Author Description

Now music lovers can see and hear the most remarkable pianofortes from the 300-year history of this versatile instrument on DVD. From the world's oldest surviving piano (built in 1720 by Cristofori) to a new Bosendorfer computer grand, the entire family lineage is here. The painstakingly researched narrative includes some amazing discoveries, including documentation of Bach's public use of the pianoforte much earlier than commonly believed. Pianists like Paul Badura-Skoda, Malcolm Bilson, Jorg Demus, Gerlinde Otto, Hans Kannn, Rudolf Scholz, and others play more than 30 instruments, featuring works contemporaneous with the pianos. We can now hear Domenico Scarlatti played on an Italian compound harpsichord-piano of his day and listen to a Mozart piece played on a J.A. Stein piano and on an Anton Walter Hammerflugel with a pedalboard, like the one Mozart owned. Follow the evolution of the piano in Beethoven's career and learn the surprising possibilities of his own customized Graf (recently rediscovered) with its drum and bell effects. Later, enjoy a Chopin étude performed on an Erard grand that Chopin often played in Paris. The timbres of several historic pianos, often compared in books, are now given side-by-side comparisons in the studio. The film is rounded out with a survey of more recent trends and innovations, a visit with Henry Steinway, and a look at a "prepared piano" -- with the appropriate safety gear, of course. Simultaneously entertaining, amusing, informative, and artistically gratifying, The History of the Pianoforte is a landmark. - Container.