Franz Liszt's Grand Piano

[Megan]

Listen to , Jeux d'eau a la Ville d'Este , played on Franz Liszt's piano.

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_...0902786BF44%7D

[Hofrat]

Liszt, at one time in his life, owned Beethoven's Broadwood fortepiano.

[Quijote]

When I was in the Beethovenhaus (Bonn) I saw they had on sale some CD recordings of LvB's music using the pianos displayed there. They seemed very expensive, so I didn't buy any, though I do regret that a little. Do you think the performances might be worthwhile listening to?
What a fascinating idea, though : having a tinkle of one of Beethoven's pianos! Or wouldn't you dare in case you couldn't do justice to it? When I was there I was sorely tempted to strike a few chords (even a C major triad with octave Bs in the left hand), but the guards (right word?) were watching me suspiciously. Still, the moment they turned away I had a quick feel of the woodwork!

[Michael]

When I was in the Beethovenhaus (Bonn) I saw they had on sale some CD recordings of LvB's music using the pianos displayed there. They seemed very expensive, so I didn't buy any, though I do regret that a little. Do you think the performances might be worthwhile listening to?
What a fascinating idea, though : having a tinkle of one of Beethoven's pianos! Or wouldn't you dare in case you couldn't do justice to it? When I was there I was sorely tempted to strike a few chords (even a C major triad with octave Bs in the left hand), but the guards (right word?) were watching me suspiciously. Still, the moment they turned away I had a quick feel of the woodwork!

I was in the Beethovenhaus about six weeks ago and found the prices in the shop absurdly high. I too was tempted to lay my grubby fingers on one of Beethoven's pianos but the guides/guards were very vigilant. A friend of mine was severely reprimanded for taking a photo - although we did manage to take some in the courtyard.
As for having a tinkle on Beethoven's piano, Philip, well, really ......the toilets are clearly signposted!

[Bonn1827]

The very fact that you've been to Beethovenhaus, Bonn, and are close enough for access makes me very sad I'm so far away in Australia!! I'm not surprised the "security guards" watch the place like a hawk - remember what happened to some of those priceless Michaelangelo sculptures in Italy years ago? Not to mention defaced pictures. I'm pleased and proud there is a hugh amount of cultural capital in Beethoven that requires such protection.

As for not washing your hands (as per your edit, Phil) - I was moved by this sentiment.

[Roehre]

I'm pleased and proud there is a hugh amount of cultural capital in Beethoven that requires such protection.

Which is not at all superfluous: a couple of years ago a vandal set fire to a Beethoven-manuscript, which consequently is now lost.
Thank goodness an excellent micro-photo as well as other photographs of the work (a song) still exist, but the original is lost for ever....

Btw: Mozart's Requiem manuscript has not long ago lost Mozart's name in M's own handwriting from the top right hand corner: cut off by a vandalous Mozart-fanatic

[Bonn1827]

No wonder the world is the way it is today!!

What disturbs me even more is that, because of the actions of a few vandals, serious music-lovers (who would rather die than deface any musical artefact from the great masters) are prevented from being within a bull's roar of the real thing. I live for the day I can touch one of these manuscripts, and if I sound as though my tone has a kind of religious fervour, I wouldn't be ashamed of that despite "thou shalt not have strange gods before me"!!

[Michael]

Btw: Mozart's Requiem manuscript has not long ago lost Mozart's name in M's own handwriting from the top right hand corner: cut off by a vandalous Mozart-fanatic

More likely an eBay seller!

[Cetto von Cronstorff]

Btw: Mozart's Requiem manuscript has not long ago lost Mozart's name in M's own handwriting from the top right hand corner: cut off by a vandalous Mozart-fanatic

Please don't spread urban legends. The inscription "quam olim d: c:" was torn from the autograph in 1958, but the title page is complete and Mozart's name on this page is a forgery by Süßmayr anyway.

[Hofrat]

I was an invited guest to the premiere public performance of the realization of Beethoven's sketchs to the Macbeth overture that took place in September 2001 in Washington DC. As part of the festivities, we were taken to the Library of Congress to view manuscripts and first editions of Beethoven. We thought we would have to view them through protective glass, but we were thrilled see that library staff brought us white gloves. We were allowed to touch and hold the manuscripts and leaf through the first editions. Many of us, myself included, took off a glove and touched them with a bare hand. It was a unique and exciting experience.

[Bonn1827]

What a tremendous experience for you Hofrat. I'm terribly envious and very moved by your little anecdote and thank you. Have you washed your hands since?!

[Hofrat]

To my greatest regrets, I have washed my hands since; however, one of the invitees refused to return the gloves saying "you will have to rip them from my dead and cold hands!"

It was the greatest musical thrill of my life, and what inhanced it even more was the fact that the event took place in Washington DC only 11 days after the 9/11 bombings.

[Bonn1827]

That was a loaded moment in time if ever there was one!! And a time when the music of LvB and the masters was never more important to the world, I should think.

I've just been watching a film called "Born Yesterday", made in 1951 by George Cukor. LvB's 2nd symphony features heavily in the film and Judy Holliday and William Holden go to a concert in Washington to hear it. She is an ignorant woman and he starts her cultural education with this symphony and an excursion around the Jefferson monuments and other American constitutional iconography. She asks Holden during the concert, "What's the tune" and he replies, "Beethoven's 2nd, Op. 36". She says "I didn't ask who wrote it, just the name of the tune". The film is funny but also illuminating and punctuated by such wonderful moments, especially later when she complains "Its BEAT-HOOVEN and I'm just confused more now than ever". Wonderful stuff.