The Radio Hall’s Bösendorfer Imperial piano, one of the largest concert grand piano models in the world, will be brought back into service after 15 years out of use.
It is one of only two pianos of this model available to the public in Romania.
The instrument will undergo reconditioning ahead of the Vienna x Gershwin concert on November 28, including a complete technical overhaul and the full restoration of its action mechanism.
The work will be carried out by Michael Singer, a technician from Austrian piano manufacturer Bösendorfer. He will travel from Vienna to Bucharest a few days before the concert to bring the piano back to optimal playing condition.
The initiative was launched by pianist Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu, who contacted Bösendorfer to arrange the work on the instrument. The project is linked to the Vienna x Gershwin concert, where Dimitriu will perform on the Radio Hall stage alongside ten musicians from the Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener KammerOrchester). The Austrian ensemble is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year and is returning to Bucharest after performing at the George Enescu Festival in 2009 and 2021.
The Bösendorfer Imperial 290 is one of the largest concert grand piano models. Made in Vienna, the instrument measures 2.90 meters in length and has 97 keys, compared with the 88 keys of a standard piano, giving it an extended tonal range. The other Bösendorfer Imperial in the country is housed at the Oradea Philharmonic.
A concert grand piano is more than just an instrument. It is a voice, a dialogue partner for the pianist, and an emotional bridge to the audience.
“I took the initiative to contact the renowned Bösendorfer piano makers directly, convinced that an instrument of such artistic and historical value deserves to shine on one of Romania’s most important stages. A concert grand piano is more than just an instrument. It is a voice, a dialogue partner for the pianist, and an emotional bridge to the audience. Every piano has its own personality, its own story, and a sound potential that deserves to be brought to the fore. Through this initiative, we want to restore the full artistic potential of this extraordinary Bösendorfer Imperial and open a new chapter in its history at the Radio Hall,” pianist Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu, the concert’s initiator, explained.
The program of the Vienna x Gershwin brings together two musical worlds: the Viennese Classicism of Ludwig van Beethoven and the energy of New York jazz in the music of George Gershwin. It includes Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1, five pieces from Gershwin’s Songbook, and the American composer’s Piano Concerto in F.
A Boesendorfer piano technician
Pianist Ioan-Dragoș Dimitriu studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. While in the Austrian capital, he founded a youth orchestra with which he performed at the Musikverein and Wiener Konzerthaus. He is the director of Development and Innovation at SoNoRo Festival, the artistic director of the Sound District Floreasca Festival, and the president of the Blauer Mozart Association.
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