Faszinationpianola

29/01/2025

Further rare Hupfeld Tri-Phonola rolls acquired...
We recently had the chance to acquire these Hupfeld Tri-Phonola rolls. Another addition to our large roll collection - and, most relevant, we will scan also these rolls to secure them for the future, and to make the data available to the research community.

21/01/2025

Just arrived: 1932 Neupert Concert Grand Piano...
We have added another golden age Concert Grand Piano to our collection. A 1932 J. C. Neupert Mod I Concert Grand Piano. Neupert pianos have an extraordinary nice tone, very impressive. This piano had been used in a concert hall in Nürnberg area for decades.

18/01/2025

Just arrived: Steinweg Concert Grand Piano No 761...
Another wonderful Concert Grand Piano has joined our collection. This is a ca. 1866 Th. Steinweg Nachf. Grotrian, Helfferich, Schulz Concert Grand Piano (2.60m) of ca. 1866. The one Clara Schumann and so many others appreciated. We are working on an article on the serial numbers and design details of these Steinweg piano of the 1850-1870 era as there are many interesting aspects as well as questions about the correct dating of these instruments. If you have details to share on instruments having serial numbers < 2,000, especially. < 1,000 that'll be great. Same for early catalogues pre 1900.

16/01/2025

Very rare Popper Stella rolls found...
For years we are looking for Popper Stella reproducing rolls, as we had seen just 3 so far. For our fully restored Popper Stella Piano we can derive rolls from Welte red rolls, but authentic Stella rolls are what we are looking for. Now we have found 5 Stella rolls in a perfect condition. Most interesting is roll No 2152, Anatol von Roessel playing Chopins Ballade Op 47. As Roessel didn't record this for Welte, but for Popper (and Philipps DUCA) - it will be very interesting to analyze the scanned rolls to better understand the recording process at Popper. They obviously had an own recording process. We haven't seen a Popper Stella catalogue yet, but it looks like Popper reserved numbers 2001-2999 for Stella rolls, 0-2000 and 3000+ for Oberon, Rex, Protos, Roland, Violetta, Welt-Piano 0, Bianca, Clarabella, Carmina, Ohio, Poppers Elektr. Klaviere Konzertist and Konzertist X. If anybody has Stella rolls or a catalogue etc., I'd be happy to receive your message.

12/12/2024

Just arrived: A 1911 Blüthner Mod I Concert Grand Piano...
We love the old Bluthner pianos. Just added this wonderful 1911 Mod I Concert Grand Piano to our collection. Maybe the only place with 1883, 1889, 1894, 1911, 1923, 1925 and 1964 Blüthner Mod I Concert Grand Pianos side by side.

11/12/2024

Very rare find: 1858 Julius Feurich Pianino No 321...
However we have seen many Feurich pianos already, we never saw such an early one. Julius Feurich worked three years with Pleyel in Paris prior to establishing his own piano factory in 1851. This piano is No 321, built in ca. 1858, very similar to Pleyel of that time. As far as we know, Julius Feurich was the first German manufacturer offering upright Pianinos. A real piece of history.

10/12/2024

For XMAS - original piano candle holders?
Our large collection of piano candle holders and other piano accessories offer a perfect selection to find a present for a piano lover. https://www.faszinationpianola.de/produkt-kategorie/leuchter/

04/12/2024

Schiedmayer Piano survives 1908 Messina Earthquake...
This story is from a 1909 paper. Under the ruins of a palace in Messina, 1½ months after the earthquake disaster, a Schiedmayer & Soehne Pianino had come to light. On inspection, it turned out that although the piano had fallen from a height of four storeys, the iron plate, the soundboard and the mechanism had remained completely intact; only the exterior showed a few slight scratches caused by the debris.

19/11/2024

Masterpieces on a 2014 Yamaha Disklavier Piano...
We have recorded some excerpts of rolls like Hupfeld Tri-Phonola, Welte, Philipps DUCA, Ampico and Duo-Art on our Yamaha Disklavier piano. These emulations are produced by Peter Phillips. However, we really love our original reproducing pianos, it is wonderful to have all these rolls of various types and formats on just one piano. Based on the thousands of rolls we have scanned, plus those done by e.g. Peter Phillips, the library of music feels unlimited, still steadily growing by further rare recordings we do discover.

With our emulations from famous piano rolls you can enjoy the best recordings on just one piano. We have compiled 7 pieces of various piano roll types. If yo...

16/11/2024

Emulated Rolls played on a 2009 Galaxy Piano...
We have recorded some excerpts of Tri-Phonola, Welte, DUCA, Ampico and Duo-Art rolls on our modern acrylic Concert grand piano. Emulations produced by Peter Phillips. Not my preferred piano tone, but still impressive. On a Yamaha Disklavier Enspire Pro grand piano these emulations actually do sound amazing, more precise than on any original reproducing piano. However, if you love vintage pianos, nothing compares.

This acrylic Galaxy Concert Grand Piano with PianoDisc iQ player systems plays a selection of Masterpieces on piano rolls, scanned by us, emulated by Peter P...

31/10/2024

Popper invoice from hyper-inflation year 1923...
We have recently acquired these documents. Interesting pieces of history. Hyper-inflation peaks in autumn 1923 in Germany. First time we see an invoice on 'repairing rolls'. 435,200Marks for a piano roll. There must have been a Popper piano in this restaurant/hotel 'Zur Post', the building still exists, unfortunately the piano has gone decades ago.

20/10/2024

Correct dating of early Blüthner pianos...
Most of the construction years given based on low serial numbers are wrong in the literature. We have compiled a detailed information on how to determine the year of construction more accurately.

Bei frühen Blüthner Instrumenten bis ca. 1880 sind die Seriennummerninformationen in den meisten Fach-Publikationen falsch, d.h. vor allem in den ersten

17/10/2024

QRS - You can't be serious...
Oder wie wir im Deutschen sagen: Ohne Worte. This email just came. I doubt, that this "pulls together", it rather tears things further apart like bad rolls or bad player system do. Freedom. And, God bless the USA, the right way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnCNHFg9y1Q I know politics are a delicate thing. Nevertheless, politics is on all of us. But always business first? Saying in the same email: "Politics aren't you thing? We've got you covered! ...this year QRS Music is bringing you two stunning editions of our Christmas 2024 roll." Welte and Hupfeld etc. also published bad ads and bad rolls in the early 1930s trying to do business instead of taking clear human rights position. "...any statistics gathered for entertainment purposes only...", Sorry, but QRS, you can't be serious. Ohne Worte.

08/10/2024

Just arrived: 1939 Grotrian-Steinweg Artcase Grand Piano...
We have found this 1939 Grotrian-Steinweg Artcase Grand Piano, Bavarian Country House Style.

08/10/2024

Very rare 1913 Irmler Piano catalogue found...
Our collection of original piano catalogues has a new arrival with this very rare 1913 Irmler Piano catalogue (60 pages). Irmler had been another high quality piano manufacturer, located in Leipzig, founded 1818. This multilingual catalogue presents various upright and grand pianos with detailed descriptions and prices, as well as built-in player mechanisms on request.

08/10/2024

Further rare Hupfeld Clavitist Universal rolls found...
We have acquired these wonderful rolls. Hupfeld Clavitist Universal had been one of the instruments in the early 1900s very often used in bars, cafes etc. to attract more visitors to come. Hupfeld advertising promised higher beer sales when offering such a musical highlight. These rolls actually came in an old suitcase of this era, in which they had been stored for decades.

30/09/2024

New Global Piano Roll Meeting (GPRM) website launched…
Based on the feedback we got from the participants of the Global Piano Roll Meetings in Leipzig, Bern and Sydney, we have launched a new website to keep all GPRM related activities together. This website is meant to support the global piano roll community. It co-exists with the website information provided by the conference hosts, like the Bern Academy of Arts. It's a start to evolve to something good, we are happy to receive your ideas for additions to make it even more valuable. www.gprm.net

18/09/2024

20.09.2024, Symposium on Orchestrion Roll Digitization in Leipzig...
An interesting symposium this week in Leipzig at the Grassi Museum. To those being in the area it is surely worth a visit.