Bösendorfer in 2014

At over 185 years old, Vienna-based Bösendorfer is one of the oldest piano manufacturers still producing instruments to this day. The brand boasts several key distinctions: it's been widely acclaimed as one of the top-built brands in the world, and several times has held the informal title of "world's most expensive piano" for several of its models. The Bösendorfer artist roster includes not only highly accomplished pianists of many genres, but also major concert halls around the world. Several 92- and 97-key models (offering more keys than nearly any other commercially available piano on the market) were created for specific performance scenarios requiring an expanded range.

The brand also collaborated with German manufacturer Audi to celebrate the automaker's 100th anniversary by designing a sleek, modern, grand piano that paid homage to Audi's design aesthetic and was hand-constructed, like all other Bösendorfer models. In the U.S. market, Bösendorfer, now owned and distributed by Yamaha, continues to enjoy its reputation as a worldwide leader in the upper echelon of pianos.

MMR reached out to top officers at Bösendorfer and Yamaha to discuss the recent history of the brand, as well as plans for the future.

Can you discuss the acquisition of Bösendorfer by Yamaha back in 2007? Why was the brand available, and why was Yamaha interested?

Brian Kemble: Bösendorfer belonged to the Austrian bank Bawag until 2007. When Bawag itself was taken over by Cerberus, the decision was made that the bank should focus on its core business. At the same time, it had been obvious that a bank and private equity firm are not the ideal owners of a traditional musical instrument manufacturer like Bösendorfer.

Thus, Bawag made Bösendorfer available and out of many interested entities, Yamaha won the race. While Bösendorfer continues to handcraft its premium pianos according to the Viennese tradition of piano making exclusively in Austria, being part of Yamaha Corporation permits Bösendorfer to access the biggest and most professional distribution, service, and Artist Relation network in the music industry.

Yamaha has a very deep understanding of and appreciation for the uniqueness of the Viennese tradition of sound and instrument making – and not only from its involvement with Bösendorfer. Since the early 1970s, at the request of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Yamaha Corporation assisted in the development of special Viennese instruments, the manufacture and supply of which continue to this day. For this effort, recently retired Yamaha Corporation director and managing executive officer Hiroo Okabe received in 2012 the Merit Award in Gold of the Province of Vienna. Consequently, Yamaha provides Bösendorfer the perfect environment to continue handcrafting our instruments in our traditional and unique way in Austria.

It's been said that under Yamaha's stewardship, Bösendorfer instruments have, in fact, become more "Austrian" – do you agree?

Thomas Broukal: Indeed, we are more Austrian now than before Yamaha purchased us. We transferred our plate manufacturing from Czech Republic to a company based in Austria. This company makes extremely high quality hand-molded castings using the traditional sand casting technique. I often get asked what changes Yamaha has made. My answer is that Yamaha has done exactly what Yamaha said they would do when they purchased our company – namely, to allow us to continue our traditional handcrafted ways of building our instruments. At the same time, we strengthened our company's internal "continuous improvement process" under Yamaha, by which all employees are asked to share their ideas for constantly reaching a new level of perfection. For example, we slightly changed the shape of the capo bar of our model 214, which has improved the tonal response of the instrument in the lower treble. Interestingly, we went back to a more traditional shape, which had already been applied by Bösendorfer on other models in the early 20th century.

We also clearly state in our corporate philosophy that any production and development process must follow the art of Viennese piano making and sound culture traditions. Therefore, we are taking an extremely traditional approach.

Can you discuss what makes Bösendorfer distinct from your competition?

Simon Oss: Founded in Vienna by Ignaz Bösendorfer in 1828, Bösendorfer is not only the oldest premium piano manufacturer in the world, but it is also one of the most exclusive, making only close to 300 instruments each year. In an age of mass production, uniformity and standardization, Bösendorfer takes great pride in being exclusive and original, following the Viennese tradition of piano making, with a strong focus on a wide range of tonal colors permitting unique artistic expression. This is also reflected in the brand slogan "Der Klang der berührt," which means "the sound that touches (your soul)." Influenced by all the major composers and pianists who lived and worked in Vienna, for centuries the classic music capital of the world, Ignaz and Ludwig Bösendorfer created and developed the finest pianos – a tradition that continues to this day. These instruments have inspired generations of musicians as diverse as Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, Ferruccio Busoni, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Badura-Skoda, András Schiff, Valentina Lisitsa, Tori Amos, and Oscar Peterson. Bösendorfer has had a very close relationship with musicians since the earliest days of the company. For example, Franz Liszt wrote more than 40 letters and telegrams to Bösendorfer.

This unique history and position is also reflected in the construction of the pianos. For an outstanding richness of tone colors Bösendorfer applies – and is only piano manufacturer in the world to do so – the highly complex "resonance case principle." Instead of adopting a rather stiff laminated piano rim, Bösendorfer uses for the core of the rim quarter-sawn Austrian spruce tonewood, the ideal tonal material, which constitutes over 80 percent of the wood in every Bösendorfer grand piano. Thus, similar to a violin, the whole body, not just the soundboard, supports the sound formation. When a note is played, the integrated spruce components become acoustically active, forming a complete resonating body that gives the whole instrument an unparalleled resonance.

How many are currently on staff at Bösendorfer?

Brian Kemble: Bösendorfer has a total of about 120 staff members. Out of these, about 100 are craftsmen and technicians, so it still very much feels like a family company. Though we are part of Yamaha Corporation and we work closely with the subsidiaries around the world for Artist Relations, distribution, and service, there are no Yamaha employees within Bösendorfer Company itself. This reflects very well the large amount of autonomy that we have been given and the unique position Bösendorfer has.

What are the current production facilities like?

Simon Oss: Ignaz Bösendorfer opened his first factory directly in the center of Vienna. In the first year he produced four pianos there. In 1839, he received the gold medal at the Industrial Exhibition in Vienna and the title of "Imperial and Royal piano maker to the Court" granted by Emperor Ferdinand, an award that had never been given before to an Austrian piano maker.

Due to increased production, Bösendorfer has had to look for bigger facilities over time. After being located for many years in the Graf Starhemberg-Gasse in Vienna's 4th district, the company moved in 1973 to a bigger factory in Wiener Neustadt, which is located about 45 minutes south of Vienna's city center. All Bösendorfer pianos are made exclusively in this factory to this day. In 2010, Bösendorfer built an industry-leading piano selection center next to the factory, and in the same year the new Bösendorfer concert hall opened its doors in the Mozarthaus Vienna, located at Domgasse 5, just behind St. Stephan´s Cathedral. Mozart himself lived in this house from 1784 to 1787, so the venue attracts as many as 140,000 visitors a year, which creates an international flair and benefits artists who perform there.

The downtown showroom, the third of our corporate facilities in Vienna (the second is our rental and service center), has been located in Vienna´s Musikverein since 1914 (so it is celebrating 100 years this year!). The Musikverein building is also the home of the "Golden Hall," famous for the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic which is broadcast every year around the world, as well as for performances by the world's most renowned artists. The Bösendorfer showroom not only serves our customers but it also serves as a regular meeting place for artists, concert organizers, journalists, and friends of Bösendorfer from all around the world. Tori Amos visited us recently when her world tour stopped in Vienna.

If you had to narrow it down to one model, what's currently the best-selling console for Bösendorfer?

Simon Oss: It depends on the market. While the North American market has a tendency towards bigger models, Japan has a tendency towards smaller ones due to the limited space of most homes. Having said this, in Japan alone there are more than 280 halls that purchased Bösendorfer instruments.

At the global level, the model 200 (6'7") – also available in several limited edition series, such as the" Klimt" and the "Hummingbird" – is currently the most popular size. If we consider only the traditional ebony polished finish, the model 225 (7'4") is the most popular.

The 225 semi concert grand has 92 keys instead of the traditional 88 keys, which means 4 extra notes in the bass. The 290 Imperial concert grand even has 97 keys, going down to the subcontra C. The original request for this invention had been made by Ferruccio Busoni, who wanted to have these extra notes for his Bach transcriptions. Certain works by Bartók, Busoni, and Ravel can only be performed on these models. But more importantly the extra bass strings guarantee additional harmonic resonance throughout the whole instrument, adding an almost orchestral dimension.

Are there any new or upcoming product introductions of note that you can share with us?

Brian Kemble: At this year's Winter NAMM Show, Bösendorfer displayed its 50,000th fully handcrafted instrument. For the NAMM 2015 Show, we are working on a new limited edition model, with exquisite marquetry that was also used in the exotic design of our Hummingbird model.

What else is on the horizon for the brand in the coming months?

Brian Kemble: When I was appointed managing director of Bösendorfer in 2011, I found it a very humbling experience to be given the responsibility of managing such an iconic company.

Bösendorfer is a precious jewel. It has an extraordinary and fabulous history. We have our own unique inspiring sound, which has enchanted amateur and professional musicians for generations. Bösendorfer is very much a dynamic and living company and no matter how good our instruments are, we are always trying to improve on perfection – always want the most recent piano we make to be the best.

In answer to your question, on the horizon for the coming years will be a constant and continuous obsession with perfection, making without compromise the best handcrafted instruments in the world, and all in the continuing tradition of our founder Ignaz and his son Ludwig Bösendorfer.