July 6, 2007
By Lucille Davie
Joburg's classical music lovers can celebrate – the R1,1-million needed for a replacement grand piano at the Linder Auditorium has been raised and a new piano has been ordered.
It will be flown from Hamburg in Germany at the end of July. On order is a Steinway Orchestral Concert Grand D274. Pianist and Wits music lecturer Malcolm Nay is in Hamburg this week to inspect those grand pianos at Steinway, and, with the experts, decide which piano is best for Joburg.
The present piano is suitable for recitals and chamber pieces, but is just a little quiet for full orchestral performances, says David Freemantle, facilities manager of the Linder. Besides, it's 25 years old and it's time the city had a new grand piano.
Freemantle says it took four months to raise the money, in a campaign started at the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra's (JPO's) March season. In fact, slightly more money has been raised, so the extra will be used for maintenance.
The auditorium is on Wits University's education campus, and the present piano belongs to the department. The auditorium is the home of the JPO.
Head of the department, Professor Mary Metcalfe, says of the fundraising efforts in the "88 keys to success" initiative: "We have had such a wonderful response from the public and the big corporates." The 88 keys have been sold at R12 500 each.
The education department has committed R187 500 by buying 15 keys. There have been two big sponsors: Nedbank has bought 16 keys and spent R200 000, and Sasol has spent R100 000 on eight keys. But individuals and families have also bought keys.
"Some families have dug deep to scrap together the resources to get R12 500 for a key," she says.
She says she values equally the contributions by families and corporates.
The department has two concert grand pianos, and a baby grand. The one presently being used is a Bosendorf.
The legs and liara of the new piano will be detached and the piano will be placed on its back in the plane, says Deon van Vuuren, director of Pianoforte, sole importers of Steinway pianos, based in Cape Town. The transport of the piano will be carefully watched by electronic monitors by means of tilt and impact meters.
On arrival at Wits a trained technician will supervise the unpacking of the piano, and spend six to eight hours checking and tuning the instrument.
Van Vuuren says that pianos don't improve with age, and depending on frequency of use, they can last up to 130 years. But this does mean that you can buy a second-hand piano at around the same price it was originally purchased for.
Freemantle describes the fundraising as "spectacularly successful". The sponsors will be acknowledged with a plaque, to be placed in the foyer of the auditorium. The new piano will be inaugurated in the JPO's third season, on Thursday, 9 August, with Beethoven's Piano Concerto no 3, played by Gustavo Romero.
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