|
A tale of three piano makers
MUSIC lovers in Berlin and New York have a choice of recitals this
month as Steinway, Bluthner and Bechstein--three of the world's five
top piano makers--celebrate their 150th anniversaries.
Since 1853, artists have praised their instruments. Claude Debussy
remarked that piano music should only be written for Bechsteins. For
Wilhelm Furtwangler, Bluthner was best. "Bluthner pianos can really
sing, which is the most wonderful thing you can say about a piano."
Martha Argerich, an Argentinian-born artist, believes a Steinway
sometimes plays better than the pianist--"a marvellous surprise".
In business terms, the three fared very differently. Bluthner's factory
near Leipzig was destroyed during an air raid in 1943. The Russian
occupying forces allowed the family to rebuild it after the second
world war, and the Bluthners retained a quarter of the company until
1972 when it was put under state control with Ingbert Bluthner-Haessler
staying on as the factory manager. After 1989, the family bought back
the company, which is now managed by Mr Bluthner-Haessler and his two
sons.
Helene Bechstein, one of that manufacturer's co-owners, was a great
supporter of the Nazis, which is why part of the Bechstein firm was
confiscated during the denazification of corporate Germany at the end
of the war. The family eventually sold out completely, but Bechstein's
decline could not be halted and a decade ago it had to be rescued from
bankruptcy by the city of Berlin. Only in the past ten years has
Bechstein begun to regain some of its early strength; last year 3,000
new Bechsteins were built, compared with just 650 in 1993.
Meanwhile, Steinway thrived in America, establishing a near-monopoly in
concert grands. Most attribute Steinway's success to clever marketing
as well as to the quality of its pianos. It takes about a year to build
a Steinway from 12,000 components and eight different kinds of wood
including maple, birch, spruce and poplar. Each year Steinway's
factories in Astoria, New York, and Hamburg, Germany, produce about
3,000 grand pianos--priced at up to $100,000--and 1,500 uprights,
roughly the same production rate as a century ago.
Steinway is also skilful at marrying pianists to the brand, and there
is an official roster of about 1,300 "Steinway artists", from Alfred
Brendel to Billy Joel. Musicians must own a Steinway to become a member
of the club; in return, the nearest local salesroom will provide a
piano wherever they are performing.
Even so, Steinway's top spot is hotly contested. Asian pianos have
always been cheaper; now their quality is improving fast. And then
there is Fazioli, a tiny piano maker founded in 1978 in the northern
Italian town of Sacile. The Fazioli factory is close to the cradle of
the piano. In Padua, not far away, an instrument builder called
Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano 300 years ago. Steinway,
Bluthner and Bechstein may not agree, but some artists believe that
Fazioli now makes the best pianos in the world.
See this article with graphics and related items at http://economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1825853
Go to http://www.economist.com for more global news, views and analysis from the Economist Group.
BACK
|
