Sensation in La Roque d’Anthéron
"An instrument with surprising variety"
The International Piano Festival in La Roque d'Anthéron, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2010, is the largest piano festival in Europe. For example, in 2010 around 85,850 visitors came to almost 100 concerts. It is also the only piano festival in which pianists, who play on the big open-air stage, can select a grand piano from among many instruments of different high-quality brands in the morning.
Director of the festival, René Martin, and Denijs de Winter, one of the best concert technicians in the world, speak in this piece from 2009 about the great successes of the C. Bechstein concert grand piano at the International Piano Festival in La Roqued'Anthéron. René Martin: "This year a incredible thing occurred: Bechstein lent us a grand piano, a new model, an instrument with an amazing variety and absolutely astonishing sonority. It recalled the sound ideal of the 1920s, 1930s ... Every morning, when the pianists chose their grand pianos, the Bechstein was on the stage. You have the choice between Bechstein, Bösendorfer and Steinway. This year Bechstein was chosen half the time. ... It's fantastic."
