Немецкие фортепиано: История компании C. Bechstein

German piano manufacturing company

C. Bechstein Pianoforte AG (also known as Bechstein, ) is a German manufacturer of pianos, established in 1853 by Carl Bechstein.

Young Carl Bechstein studied and worked in France and England as a piano craftsman, before he became an independent piano maker. His first pianos were made for other companies. In 1881, Bechstein began supplying pianos to Queen Victoria. A gilded art case piano was delivered to Buckingham Palace, By January 1886 they were among the piano manufacturers holding a royal warrant as a supplier to the Queen. Several British embassies across the world acquired Bechstein pianos. In 1885, Bechstein opened a branch in London, that eventually grew to become the largest showroom and dealership in Europe. In 1889 he moved to 40 Wigmore Street, taking over the property of H. J. Cave & Sons. By 1890, showrooms opened in Paris, Vienna, and Saint Petersburg. On 31 May 1901, Bechstein Hall, built at a cost of £100,000, opened next to the company's London showroom at 36–40 Wigmore Street. Between 1901 and 1914, C. Bechstein was the largest piano dealership in London. At that time, Bechstein was patronized by the tsars of Russia, the royal families of Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Denmark, and other royalty and aristocracy. and the third factory opened in 1897 in Berlin Kreuzberg. Production reached 3,700 pianos annually in 1900, and 4,600 in 1910, making Bechstein the largest German manufacturer of high end pianos. At that time, about three quarters of production went to international markets, especially Britain and the Commonwealth, and Russia. Carl Bechstein died in 1900, and the Bechstein company continued to operate under the management of his sons. Between 1900 and 1914 C. Bechstein was one of the leading piano makers in the world, employing 1,200 craftsmen and workers by 1913 and making five thousand pianos per year.

C. Bechstein suffered huge property losses in London, Paris, and St. Petersburg during World War I. The largest loss was in London. Although the company's position in the United Kingdom was initially unaffected, with the company still listed as holding a royal warrant in January 1915, warrants to both King George V, and his wife Queen Mary were cancelled on 13 April 1915. Bechstein was not the only musical concern to be affected by growing anti German sentiment: there were earlier attempts, led by William Boosey, the managing director of Chappell & Co., to boycott German music altogether. In 1915 Sir Edgar Speyer—despite being a Baronet and Privy Counsellor who was then funding the Proms—was forced to leave the country. Following the passing of the Trading with the Enemy Amendment Act 1916 the British arm of the company was wound up on 5 June 1916, all Bechstein property, including the concert hall and showrooms full of pianos, were seized as "enemy property" and closed. In 1916 the hall was sold as alien property at auction to Debenhams for £56,500. It was renamed Wigmore Hall, and then re opened under the new name in 1917. All 137 Bechstein pianos at the Bechstein showrooms were confiscated too, and became property of the new owner of the Hall. The company became a joint stock company 1923, allowing Edwin Bechstein and his wife Helene, to re purchase part of the company as shareholders. In London a small number of budget quality baby grand pianos 4'8" in size were built and marketed. They are cast "Bechstein London" on the frame and C. Bechstein on the fall board. In 1930, the company collaborated with German electrical goods manufacturer Siemens under Nobel laureate Walther Nernst to produce one of the first electric pianos, the "Neo Bechstein" or "Siemens Bechstein" electric grand, using electromagnetic pickups. Edwin Bechstein and his wife, Helene Bechstein, who was an ardent admirer of the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, bestowed many gifts on Hitler including his first luxury car, a red Mercedes costing 26,000 marks. Helene Bechstein and her friend Elsa Bruckmann introduced Hitler to Germany's cultural elite in Berlin and Munich. "I wish he were my son," she said. After Edwin Bechstein died in 1934 in Berchtesgaden, where he had a villa named "Bechstein" in a short distance to the Obersalzberg, his body was transferred to Berlin. He was buried following a state funeral attended by Adolf Hitler and NSDAP politicians, including Wilhelm Frick and Max Amann.

In 1945, allied bombing raids destroyed the Bechstein piano factory in Berlin, along with the firm's stores of valuable wood, including the precious Alpine spruce used to make soundboards. The war also cost the company many of its experienced craftsmen. For several years after the war, Bechstein could not resume full scale production of pianos and made only a few pianos per year. Many entertainers and concert pianists, such as Leonard Bernstein, Jorge Bolet, and Wilhelm Kempff, favoured Bechstein pianos. The manufacturing of Zimmermann instruments in Seifhennersdorf discontinued at the end of 2011. In 1993 the company applied for bankruptcy protection. The Berlin city government saved the company by purchasing the company's land in Kreuzberg, with Bechstein remaining as a tenant. The company withdrew its application for bankruptcy, and planned to reduce its remaining debt by selling inventory, and further sales of real estate. In 1996, C. Bechstein went public. In 2003, Bechstein formed a partnership with Samick, in order to improve overseas distribution. Today, after the successful capital increase in 2009, Samick no longer has any shares. Nowadays major shareholders are Arnold Kuthe Beteiligungs GmbH as well as Karl Schulze and his wife Berenice Küpper, all Berlin investors. By 2006, the company opened eight upscale showrooms and increased the number of Bechstein dealerships in major cities across Europe, North America and Asia. New Bechstein centres were opened in recent years in New York, Moscow, Shanghai as well as partner centres in Kiev, Seoul, Sydney, and the Netherlands. Along with the company's economic success, C. Bechstein's concert grand pianos are making their comeback on international concert stages and in recording studios. In 2006, the first international C. Bechstein Piano Competition took place under Vladimir Ashkenazy's patronage. National C. Bechstein competitions regularly foster the musical development of young artists. As of 1 January 2017, the group is headed up by new management: Stefan Freymuth has taken over as CEO of C. Bechstein Pianoforte AG, replacing Karl Schulze who had led the group since 1986 and will stay on to advise the new CEO as general representative.

Bechstein has been known as a maker of one of a kind artcase pianos since the 19th century. Artcase pianos were commissioned by interior designers for royal palaces and mansions. Artists and craftsmen were hired by C. Bechstein to make special pianos decorated with gold, hand carved details, and hand painted art on the piano case. Some of the artcase Bechsteins are now museum pieces, while others are sometimes traded at musical instrument auctions, mainly in London and New York.

Made for the mid level piano market, W. Hoffmann pianos are designed by C. Bechstein and built by C. Bechstein Europe factory in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.

Made for the entry level piano market, Zimmermann pianos are designed by C. Bechstein and built by Hailun Piano Company factory in Ningbo, China.

Students and followers of Hans von Bülow and Franz Liszt also developed loyalty to Bechstein pianos. Alexander Scriabin owned a concert size Bechstein at his Moscow home, which is now a national museum, and Scriabin's piano is still played at scheduled recitals. Tatiana Nikolayeva preferred the Bechstein for her acclaimed recordings of the music of Bach. Sviatoslav Richter grew up studying piano on a Bechstein and remembered his experience with that piano as stimulating and rewarding. Claude Debussy said "Piano music should only be written for the Bechstein". Edwin Fischer chose a Bechstein piano for his pioneering recording of Bach's The Well Tempered Clavier, as did Artur Schnabel for his cycle of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas. Both artists were very fond of Bechstein pianos, as were many of the 20th century's leading pianists, such as Wilhelm Kempff, Wilhelm Backhaus, Walter Gieseking and Jorge Bolet. Polish pianist Władysław Szpilman (famous thanks to the movie The Pianist) used a Bechstein piano until 1941 in his family private apartments in Warsaw. For his studio recording of the music of Chopin and Beethoven, Dinu Lipatti used a Bechstein piano. Bob Dylan played a Bechstein piano at the ABC Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 20 May 1966. He is mentioned on many Bechstein dealers' web pages as a regular Bechstein player. When Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics listed his Bechstein piano for auction, he named Bob Dylan as one of the musicians who had played the piano. The Bechstein concert grand at London's Trident Studios, over a century old and much sought after for its sound, became one of the most frequently recorded instruments in rock history. The piano can be heard on The Beatles' "Hey Jude," Elton John's "Your Song," George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass," David Bowie's "Life on Mars?," Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," Queen's "Seven Seas of Rhye," Carly Simon's "You're So Vain," Nilsson's "Without You," and Supertramp's "Crime of the Century". It saw service in the studio from 1968 until the mid 1980s, and has since been sold at auction. The music video for Elton John's "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" features John playing a white Bechstein grand. Oscar Peterson played and owned a Bechstein throughout much of his career, publicity contracts with rival manufacturers notwithstanding. Anna Ivanova (2011) played Liszt's personal 1880 Bechstein grand piano, which is displayed in the Liszt Haus in Weimar (DDR). Recordings of her playing both this grand piano, and the Bechstein 576 (which was delivered 17 March 1862 to Franz Liszt), which presently is being displayed at the Bechstein Centre in Berlin (Deutschland Global), can be found on YouTube. Kate Bush plays an upright Bechstein. "I think my favourite piano is the one I have at home. It's an upright Bechstein. It's absolutely beautiful, but it's not ideal for master recordings. For me, the piano is one of the most difficult things to record well. It sounds good in the room, but it doesn't always sound good coming through the speakers. We find that we have to do quite a bit of work on them to get them to sound good on tape."

In 1862, C. Bechstein was awarded gold medals at the London International Exhibition. In 2007, C. Bechstein received the iF Gold Award for C. Bechstein Piano Model Millennium.