Coming out of the Steinway house, we headed directly towards the Bösendorfer Salon which is less than 10 minutes walk away. Following the GPS, we arrived at the address. Looking up, we were utterly impressed. Itâs right at the Musikverein building, the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra! We heard later that Bösendorfer Salon has been in this building for over 100 years.
We heard music playing before getting through the door. A guy was playing on one of the pianos, surrounded by a small crowd of people, all smiling and with great interest. It was an unfamiliar piece but catchy. We joined the crowd and listened to him play. When he was done, he moved to another piano to play a tune. The crowd followed him and chatted about what they liked about each piano. The music and the people created an interesting ambience that was very different from the Steinway house. If one compares the Steinway house to a Mercedes dealership, Bösendorfer Salon felt more like a Toyota (or maybe Lexus) shop. 
I chatted with them afterwards. It turned out that one of the people in the crowd was the salon manager. The pianist and two others were professional musicians from Brazil. They met the salon manager at their concert the night before, who then invited them to visit the salon. After the piano testing, they hung out in the shop for a little while when the salon manager talked to them about the history of the salon and about Bösendorfer pianos. We eavesdropped and learned some fun facts. They then headed upstairs to see the concert hall. We were not able to follow them, unfortunately 
.
This was actually the first time that me and my family saw Bösendorfer pianos in real life! With the crowd gone, we were kids back to the candy store again. There were different models of a variety of sizes, and even an antique upright tucked in the corner that seemed to have some historical significance.
I could see that my son was itching to get his hands on the pianos. I sympathized with him. A sales person was nearby. So I asked him if itâs OK for us to try the pianos. He said go for it! What a jackpot for us! We tried a couple of the pianos in the main showroom and one in the back. Then my son played his new go to piece - Rachmaninoff g-minor prelude - on the concert grand. At the end, he concluded that Bösendorfer was superior to Steinway 
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We both liked this special edition the best. The action was smooth and buttery (right word?). We were told that the inside was gold plated. It was priced at a quarter million euros!
Their in-house concert grand. The room was messy at that moment. A piano was sold and the movers were there to pick it up. The movers waited for my son to finish his playing before picking up the rest of the parts.
On the way out, we were in a state of euphoria, feeling like the luckiest people on earth.
cheeeeee If one compares the Steinway house to a Mercedes dealership, Bösendorfer Salon felt more like a Toyota (or maybe Lexus) shop.
Heh... I haven't shopped for a car in a while, what does that mean?
I wanted an Apple Store experience when I went to Steinway, but instead, I had to make an appointment only to get a used car salesman treatment. On the other hand, I absolutely loved the Bösendorfer dealer... it was a great experience and I actually ended up buying my piano there, even if it wasn't a Bösendorfer!
cheeeeee Now that's a candy store!
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Beach L168, Wish, baCh, WOW Petrof, Fake Steinway, VS
TIME
In one place, you feel you are under a watchful eye and you are afraid of touching anything or breaking anything. In another place, you are handed the key to go for it.
cheeeeee I've really enjoyed reading about your experiences in Vienna. The love you have for your son, and the love the two of you have for pianos are beautiful to me. As to the specifics of management attitudes at Bosendorfer vs Steinway, I don't know enough to be sure, but my gut says this is not the same everywhere. I wonder, e.g., if visiting Steinway in Hamburg would be the same. Last, for now, is your comment about the Hamburg D being brighter than NY: again, I wouldn't generalize. I've played Hamburg D's that were not bright and were very nice. I suspect the that it was a matter of prep and taste. How did the action feel to your son vs the pianos at his school? Thanks again for your reminisce.
Pallas Visiting Steinway in Boston is very much as Navindra described. Used car salesman, hard sell.
yep, +1 here as well. in my local Steinway dealer, I went inside. Played a few new Steinways. When that asked me what I thought, I stated I didn't like the tone of those specific ones. His response, "oh! but we can change the tone!" (verbatim). At that point I walked out of the store.
Meanwhile, I went to a Yamaha/Bosendorfer dealer. Played all their pianos for about 3 days straight, with no interruption. Wasn't even looking for a large piano. Ended up getting their Bosendorfer 280VC, which was their nicest one. Received no pressure. Made a decision seamlessly, thanks to their "customers aren't exactly stupid" approach.
cheeeeee We both liked this special edition the best. The action was smooth and buttery (right word?). We were told that the inside was gold plated. It was priced at a quarter million euros!
Amazing, thanks for sharing your experience!
That special edition is the Secession, one of my favorites in the Collector's Editions, a very understated design.
https://www.boesendorfer.com/en/pianos/collectors-item/secession
There's a great video of the production here:
and the full performance by Dora Deliyska here:
I'm so jealous
HeartKeys in my local Steinway dealer, I went inside. Played a few new Steinways. When that asked me what I thought, I stated I didn't like the tone of those specific ones. His response, "oh! but we can change the tone!" (verbatim).
The local Steinway dealer is run by the former manager of the Bösendorfer dealer. He decided to tell me all about how Bösendorfers are not suited for concert halls after learning that I have one, plus lots of other nonsense. I doubt he was saying all that stuff at his old job!
All of the new Steinways in the showroom sounded completely unvoiced and muffled and he said they could be voiced to suit your taste after you bought. The store is in a wealthier area of town and I wonder how many people buy a Steinway for their kid just for the prestige.
twocats The local Steinway dealer is run by the former manager of the Bösendorfer dealer.
As an interesting aside, I've been to three separate piano dealers locally where the person talking to me said they used to be the #1 sales rep for Bosendorfer in the US, and they all had pictures/plaques to show to prove it. As part of their pitch they all told me why they moved on from selling Bosendorfer to X/Y/Z brand, and how they felt that Bosendorfer just couldn't compete because of A/B/C.
No hate, nothing against them or even criticism--learly it didn't really matter to me or affect my purchase decision-- it was just odd and memorable to me how this could be such a common theme. Is there something that explains it (maybe Bosendorfer had a bigger sales network a few decades back and everyone was part of it) or have other folks run into the same thing while piano shopping?
Gombessa continuing the conversation here so that we don't derail the thread
Seeker I've really enjoyed reading about your experiences in Vienna. The love you have for your son, and the love the two of you have for pianos are beautiful to me. As to the specifics of management attitudes at Bosendorfer vs Steinway, I don't know enough to be sure, but my gut says this is not the same everywhere. I wonder, e.g., if visiting Steinway in Hamburg would be the same. Last, for now, is your comment about the Hamburg D being brighter than NY: again, I wouldn't generalize. I've played Hamburg D's that were not bright and were very nice. I suspect the that it was a matter of prep and taste. How did the action feel to your son vs the pianos at his school? Thanks again for your reminisce.
So glad to hear that you enjoyed reading my stories! I agree completely that our different experiences at the Steinway Hall vs the Bösendorfer Salon in Vienna do not necessarily reflect different brand cultures. Back in the States, the Steinway dealerships that we visited - one within 1 hour drive and the other 4 hour drive - were both pretty down to earth, where we were left alone to play whatever we wanted. Between the two concert grands that my son played, the Steinway sounded brighter, but there is no doubt to me that they were both beautiful instruments, just different! Iâll write about the concerts we later went back to attend when I get a chance. My sonâs comments on the pianos were very much holistic, itâs great, thatâs ok, I like this one the best, etc Itâs hard to get anything specific out of him. The ones I tried at Bösendorfer all had amazingly smooth and responsive actions.
Pallas In the 3rd shop, they tossed me the keys and let me play anything. I played the Yamaha CFX concert grand, a vintage Steinway with real ivory keys, and a conservatory Bosendorfer, among others. I bought my acoustic piano from the 3rd store,
This is the winning business model! We have been lucky with our âlocalâ Steinway stores. One store even gave us a free piano floor template.
cheeeeee The ones I tried at Bösendorfer all had amazingly smooth and responsive actions.
I have found them so too. Have you ever played a Shigeru-Kawai, one of the larger ones? They too, IMO, though some find them a bit "heavy", while I find them "buttery", are extraordinarily smooth and responsive.
I agree with this. One of the hallmarks I've found with Bosendorfer actions is that they are all amazingly meticulous in touch, extremely consistent, and beautifully light. It's probably the most consistent brand I've tried yet when it comes to action feel.
I've had a Kawai and have played many, including an SK-EX being prepped for a concert venue. Great actions, and on the whole I'd say they are indeed a little heavier than Bosendorfers, and not at all in a bad way.
The next evening, we went to the Steinway house to attend a concert. We heard about it from the manager during our visit the day before. The concert was free and open to the public. The manager said that sometimes so many people showed up that they couldnât fit everyone in the room. He recommended making a reservation, which was pretty easy to do with the Eventbrite App.
The concert was sponsored by the Lieven Foundation. Each year, Lieven Foundation selects 20 or so highly accomplished young pianists from around the world to spend two summer months in Vienna, where they take masterclasses with some of the best pianists in the world. This sounds such a privilege, living in Vienna for two months and learning from the best! I canât imagine how competitive it must be for the selection process. During the program, the students give recitals every Thursday evening at the Steinway house and every Friday evening at the Bösendorfer salon.
We arrived on time. It was a very hot day. The room was about half full, not crowded, fortunately. The audience seemed to be a mixture of locals and visitors. Four students were scheduled to play at the recital, for the duration of one hour.
Here is the program
The students are in fact all professional pianists. Everyone has won prestigious competitions, and some of them have performed with some of the best orchestras in the world and in some of the most well-known concert halls. The performances were simply outstanding. We were immersed in the music, forgetting ourselves and our exhausting day. We were most impressed with the last pianist, who played with such passion and intricacy at the same time.
Songhyeon Kim playing Schumann DavidsbĂŒndlertĂ€nze
After the recital, people hung out for a while to look around and chat with the pianists. Two Steinway staff members were there. They opened a bottle of champagne and invited everyone to join. I chatted with Yael, the pianist who performed Scriabinâs âblack mass sonata.â She told me that she was from Isreal and that she started learning piano at about age 8. She loved being in the Lieven piano program. When she heard that my son likes to play piano and that he is 16 - he looks like a giant older than his age - she said, âoh, he has many years to practice and to get in the program!â She is 25.
A guy, who looked like a local, was playing the NoĂ© piano. He played a few measures of several pieces to test it out and seemed really enjoying it. He said to a staff member that he might schedule a time to come and play it next week. I encouraged my son to give it a try. Either too tired or intimidated by the professionals, he wasnât so eager this time. 
What a lovely way to spend the evening! We couldnât wait for the concert on Friday.
