Bösendorfer

Bösendorfer continues to make handcrafted pianos in the same Vienna factory. Almost 300 of these premium pianos are made each year.

Classical (recordings made with historical Bösendorfer pianos)

Wolfgang Brunner, Michael Schopper. Anton Bruckner. Piano Works. Label: CPO. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (before 1835).

Christoph Eggner. Anton Bruckner. Piano Pieces from the Kitzler-Studienbuch. Label: Gramola.

Christian Lambour. Schubert, Ries, Hummel, Kuhlau, Reinecke, Czerny. Almost Mozart: Fantasies after Mozart. Label: Koch Schwann. Played on pianos by Bösendorfer (1846) and Broadwood (1812).

Hardy Rittner, Teunis van der Zwart. Johannes Brahms. Early Piano Works Vol. 2. Label: Dabringhaus und Grimm (MDG). Played on an Ignaz Bösendorfer piano (1849–1850).

Yves Saelens, Jan Vermeulen. Robert Franz. Lieder. Label: Etcetera Records. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1851).

Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Teunis van der Zwart. Johannes Brahms. Horn Trio Op. 40, Violin Sonata Op. 78, Fantasies Op. 116. Label: Harmonia Mundi. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1875).

Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov. Albert Dietrich, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms. Violin Sonatas Op. 100 & 108. Label: Harmonia Mundi. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1875).

Alexander Melnikov. Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Igor Stravinsky. Four Pianos, Four Pieces. Label: Harmonia Mundi. Played on pianos by Alois Graff (c. 1828–1835), Érard (1837), Bösendorfer (c. 1875) and Steinway (2014).

Italian Piano Quartet. Johannes Brahms. Piano Quartets Op. 25, 26 & 60. Label: Symphonia. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1880).

Maria Milstein, Jozef De Beenhouwer. Johannes Brahms. Hauskonzert bei Brahms - Mürzzuschlag, 23. August 1885. Label: Brahms Museum Mürzzuschlag. Played on a Ludwig Bösendorfer piano (1882).

Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen, Tuija Hakkila. Brahms. Sonatas for Violin and Piano. Label: Ondine. Played on pianos by Bösendorfer (1892) and J. B. Streicher (1864).

Simona Eisinger, Zuzana Ferjenčíková. Sergei Rachmaninoff, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss. Seelenverwandt. Label: Schwechtenstein-Records. Played on pianos by J. B. Streicher (1847), Friedrich Ehrbar (1878) and Ludwig Bösendorfer (1893).

Simona Saturova, Markéta Cukrová, Vojtěch Spurný. Antonín Dvořák. Moravian Duets. Label: Supraphon. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1879).

Radoslav Kvapil. Antonín Dvořák. Dvořák Piano Works. Label: Alto. Played on the composer's own Bösendorfer piano (1879).

Radoslav Kvapil. Antonín Dvořák. Dvořák Piano Works II. Label: Alto. Played on the composer's own Bösendorfer piano (1879).

Jan Michiels. Antonín Dvořák. Suite Op. 98, Poetische Stimmungsbilder Op. 85, Humoresken Op. 101. Label: Eufoda. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1884).

Jan Michiels. Johannes Brahms. Klavierstucke & Intermezzi Opus 116-119. Label: Eufoda. Played on a Bösendorfer piano (1884).

Sofja Gülbadamova. Ernst von Dohnányi. Suite in the olden style, Pastorale, Variations on a Hungarian folk song. Label: Capriccio. Played on the composer's own Bösendorfer piano (1910).

Conservatory Series

To appeal to a wider market, Bösendorfer designed the Conservatory Series for colleges and universities that could not afford Bösendorfer's standard black-model pianos. The production of the two CS Series pianos spends less time in "non-critical areas", cutting down costs of production and purchase, making them more affordable than standard models. The cases and frames are of satin finish, rather than polished and, initially, the pianos were loop-strung rather than single-strung, but those practices have since been abandoned.

Special and Limited editions

Bösendorfer has produced a number of specially designed pianos named after famous composers such as Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt, as well as pianos designed for special occasions, such as Bösendorfer's 170th and 175th anniversaries.

SE reproducing piano

Under the ownership of Kimball, Bösendorfer built and sold a small number of Stahnke Edition automatic reproducing pianos based on 3 of the 'Imperial Line' models 225, 275 and 290. The 'SE' designation was for Stahnke Engineering, whose founder, Wayne Stahnke, invented the mechanism. These instruments were fitted with sensors, electronics and mechanical systems to record and play back piano performances extremely accurately through electro-mechanical actuation of the piano keys and pedals. These instruments were designed to work with either performances stored on cassette tapes as digital data, or with an attached MS-DOS IBM PC computer. Using the computer, the SE instruments could be used for recording, editing and playback. The SE system instruments were the first commercially available computer-controlled "player piano" capable of accurately reproducing both the notes and intensity of a performer's playing. This system was not further developed or patented due to its high cost. Competitors soon introduced patented reproducing piano technologies such as the Yamaha Disklavier in 1982.

The Bösendorfer SE instruments were used in a number of well-regarded commercially available audio recordings published on CD, where the performance was recorded on the SE system, but the piano was recorded playing back the performance later in a studio or hall, sometimes on a different instrument. Other audio recordings were produced using converted piano roll recordings from the early 20th century, including a two-disc series entitled 'A Window in Time' featuring performances by Rachmaninoff and produced by Wayne Stahnke.

Thirty-two SE pianos were produced by Bösendorfer between 1984 and 1987, including the 225SE, the 275SE, and the 290SE Imperial model pianos. In the 290 range, this included some 290 to 290SE conversions. One third of the production were 290SE models. Most of these instruments are still in use as of 2024.

The research that went into the SE reproducing system later laid the foundation for the CEUS computerized reproducing piano system, though much of the resulting design was completely different.

Designer models

Bösendorfer produces a limited number of Artisan Models annually, each available for order only during the calendar year in which it was developed. An example of a designer model is the Bösendorfer Swarovski Crystal Grand piano. Three of these special pianos were produced in 2003 in honour of Bösendorfer's 175th anniversary. Each piano's case is encrusted with 8000 crystals and layers of gold.

Three notable architects who have designed Bösendorfer piano models are Theophil Freiherr von Hansen (1866), Josef Hoffmann (1909) and Hans Hollein (1990). There were only two Hans Hollein 225 models produced in 1990; one can be found in the lounge of the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, Florida.