Fortepiano. where to buy?

[quanta]

There doesn't seem to be an abundance of fortepianos on any second hand places.. or even new.

I would like to get one but I'm struggling to source one and I fear that they are probably a hell of a lot more expensive than a normal piano (maybe more like harpsichord prices?)

Any advice is welcomed.

cheers.

[iansinclair]

I found a few on the 'web.  At well over harpsichord prices... a rather nice one fo $75,000 (US dollars) in New York State, USA, for instance.  Also a couple for rent in Austria.

They're there.  They're rare.  They aren't going to be inexpensive...

[kuba88]

quanta:
Where do you live?
What exactly do you look for?
What is your budget?

[rocklandpiano]

Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music. Starting in Beethoven's time, the fortepiano began a period of steady evolution, culminating in the late 19th century with the modern grand. The earlier fortepiano became obsolete and was absent from the musical scene for many decades. In the 20th century the fortepiano was revived, following the rise of interest in historically informed performance. Fortepianos are built for this purpose today in specialist workshops.

[alanteew]

EBay, Pianomart, or craigslist.

If it's a private sale, bring along an independent (certified) technician, unless you really know how to assess it yourself (hint: playing is just a small part). Make sure you hire a *piano* mover and not a general mover.

Last summer, I paid $3K for an immaculate Kawai KG-2C on EBay; it's probably worth three times as much. I'm getting a humidifier installed in a few months, but still pinch myself in disbelief.

[iumonito]

EBay, Pianomart, or craigslist.

If it's a private sale, bring along an independent (certified) technician, unless you really know how to assess it yourself (hint: playing is just a small part). Make sure you hire a *piano* mover and not a general mover.

Last summer, I paid $3K for an immaculate Kawai KG-2C on EBay; it's probably worth three times as much. I'm getting a humidifier installed in a few months, but still pinch myself in disbelief.

Hmmm, in Russian a fortepiano is the instrument you can find on stage at a standard competition, and its related smaller instruments, like the KG-2C you just mentioned.  Thanks!

But in English, the word fortepiano has come to be used particularly for pianos (original and copy) up to about the time of early Beethoven.  Romantic pianos (those from about mid-Beethoven up to about 1900) can be called either way.

Therefore, keep in mind that when you say fortepiano, you are really making still too broad a generalization.

If you want a Fiorentine fortepiano (like Christofori's, good for playing Scarlatti and early Haydn, for example) you should get it from David Sutherland. 

https://sites.google.com/site/davidsutherlandinstruments/reviving-the-earliest-pianos

If you want a Stein or a Walter copy, to play mid-period Haydn, and pretty much all of Mozart, you probably should get it from the Harpsichord Clearing House.

https://www.harpsichord.com/

...or if you are in Europe, you can go visit Paul McNulty, who will be your main source for several other pianos, like an Erard to play Chopin, or a Boisselot to play Liszt.

https://www.fortepiano.eu/

Or perhaps you like to play Brahms, in which case a Streicher is what you need!

https://www.hecherpiano.com/verkauf_e.html

Needless to say, you likely will have to train a technician, and your PTG tuner may not really very familiar with these instruments at all.  I had a self-touted expert tell me we needed to replace EVERYTHING in my 1873 Bechstein, simply because he had no idea how it worked or how to adjust it.

[alanteew]

  Thanks -- I did know that and completely missed it. 

[quanta]

Thanks for the feedback.

iumonito, that was very helpful, however they are all frightfully expensive!

What is the reason for them being quite rare?

think I would be looking between £1 - 2 thousand.

It may be a digital Roland HP500 series for me :/

[iansinclair]

There isn't a whole lot of demand for forte pianos, as the English speaking world defines them and iumonito correctly describes them.  If you are really interested in period-correct interpretations, they are very very useful, but in reality there is very little that you can do on a forte piano which you cannot do on a modern concert grand, provided you are sensitive to technique and style (this is true of most other period instruments as well -- although I dare say that someone out there will land on me hard because you really can't duplicate the sound of a hand-stopped valveless french horn with a modern, valved horn -- which is perfectly true)(there is some question in my mind as to why you might want to... oh dear, there I go again).

If there isn't a lot of demand, they are going to be hand-built, and then you are comparing them to top end modern grands, not mass-market pianos.  And you should expect to pay for that.

[j_menz]

there is some question in my mind as to why you might want to...

So you can get one of these: