The History of the Pianoforte: A Documentary in Sound

Now available on DVD, this video gives early music lovers a chance to see and hear remarkable pianoforte performances on instruments ranging from the world's oldest surviving piano to a new Bösendorfer computer grand. The program describes amazing discoveries, for example, that Bach used the pianoforte in public performance much earlier than previously thought. Pianists Paul Badura-Skoda, Malcolm Bilson, Jörg Demus, Gerlinde Otto, Hans Kann, Rudolf Scholz, and others play more than 30 instruments, featuring musical works on pianos concurrent with the period. Simultaneously entertaining, amusing, informative, and artistically gratifying, The History of the Pianoforte is a landmark.