the instrument
Why Chopin wanted a Pleyel
The French piano maker behind the instrument in the salon, and what Chopin thought of it.
Reserve seats for the Chopin recital ↗Pleyel in six facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1807, by the composer Ignace Pleyel |
| Chopin's verdict | He judged Pleyel pianos to be non plus ultra |
| A first in the piano | Pleyel introduced the metal frame |
| Chopin's Paris debut | 26 February 1832, in the Pleyel salons at 9 rue Cadet |
| The Salle Pleyel | A hall for three hundred, where he gave a concert most years |
| An original in Warsaw | An 1830 Pleyel used by Chopin is in the Fryderyk Chopin Institute's collection |
A firm founded by a composer
Ignace Pleyel was a composer before he was a manufacturer, and he founded the firm in 1807. His son Camille joined him in 1815, and by 1834 the workshop employed 250 people and made about a thousand pianos a year.
Chopin's verdict
Chopin considered Pleyel pianos non plus ultra, the Latin for nothing beyond. He took the same view when he played in public: his first Paris concert, in 1832, took place in the Pleyel salons, and later he used the Salle Pleyel for his yearly concert.
The metal frame
Pleyel's best-known technical step was building a metal frame into a piano. It was a first, and it set the firm apart from its rivals.
Pleyel in Warsaw
A Pleyel that Chopin used, built in 1830, is now in the collection of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw. In 2009 Pleyel built a replica of it from the original's plans.
The instrument in the salon
The concert house plays its recitals on a historic Pleyel. The organiser describes it as an instrument from the make Chopin considered ideal. Think of it as a historic Pleyel, not as one of Chopin's own.
What to listen for
Contemporaries described Chopin's own playing as concerned with expressive phrasing, rhythmic steadiness and sensitive colouring. A small room is where touch like that is easiest to hear, whichever pianist is at the keys.