Ten concert venues receive Bogányi’s world famous pianos

Budapest, March 21 (MTI) – Ten state-owned Bogányi pianos are being placed at concert venues in Hungary and abroad to promote Hungarian piano-making and the country’s illustrious pianists, human resources minister Zoltán Balog told a press conference on Tuesday.

The Zengafons piano, developed under the inspiration of Kossuth Prize-winning pianist Gergely Boganyi, was first featured at a gala concert at the Academy of Music in January 2015.

The Hungarian government purchased 10 of the futuristic looking Bogányis in June that year.

These are now to be placed in seven Hungarian venues, including the Budapest Music Center, the Palace of Arts (Müpa) and the Academy of Music in Budapest and the Kodály Centre in Pécs. Two of the venues abroad have been decided upon: the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Balog said.

The government spent 800 million forints (EUR 260,000) on the pianos.

One novelty: its sound board made of a multilayered composite rather than wood is suspended in its casing the air thanks to a cantilevered construction beneath the keyboard.

When it was unveiled, musicologist András Batta said the Bogányi piano “is rooted in the Lisztian tradition but points to the future”.

Boganyi says the piano named after him has a “more human, more friendly sound” than the contemporary ones and requires less maintenance.

The piano has already been patented in several countries, including China and the United States, Zengafons’ chief executive István Komoroczky said earlier.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI