What Happened to Bosendorfer?

[rubinsteinmad]

What happened to the great Bosendorfer?

In the Chopin Competition, the pianos allowed are :Fazioli, Yamaha, Kawai, and Steinway.

Why Steinway? Why not Bosendorfer? Is the Bosendorfer a thing of the past, and the Steinway is some new fad?

[kawai_cs]

Because they were very seldom chosen by participants, thus it has been decided to leave them out.
I personally love Boesendorfer.

[rubinsteinmad]

Because they were very seldom chosen by participants, thus it has been decided to leave them out.
I personally love Boesendorfer.

Oh, that's too bad.

I'm happy to meet a fellow Bosendorfer fan!

[iansinclair]

Well now... I would hardly refer to Steinway as being some new fad.  Steinways, Baldwins and, more recently, Yamahas are the mainstays of the world of concert pianos, and have been for some time (for what it's worth, my great great aunt, who worked for Steinway in '90s (1890s, that is) and Paderewski invented the notion of artist endorsements around about 1890 or so).

Bosendorfers are, unquestionably, truly great pianos, but they have never been as common (if one can realistically refer to any piano in that class as "common"!).

There is much to be said for limiting the choice of piano at a competition, if only to reduce the number of variables the judges have to contend with.

[chopinlover01]

Also keep in mind that Yamaha bought Bosendorfer recently, so they probably promote their own pianos before they would promote Bosendorfer pianos.

[rubinsteinmad]

Also keep in mind that Yamaha bought Bosendorfer recently, so they probably promote their own pianos before they would promote Bosendorfer pianos.

OMG I didn't know that!

[irrational]

As was said they stopped because few people chose them.
I asked the question myself in a different post, postulating that because of their rarity, pianists are not used to the sound and would choose something more familiar.

But a good alternative theory was that there could be contracts or possible job opportunities involved, forcing pianists to use a specific one. Yamaha sponsors the Chopin, so while they own Bosendorfer now, it makes sense that they would push the Yamaha brand.

We'll see if Fazioli is still there in 5 years.

[handz]

I actually do not think taht yamaha would buy bosendorfer to not promote it on prestigious actions like this if it would work for them, I would more believe that probably less people choose them as   lot of young people had no chance to play them and are not aware of their qualities / sound. Steinways, Yamahas, Kawais and Faziolis on the other hand are the most "common" concert pianos and conservatory pianos so players are well used to them.