New piano launched in Budapest

Pianist Gergely Bogányi introduces eye-catching new piano

Hungarian pianist Gergely Bogányi has launched a new piano designed to resist temperature changes and make a richer and more flowing sound.

Unveiled in Budapest last Tuesday (20 January 2015), the Bogányi Piano has a carbon-fibre soundboard which is resistant to humidity, dust and dryness and which can be disconnected from the main piano frame if damaged. The piano also has a longer keyboard, with two extra notes at each end, and two curved legs (rather than the grand's traditional three) which are designed to reflect sound and increase resonance.

The first major redesign of a piano seen in over 100 years, it has a sleek, curved design that has led people to call it a 'Batpiano' because of it's likeness to the superhero's accessories.

Gergely Bogányi says, ‘For years I have performed with a sound in my head different to that which I was playing. It was always in another dimension from the actual sound coming from the piano. Somehow, it was a more beautiful, harmonious, flowing sound.’

He worked with a team of designers and technicians, including Attila Bolega, Péter Üveges and József Cs Nagy, as well as jazz musician Gerald Clayton to produce the instrument.

Clayton recently told The Guardian, 'It feels like you are in a spaceship, like you are hovering above gravity. When you play a lot of notes, or you play a chord, the sensation is different. It’s super-clear.'

Bartók Rádió sound engineer, Tamás Horváth, also heard the piano at last week's launch. 'I can certainly say it has a unique tone, although this is characteristic of all great piano producer products, such as Steinway, or Bösendorfer – they all have a specific sound.'

Bogányi will demonstrate the piano’s capabilities at the Liszt Academy in Hungary on Wednesday 11 March [2015] in a concert of works by Bach, Schubert and Schumann.

First published at BBC Music Magazine, January 27, 2015