It all started when Daniel Hope contacted C. Bechstein about the series Hope@Home, co-produced by the WDR and ZDF/Arte channels for the Arte Concert program. For the series, launched in the spring of 2020 during the first lockdown, the violinist invited musicians to play in his private music room, firing millions of TV viewers the world over with enthusiasm and helping to give them… hope. With view to the second season entitled Next Generation, Daniel Hope chose a C. Bechstein B 212 grand piano, whose warm voice perfectly matches the sound of his Guarneri. The star violinist invites mainly young talents, some of them performing with experienced musicians such as Till Brönner, Kirill Gerstein, Thomas Hampson or Sarah Willis. Among the young musicians featured in the forty-nine episodes of the series, some had recently graduated from the famous Kronberg Academy, while others — including Marie Sophie Hauzel and Ron Maxim Huang — received fellowships from the Carl Bechstein Foundation.
At the beginning of 2021, the series was continued by arte and WDR under the motto "Europe@Hope". Daniel Hope dedicates 27 evenings each to a different European country. He is accompanied by guests who play the music of their homeland together with him. Classical compositions, typical musical idiosyncrasies of the countries, traditional folk tunes as well as contemporary pieces of all genres conjure up Europe in times of cultural lockdown in Hope's Berlin living room.
The various pianists and Daniel Hope so greatly appreciated the C. Bechstein piano used in most of the concerts that Hope decided to keep the instrument in his music room, stating:
“I love my Bechstein. Its warm voice is a revelation. It’s like we have already become old friends.”
photo © Daniel Waldecker
