Gonzalo Rubalcaba with his children Yolanda (left), Joao (red tshirt) and Joan (above), as well as with his wife Maria.

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A C A D E M Y

When the church in the small village of Markt Aschbach in Lower Austria was getting a new organ in the early

1980s, the young musician Robert Lehrbaumer was invited to perform the opening concert. Since the organ succeeded so admirably, the idea came about to found a summer acad-emy dedicated to keyboard instruments. No sooner said than done: in the summer of 1983, the Aschbach Music Academy (AMA) celebrated its premiere with three courses and roughly 30 participants, under the artistic direction of Lehrbaumer.

The young academy offered a unique orientation towards keyboard instruments: from the beginning participants

were convinced by its intensity of teaching, a family-like at-mosphere and the highest quality—in addition to Lehrbaum-er (piano), prominent artists also taught, among them Rudolf Scholz (organ) and Isolde Ahlgrimm (harpsichord). Rapid suc-cess proved the organizers right. The number of students in-creased year over year and after five years they moved: in the spirit of St. Benedict, who had established the medium of art as part of his rules for monks, the monks of the Altenburg monastery received the summer academy hospitably. The “Aschbach” now became the “Altenburg Music Academy”—the abbreviation “AMA” could be retained.

Since 1988, young virtuosos and finished interpreters from around the world have met among the magnificent

domes with Paul Troger’s ceiling frescoes; in order to have their playing perfected by recognized artists and teachers. In addition, singing and guitar courses have been introduced, which results not only in personalized training, but also un-usual possibilities for musical combinations together with the keyboard instruments. Meanwhile, there are also offer-ings for hobby musicians and children.

For the lessons (and the practice sessions) by the organiz-ers, the historic monastery organ by Anton Pfliegler is

Da capo Altenburg Music Academy!An impressive Baroque monastery in Lower Austria is the venue for a particular summer academy.

available, among others. The pianists concertize, learn and practice on the best pianos: Bösendorfer and Yamaha. “I got to know and love the special Bösendorfer sound already as a child. To this day playing on Bösendorfer pianos remains a ‘homelike’ experience,” Robert Lehrbaumer, who has cel-ebrated worldwide successes not only as a pianist but also as an organist and conductor, reports. The artist values the Bösendorfer grands’ “Brahmsian warmth” and their “orches-tral, colorful sound.”

Orchestra for pianists

Maybe it was also the orchestral Bösendorfer sounds in Robert Lehrbaumer’s ear which inspired him to ex-

pand the Academy by a course with orchestra for pianists, in partnership with his colleagues Robert Ward (Los Angeles) and Min Kwon (New York)—a special course that is probably rather unique in the world in its particular form. “The course participants are familiarized with the specifics as well as dif-ferences in the interpretation of piano concertos by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven in lectures, master classes and indi-vidual instruction. Afterwards, each participant who already has introduced him- or herself as a special talent or a mature young pianist has the opportunity to perform as a soloist in orchestral concerts in marvelous monasteries, castles and palaces in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland. A memo-rable, intense and instructive experience for many pianists of many different age groups and nationalities,” according to Robert Lehrbaumer.

The Altenburg Music Academy’s excellent reputation can also be traced to the many artists of international fame

whom Lehrbaumer has brought to Altenburg. Among these dignitaries are names such as Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Gott-fried von Einem, Peter Planyavsky, Christa Ludwig, Walter Berry, Renate Holm, Kurt Equiluz, Gabriele Sima and lldikó Raimondi.Rupert Löschnauer

Straightforwardness, quality and individuality are the successful cornerstones of the internationally highly respected summer academy. Founder and artistic director Robert Lehrbaumer teaching young pianists.

The Altenburg Monastery has housed the Altenburg Music Academy since 1988.

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Manufacturing an optimal and affordable instrumental tool was the “simple” demand on the development

team while planning and realizing the CS grands.Special attention was given to all materials and produc-

tion steps relevant to sound: playability, the action and sound quality were not permitted to be influenced in any way by any design simplifications.

Four different model sizes to choose from

The Conservatory Series grand pianos are available espe-cially for music education and to facilitate educational in-

stitutions’ entry into the Bösendorfer sound world. They can, of course, also be acquired by friends and lovers of high-qual-ity instruments, especially those among them who are con-sidering purchasing a Bösendorfer grand for the first time.

Model sizes (lengths) of 170, 185, 200 and 214 cm (each with a width of 151 cm) are available.

The CS grands are manufactured at the Bösendorfer fac-tory by our trained employees of many years, in parallel

with the standard models and at the very highest quality. From the bronze-colored cast iron frame with the screwed capodaster (which ensures original sound over generations) through to the resonance case principle, which treats the entire instrument as a resonating body; from a high-quality soundboard made of carefully selected mountain spruce (tonewood) to the single stringing (for holding the tuning for as long as possible), all the way to the proven Bösendorfer ac-tion and keyboard: every CS grand is a genuine Bösendorfer!

CS Grands: The New Generation

Crafted with the greatest care

The Bösendorfer Conservatory Series grands go through the full manufacturing process; in this respect they are

no different from the standard models. Not until the end is a CS piano recognizable as such, via its special semi-gloss black finish and the different designs of individual case parts:

• The lid profile is slightly rounded. • The music rack is open-worked six times.• The leg tops are beveled (as opposed to the standard mod-

els’ curved shape). • The key-rail is beveled.• The lock-escutcheon is painted black (which matches the

surface finish).

Ernst Weichselbraun

Those wishing to learn their craft properly should work with the best available tool straight from the beginning: in addition to the commitment to the highest musical quality, the re-sponsibility to young, up-and-coming musicians is very dear to us. We developed the Con-servatory Series (CS) for them, making low-priced entry into the Bösendorfer product range possible.

The new generation of the Conservatory Series

NEW generation

“Many of my best and most motivated students grew up with a Bösendofer. It imparts that inspiration, that energy, lifelong joy in playing and stimulates an especially personal creativity.”Paul Badura-Skoda, Bösendorfer Ring recipient

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F A C T O R Y

The soundboard is of course an essential component of every grand or upright piano. Nonetheless, there are

differences in construction design and manufacturing, de-pending on the different construction principles (resonance case principle vs. the concept of laminated rim construc-tion), which can be serious and which need to be adjusted to the total concept in either case. The specific work proce-dures and dimensions have been handed down and refined over generations.

What is the actual function of the soundboard? From an acoustical/physical perspective, the soundboard is

a passive resonator or acoustic radiator. This means that it is activated by external influence and induced to vibrate. Its primary task is to amplify the vibrations of the strings and thus make them audible by creating sound waves in the surrounding air. When the hammer head strikes a string, the soundboard creates these vibrations, since once taken out of its resting position it continues to vibrate due to the repercussive energies, that is, elasticity and gravity. When the sound waves impact other bodies, these bodies can be made to vibrate and resonate sympathetically; they are brought into vibration by the transfer of string vibration to the soundboard. Due to the vibrations of the soundboard, primarily those strings for which the fundamental or a par-

tial agrees with the vibrating frequency of the initial vibra-tion, are likewise made to vibrate. Even the human voice can cause the string assembly to vibrate, which is then further amplified via the soundboard. If, for example, one were to sing or speak loudly into a grand piano with raised dampers, the strings will be excited and vibrate in sympathy.

The significance of the material for the soundboard

The reason why spruce tonewood is better suited than any other available material for the soundboard lies in

the specific properties of this wood. The ratio of radiation absorbability to loss absorbability is nowhere near as favor-ably pronounced with any other material. The loss absorb-ability is exceptionally low, which is synonymous with fast and low-loss sound conductivity and a low inner friction loss. At the same time, the radiation absorbability is very high, which results in a high frictional resistance with re-gard to surrounding air; sound waves can thereby be opti-mally generated.

The transfer of string vibrations to the soundboard oc-curs via the soundboard bridges. The pressure exerted

on the bridge and the soundboard by the taut strings plays a decisive role. For optimal, lossless transfer, the string pres-sure needs to be great enough; however, it may only be so high as to not limit optimal vibration and freedom of move-ment of the soundboard. The soundboard is therefore pro-vided with a convex curve which is primarily achieved by the ribs on its underside. Producing this balance between pressure and vibration ability optimally is the high art in piano building. “The soundboard must be in an elastically taut condition” has been cryptically passed down from pre-vious generations of piano builders.

The Bösendorfer soundboard is produced from the highest-quality Central European mountain spruce.

The boards, sawed into quarters, need to exhibit a very tight grain structure, fully straight growth and total free-dom from branches in order to be suitable for producing the soundboard. The ribs are manufactured from the same selective material. The special molding of the ribs guaran-tees the soundboard’s stability over many years. The ribs of Bösendorfer instruments are rounded on the glue side. This design optimally supports the soundboard’s curvature and guarantees sufficient string pressure over generations to come.

The Touching Sound—Part 3The Resonance Case PrincipleIn the first part of the series “The Touching Sound,” the extraction and initial processing of tonewood was thematized; in the second part the “anatomy” of the grand piano’s primary components and the special construction and processing into tonewood, up to gluing the out-er rim were described. Building on the first two articles of the series, I dedicate the third part to the soundboard—the heart of the resonating case.

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The ribs of Bösendorfer instruments are rounded on the glue side. This design optimally supports the soundboard’s curvature.

15 |

Having to exchange a soundboard due to insufficient curvature virtually never happens with a Bösendorfer

instrument—even if the piano has already been played for a hundred years. The strength of the soundboard is variably formed in order to guarantee a maximum of resonance and vibration ability.

Bass strings all the way to subcontra C (12 Hz)

Another thing that distinguishes a good soundboard is that it exhibits an even resonance range for vibrating

strings between 27 and 6000 Hz. With the Imperial model,

the resonance range extends even deeper due to the ad-ditional bass strings, reaching all the way to subcontra C (12 Hz). The notched rib ends are fitted into the soundboard base by hand.

The treble bridge and bass bridge are manufactured from solid maple wood, which likewise displays vertical grain

structure due to its special cutting. In the uppermost treble section, an additional bridge cap made of hornbeam is in-serted. The bridges’ glued side is fitted precisely to the curva-ture of the soundboard. The so-called “Druck richten”—the setting of the bridge height and the angle of the supporting area of the strings—and the bridge notching are performed by hand with the greatest possible precision.

The enormous number of different factors which influ-ence the sound of a grand piano is directly proportional

to specific demands with regard to construction and the operational procedures of constructing the soundboard. A comprehensive mathematical computational model can therefore not be drawn on for developing a soundboard. Sci-ence of course offers us significant assistance in the areas of acoustics, mathematics and analytical methods, yet in the end, experiential knowledge and a certain “feel” on the part of the instrument builder are irreplaceable.

Ferdinand Bräu, Technical Director

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The bridge notching is performed by hand with the greatest possible precision.

The socalled “Druck richten”—the setting of the bridge height and the angle of the supporting area of the strings.

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Since 1961, the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna has invited pianists of all nations between the

ages of 17 and 32 to gauge their musical powers—exclusively with Beethoven. The Beethoven Piano Competition, which takes place every four years, is the oldest international mu-sic competition in Austria. Not only international fame is competed for—a brand-new Bösendorfer grand piano model 200, which the prizewinner traditionally has the privilege of bringing home, is also up for grabs.

The artistic esteem of performing musicians is determined to a high degree by the quality of their Beethoven interpreta-tions. With the ongoing organization of the Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna, the young generation of pianists is regularly called upon to prove themselves in this demanding artistic discipline.

The list of prizewinners to date includes famous names such as Mitsuko Uchida, John O’Conor, Jasminka Stankul, Ste-fan Vladar, Oliver Kern and Herbert Schuch.

The 13th International Beethoven Piano Competition has fin-ished

139 applicants from 40 countries lined up for the 2009 preselection rounds in Tokyo, New York, Paris,

London, Bonn, Berlin and Vienna for the 13th International Beethoven Competition in Vienna. 36 “contenders” qualified for the final selection concerts in Vienna in June. Finally, the three top pianists battled it out in the finale, which took place in the Great Hall of the Vienna Musikverein and was accom-panied by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stefan Vladar, to date the only Austrian prizewinner of this competition, to win the jury’s favor and the victory wreath.

With a sentimentally balanced interpretation of Beet-hoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, and great virtuosity, German pianist Alexander Schimpf secured first place and thereby (in addition to prize money of 7500 euros) the prize(d) piano donated by the Bösendorfer company, a Bösendorfer model 200 grand. Third prized was shared ex ae-quo between Ji-Hoon Jun and Chi Ho Han, both born in Seoul, South Korea.

A worthy victor

The renowned cultural critic Karl Löbl wrote on the occa-sion: “With the C minor Concerto, Alexander Schimpf of-

fered the most interesting, personal, mature interpretation and in dialog with the orchestra was capable of seducing it to create a nuanced sound. In the C major Concerto, Chi Ho Han demonstrated the highest manual gifts and a secure instinct for buildup and effect. Both proved in the slow movements how intimately a Bösendorfer piano can sing” (ÖSTERREICH).

Alexander Schimpf was born in Göttingen, where he started playing the piano at the age of eight. Over the course of his training, important teachers were Wolfgang Manz (Han-nover) and Winfried Apel (Dresden); in 2003 he continued his studies under Bernd Glemser at the Würzburg University of Music and graduated in 2009 with a master class diploma. In addition, he received decisive stimulation from the French pi-anist Cécile Ousset, as well as in international master classes by teachers including Klaus Hellwig and Andrea Lucchesini.

Competition diplomas and special prizes were awarded, in order, to Christian Chamorel (Schweiz), Yi-Chih Lu (Tai-

wan), Yusuke Kikuchi (Japan), Amir Tebenikhin (Kazakhstan), Sheng-Yuan Kuan (Taiwan), Andreas Donat (Austria), Anna Magdalena Kokits (Austria), Christopher Devine (Great Brit-ain) and Clemens Berg (Germany).

The performances of all participants in the 13th Internation-al Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna were—very much to the delight of the international high-caliber jury and the presenter—on an exceptionally high level.

“Never has a musician known more and experienced more of the harmony of the spheres, the accord of Nature, than Beethoven.” (Wilhelm Furtwängler)

Alexander Schimpf Wins 2009 Beethoven Piano Competition

c o m p e t i t i o n s

Alexander Schimpf—the radiant winner of the 2009 Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna. Lower left: Only 17 years old: Chi Ho Han was the “nestling” of the Beethoven Competition. He passed a tremendous test of talent in the Musikverein. Lower right: South Korea musically stormed the “musical fortress”, Europe. Even if it wasn’t quite enough for JiHoon Jun: only three musicians remained in the finale and he was one of them.

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Since the beginning of his artistic career, Hans Gabor, founder and for many years head of the Vienna Cham-

ber Opera, has been preoccupied with the discovery and pro-motion of young vocal talents. Many a later opera star first entered the spotlight under his direction, which meant the world to the singers. From these efforts arose the successful concept of a singing competition, the beginnings of which extend back to the year 1982.

In the nearly thirty years of its existence, a special sort of international jury has turned the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition into a “Wall Street of Voices”: not academic educators, but rather those experts who are responsible for implementation in practice, judge the tal-ent and maturity of the singers: opera and festival directors, music presenters, as well as representatives from the media industry. Representatives of artists’ agencies are also invited as onlookers.

In 1988 the competition, which had previously been re-served for opera, was expanded by the operetta category.

3000 competition participants

It was thus no surprise that again in 2009, 3000 young sing-ers auditioned, among whom 158 were able to qualify for the

main competition in Vienna’s Chamber Opera. The grand finale took place in an adequate ambiance: the ballroom of Vienna’s City Hall was (again) the site for the vocal contest of the 16 “hot-test young stocks” of the largest singer exchange in the world. Late on the final evening, South African soprano Pretty Yende said goodbye to Vienna’s City Hall and the accompanying in-

strument, which is traditionally a Bösendorfer grand piano, her voice crowned with the first prize. The dazzling soprano was crowned the best in both categories, opera and operetta.

So that the accompanists are also able to breathe competi-tion air, in 2000 the Hans Gabor Singing Competition was

expanded by a competition for lied accompanists. This competi-tion takes place exclusively on Bösendorfer pianos and is split into two prize categories: the Staetshuys Antik Prize Amster-dam, endowed by Jan Meulendijks and Bart Schuil, which was awarded this year to German pianist Markus Appelt; the pianist Annemarie Herfurth brought this and 1000 euros likewise back to Germany.

As you read these lines, the preparations for the 29th Inter-national Hans Gabor Singing Competition in 2010 have

already begun. Registration is possible starting in mid-January. The preselection rounds will take place between February and June. For further information, please visit: www.boesendorfer.com/de/Hans-Gabor-Belvedere-Wettbewerb.html

Rupert Löschnauer

The International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition is among the most renowned and largest voice competitions in the world and offers young talents the opportunity to devel-op international contacts for their future careers. The preselection rounds take place in roughly 50 cities on all continents.

“Wall Street of Voices”

C o m p e t i t i o n s

The radiant winners of the 28th Hans Gabor Singing Competition, from left to right: Sean Panikkar (USA, 2nd prize, operetta), Claudia Boyle (Ireland, 3rd prize, operetta), Pretty Yende (South Africa, 1st prize, opera & operetta), Maria Porubcinova (Slovakia, 3rd prize, opera), Markus Appelt (Germany, winner of the Staetshuys Antik Prize Amsterdam in accompaniment), Gaston Rivero (USA, 2nd prize, opera).

Vienna’s City Hall with its imposing ballroom was once again the site of the vocal contest this year.

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c o m p e t i t i o n s

In 1842, the child prodigy came to Vienna for the first time and played two concerts in the renowned Musikverein, the

second one on a Bösendorfer piano. The concert’s great suc-cess led to the breakthrough of the young Bösendorfer facto-ry’s instruments on the concert stage as well as to a lifelong friendship between Anton Rubinstein and the Bösendorfer company.

Anton Rubinstein was a driving force in the music world during his lifetime, as a pianist, composer and founder of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1890 he founded a competition for piano and composition, which he named after himself.

Among the winners of the Rubinstein Competition are pianists who would go on to become famous, including Fer-ruccio Busoni (composition), Nikolai Medtner (piano), Edwin Fischer (piano) and Wilhelm Backhaus (piano), who in 1953 became the first pianist to be awarded the newly created Bösendorfer Ring, which could be worn for life.

Anton Rubinstein Piano Competition in Dresden

The “Forum Tiberius” in Dresden, which aims to give new impetus to the dialog between culture and enterprise,

picked up on Anton Rubinstein’s idea of a competition again in 2003. Here, in the Saxon capital, the great artist spent the final years of his life.

The new Anton G. Rubinstein Piano Competition is distin-guished, like its historical model, by its international scope and high quality. Like its model, its goal is to promote up-and-coming young musicians. And the presenters are achieving their goal with increasing success. 100 young musicians had auditioned for the 2009 Anton Rubinstein Piano Com-petition. The best 15 among them were invited to Germany in early autumn for the selection rounds at the Hochschule

In Anton Rubinstein’s Shoes180 years ago, on November 28, 1829, Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein was born in Vykhvatinets, a small town in the then-Russian governorate of Podolia. As a highly gifted nine-year-old he gave his first public concert in Moscow.

für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden. According to the jury, the level of the applicants’ interpretations was the high-est since the competition’s founding.

The high level of technical ability and artistic interpreta-tion was stepped up once again during the semifinal rounds on October 1 and 2, very much to the delight of the compe-tition director and general manager of the Bremen Theater, Hans Joachim Frey, as well as the artistic director, Prof. Arkadi Zenzipér, and the first-rate jury. The jury was spoilt for choice in selecting the three finalists.

Grand finale in the Semperoper

On German Unity Day (October 3), the three finalists se-lected by the top-class jury competed for the crown. In

one of the world’s most beautiful opera houses, the Semper-oper. On one of the best pianos in the world, the Bösendorfer Imperial, with its sheer size and fully eight-octave compass the Viennese piano manufacturer’s flagship, unexcelled in sonority and tone color. The Klavierhaus Weber had provided the Bösendorfer and prepared it exemplarily. In the end, the laurel wreath (including 8000 euros of prize money) went to a German by choice of Ukrainian descent: Alexej Gorlatch made it to the top of the jury’s ranking with a powerful in-terpretation of Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto in E-flat Major, Op. 73—also called the “Emperor” Concerto—thereby seizing the “emperor’s crown” in Dresden. His technique was tremendous, his musicality great.

Second prize went to German pianist Maria Derevyagina that evening. Hyun-II Seo from South Korea was honored with the third prize.Rupert Löschnauer

Above: Alexei Gorlatch during his grand “Emperor” Concerto.Below: The prizes are awarded. A smile for the photographers.

One of the most beautiful opera houses in the world, the Semperoper in Dresden, was the stage for the finalists of the 4th International Anton Rubinstein Piano Competition.

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C E U S

CEUS is UniqueBösendorfer’s CEUS reproducing piano system represents a new dimension in recording and playback with playing, practicing or concerts on a grand piano.

If you hear terms such as circuit board, capacitor, sensor or solenoid, you think of mass production and machine as-

sembly, not necessarily of individuality and craftsmanship. That a high-tech product in a fast-moving, impersonal time geared to mass production can also be a unique specimen developed with love of detail and hand-built is not a con-tradiction in terms. This fact is demonstrated by CEUS, the self-playing system by Bösendorfer, made in an exclusive and beautiful special model “Vienna,” into which the repro-ducing system by the Viennese piano factory was recently integrated. Yet not only the special model Vienna, but rather all seven Bösendorfer grand piano sizes (as standard or spe-cial models) in its product range can be equipped with this system, even as a retrofit. CEUS stands for “Create Emotions with Unique Sound” and represents the exceptional creativ-ity of the Bösendorfer employees, primarily implemented via collaboration with the TVE Electronic Systems company, the Institute of Control Engineering of the Vienna University of Technology and the OFAI (Austrian Research Institute for Ar-tificial Intelligence) as well as the University of Vienna’s In-stitute of Musicology. A scientific study by OFAI revealed that the difference between “mechanical” and “human” interpre-tation of a musical work lies primarily in the precision of the time of attack, the exact moment the hammer head touches the piano string.

Authentic interpretations

Thanks to this collaboration, Bösendorfer’s goal—of devel-oping a reproducing system whose recording and play-

back quality is dependent on the moment of attack as well as its force—could be realized. The quality is so incredibly high that the emotional depth of the interpretations can be authentically reproduced. The movement of the grand piano action is thereby recorded by the reproducing system. During playback, the sound of the musical work previously recorded on the Bösendorfer grand is reproduced—without limita-tions—by the Bösendorfer grand. And nothing reproduces piano music more authentically than the piano itself.

For the pianist, a piano with a built-in CEUS system means, first and foremost, an expansion of artistic possibilities, as

precise recording and playback of one’s own performance be-comes possible. During playback of the previously recorded piece, the Bösendorfer’s keys and pedals move of their own accord, in accordance with the pianist’s touch. An incompa-rable “live” sonic and optical experience thus arises.

By experiencing the playback live, the artist is able to draw inferences from his or her interpretation of a work. It is now possible for pianists to carry out a commensurate analysis of their performance in order to implement any possible improvements in their playing. Moreover, pianists can ex-perience themselves from the audience’s perspective. From

the “concertgoer’s” view, musicians can now internalize the “sound” of their playing and make an aural image of how their interpretation of a piano piece sounds to music lovers in the “concert hall.” And these are only some of the many features of the CEUS system.

Vienna CEUS model

With this special model, Bösendorfer especially succeed-ed in combining the Viennese piano company’s out-

standing craftsmanship with the customer’s ideas as to the integrity of the Bösendorfer grand’s exterior appearance.Amongst other things, the brass buttons, which in addition to the piano keys serve to control the system, were so incon-spicuously integrated into the design that the layout of the extravagant inlay work, done by hand, was not compromised in any way.

For further details, please visit www.boesendorfer.com

Dieter Autengruber

Special model Vienna with builtin CEUS reproducing system. The overall appearance remains unchanged.

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The competence center for piano fans right in the heart of Vienna

Bösendorfer Downtown

D o w n t o w n

SENDER: L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH · Bösendorferstraße 12 · A-1010 WienPostage paid. Publisher’s post offi ce: 1010 Vienna

Located in an important music-historical venue—Vienna’s Musikverein—since 1913 is the representative offi ce of

our piano company. Bösendorfer Downtown is a paradise for piano lovers who wish to get to know the uniqueness of an instrument built by the Bösendorfer company.

At Bösendorfer Downtown, our staff would be happy to answer any questions you may have concerning our instru-ments. Whether you’re looking for a lower-priced entry-level model or a concert grand—at Bösendorfer Downtown you’ll be optimally attended to. In addition to instruments by the Bösendorfer company, you’ll also fi nd interesting uprights and grands by other European brands in all price categories.

Artist studios & events

In addition to the instruments on display, artist studios for hours of practicing can be rented in the historical building

behind the Hotel Imperial. The Salon Studio is equipped with two concert grands—an Imperial model and a model 280—while the small studio contains a grand piano model 170. The Salon Studio also offers suffi cient space for chamber music ensembles or singers who wish to rehearse new parts with an accompanist. The facilities are also well-suited for master classes. In addition to its role as a sales showroom, Bösendor-fer Downtown offers a beautiful venue for exclusive presen-tations for up to 45 people.

The Vienna Musikverein, famous throughout the world for the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concerts

Since its founding, Bösendorfer Downtown has been the heart of the Bösendorfer world.

Bösendorfer Downtown—the competence center for piano fans:• Professional piano sales at the best price/performance

ratio• Information on the instruments• Support by the Bösendorfer concert technicians’ excellent service team• Organization of tours of our factory• Reservation of artist studios• Information on Vienna’s cultural life

www.boesendorfer.com/en/downtown.html

Bösendorfer Downtown, Bösendorferstraße 12, 1010 Vienna,(Canovagasse entrance), Tel. +43 / 1 / 505 35 18-0Opening hours: Monday – Friday 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM / 2:00 – 6:00 PMor by appointment

For questions regarding Bösendorfer Downtown as well as any general questions (service, international sales), please email: [email protected]

boesendorfer magazine 2009 en

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