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[Diane Hofstetter]

Dear List;

   I am trying to help a customer decide what to do about the 19th. century 
Viennese grand piano her mother surprised the grand daughter with as a  
present to learn to play piano on.  The little girl loves the piano her 
grandmother gave her, and it fits in with the other antiques in the home 
beautifully.  Unfortunately it is over a minor third flat, the pins are 
loose and it has a Viennese action (which isn't in too bad shape).   The 
board and bridges are good, there is no plate, but plate struts.

   When I was younger (and wiser), it would have been easy for me to tell 
them to forget going to the expense of rebuilding the piano, but last year I 
had the pleasure of sitting in the living room of a concert pianist from 
Australia and listening to an hour's concert on the Bosendorfer Viennese 
grand (he had learned to play on it) that we had just finished tuning in an 
equal beating well temperament.  It was an experience I will never forget.

   I believe this piano may have already been rebuilt in the past, in fact I 
think the words are "foreshortened" as it was apparently cut down in size to 
fit into the smaller dwellings that were becoming the norm in Vienna at the 
turn of the century.  There are two handwritten messages on the underside of 
the soundboard where a person couldn't possibly write UNLESS the piano were 
disassembled.  The piano is an Anton Pokorny, serial #755.  The first 
message on the soundboard is virtually illegible except for the name 
Albert.... and the date 1871.  The second says "Abgeschnitten von Ulrich 
Prohaska, April 1903.

   The questions I have are: (1.) will the little girl actually end up with 
a decent instrument to learn on (no repetition levers here!)
(2.) Will it be able to be tuned at pitch after restringing? and (3.) does 
anyone have any idea of the value of the piano before and after restoration?

   Many thanks for your advice!
   Diane


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