You may recall that my husband, Carl, was the recipient of a Philip Belt fortepiano upon the death of his college piano teacher, Else Geissmar. Then when Carl died, he bequeathed the fortepiano to our friend, Mark Russell, and I bought a small pipe organ.

Now Mark is moving and will have no space for the fortepiano in his new apartment. So yesterday, the fortepiano was moved back to my condo. I have spent the last two days rearranging the furniture in my living room to accommodate this 7’2″ musical instrument!

I received a very nice email message from Malcolm Bilson, perhaps the most famous fortepianist in the world, about the possible sale of this instrument. Just now, as I looked him up in Wikipedia, I found out that he has the same birthday as I do (!) although it is in a different year.

The Wikipedia article states that he “is an American pianist and musicologist specializing in 18th- and 19th-century music. He is the Frederick J. Whiton Professor of Music in Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Bilson is one of the foremost players and teachers of the fortepiano; this is the ancestor of the modern piano and was the instrument used in Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven‘s time.”

His encounter with the fortepiano

“Arguably the key event in Bilson’s career was his first encounter with the fortepiano in 1969, which he narrated to Andrew Willis in a 2006 interview. Interested in historical pianos, he had bought a 19th-century instrument, described to him as a “Mozart piano,” and was referred to Philip Belt, an expert on early pianos, about the possibility of restoring it.

In preparing for this concert, Bilson was startled by the challenges—and opportunities—that playing a fortepiano poses to a traditionally-trained pianist (fortepianos have a far more delicate touch, shallower key dip, lighter framing, and shorter sustain time than modern grands.)

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Malcolm Bilson has played this very fortepiano! He wrote “I had indeed wondered where this fortepiano had eventually got to!” He thinks he played it more than once, and perhaps even in concert!

Here are the pictures of the fortepiano that we inherited from Else Geissmar.

Wow, this fortepiano in Honolulu is even more famous than I thought!