BOSENDORFER - A LIVING LEGEND

Buosendorfer is in a unique position among all the Piano Manufacturers in the world. No one else can claim Bösendorfer's central position in European culture. Vienna was the center of Europe for more than 500 years. This is the reason there is such fantastic architecture in Vienna, representing the Gothic style, the Romantic style, the Baroque and Rococo style and more recently the Art Deco style that has now become so popular again. People come from all over the world to experience the history and beauty of Vienna
Almost all the famous musicians and composers have lived or worked in Vienna. Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Franz Lehár, Johann Strauss, Arnold Schönberg, Gustav Mahler, Anton Webern, Alban Berg ..., all lived and worked in Vienna and helped shape the city's musical culture. Only out of these cultural surroundings, only in Vienna, could this special instrument, the Bösendorfer, be developed with its unique singing and sustaining tone.

Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik is the oldest continuous piano manufacturer in the world. Its history dates back to 1828. At that time Vienna's reputation as a centre of musical culture and traditional city of piano music had already been established.

Ignaz Bösendorfer, a cabinetmaker's son, was apprenticed at the age of 19 to Joseh Brodmann one of the leading fortepioano makers in Austria. In 1828 Ignaz Bösendorfer founded his own manufacturing business. Very quickly his new company gained a worldwide reputation for building instruments with standards of the highest quality.

At industry fairs held in Vienna in 1839 and 1845, Bösendorfer pianos won top awards and received high acclaim. Ignaz Bösendorfer's excellent relations with Austria's Imperial family also contributed to his success. He was eventually appointed piano maker to the Emperor of Austria. Ignaz Bösendorfer's contact with the very young piano virtuoso Franz Liszt is also a notable fact. Liszt had the reputation of ruining several instruments at an evening's performance with his powerful style of playing When the Bösendorfer grand pianos survived his performances, the sensational news travelled far and wide, and attracted many new artists and potential customers.

Ignaz Bösendorfer's enterprise flourished and expanded. By the time of his death in 1859, he had already established an active export business. Ignaz Bösendorfer's son Ludwig took over and continued to operate the business with exceptional skill. He became a friend and patron of Franz Liszt and Anton Rubernstein, and was a respected citizen of Vienna, Ludwig helped inaugurate the Böosendorfer Concert Hall in Vienna in 1872, which was located at the site of the present Riding School of the Prince of Liechtenstein. Numerous famous artists performed here until 1913 when the hall had to make way for a new construction project

As Ludwig has no heirs, he eventually sold the company to his friend Carl Hutterstrasser. The Hutterstrasser family controlled the fate of Bösendorfer during two world wars up to the year 1966. In 1966, Kimball International, an American group of companies specialising in manufacturing high quality office and hotel furniture, bought Bösendorfer. The sales agreement stipulated that Bösendorfer pianos must continue to be made in the same fashion, by hand. In 1973 Piano production moved from the centre of Vienna to a new factory in Wiener Neustadt about 50 km south of Vienna, where the instruments continue to be built by hand today

Today, Bösendorfer is owned by BAWAG-P.S.K.- Group, Founded in 1922 by Dr. Karl Renner, Federal Chancellor of the First Republic and Federal President of the Second Republic, BAWAG has grown to become a modern, service-oriented one-stop financing group and is one of the leading multi-purpose banks in Austria today. BAWAG's cultural sponsoring program includes co-operation with the Arnold Schönberg Center, which was co-founded by BAWAG. Since being founded in 1828 Bösendorfer has had only four owners. This is a rather unique fact in today's fast moving business world, and something of which Bösendorfer is very proud. This is one of the main reasons they have been able to maintain the highest quality in their pianos, and remain faithful to their traditional heritage. Unlike other companies who have undergone many radical changes and have had different ideas and methods imposed on them by their new owners, Bösendorfer stands alone, managed by Austrians.

he tradition of hand craftsmanship is central to the Bösendorfer philosophy. It is the trademark of the Bösendorfer factory which is famous throughout the world. Hand-craftsmanship fosters extreme attention to detail, and the maximum possible quality control.175 years ago we began with a desire, which became a quest - a quest for the purest and most authentic sound possible. With the development of our loudspeaker system we believe that this quest has finally reached its goal. We have succeeded in transforming our deep desire into high achievement with experience drawn from close collaboration with leading artists and prominent concert halls which formed the conceptual basis of our research, and thanks to the technical expertise of acoustician Hans Deutsch.

The result is a unique loudspeaker - a source of sound that reverberates and produces sound just as our pianos do. Incredibly natural, vibrant, living sound is guaranteed by our loudspeaker systems, which we now see as the logical extension of the range of Bösendorfer instruments. It is our pleasure to present a loudspeaker system that lives up to our high standards and will certainly provide you with the most authentic and truest listening pleasure in the comfort of your home for many years to come