[CAUT] Bösendorfer Imperial

[mario at pianosinsideout.com]

If this instrument is good, it's too bad the students will be deprived of
experiencing such a relevant alternative to the prevailing homogenized,
Steinway-only worldview.

There's this Imperial for sale on eBay, though it's hard to tell how much it
will actually bring.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BOSENDORFER-290-Concert-Grand-Piano-Boesendorfer-/2305
28922191?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35ac98324f 

You may want to see what a large store in a vibrant market such as NYC
(Faust Harrison, Beethoven Pianos, Klavierhaus) would offer for it.

Mario Igrec 

-----Original Message-----
From: kswafford at gmail.com [mailto:kswafford at gmail.com] 
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 11:49 AM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: [CAUT] Bösendorfer Imperial

We have a Bösendorfer Imperial (9' 6", 97 notes) that has overstayed its
welcome here for a number of reasons.

(The current dean wants to move to the all-Steinway designation and so the
B'dorf' must move away from any concert stage. Also, our backstage is
ill-equipped to deal with this extra-wide instrument which cannot be rolled
through standard double doors. There is no room for the piano to stay
backstage during opera, ballet, and large ensemble performances, so we have
been taking the doors off their hinges to move the piano out of the stage
area. Big inconvenience)

The piano is 40 years old. Four years ago the instrument was refinished,
received a new belly, and new hammers, shanks and flanges in Vienna. The
case could be touched up to near-perfection. It has one- piece original
ivories that show some cracking that can be seen but not felt under the
fingers. The instrument is concert-ready for all practical purposes.

The dean would like to sell the piano.

I think potential buyers would be vanishingly few, and it is unlikely that
the piano could be sold quickly -- might take a long time. My observation is
that especially in the central part of the country, the values of used nicer
pianos and especially used larger pianos have been depressed for some time.

I am tasked with estimating at what price the instrument might be expected
to sell.

Is there any guidance out there? Anyone need an extra Imperial?

Thanks,

Kent Swafford