Beautiful, but does it ring true?

Played on by Franz Liszt who gave it a ringing endorsement, a wedding present to Italian Royalty and an object purported to be even containing wood from the Temple of Solomon. What could this possibly be? All of these qualifications relate to the Siena piano-forte, an instrument with an unusual beauty of tone. Re-discovered after World War II, the piano was rebuilt and exhibited. The new owner wrote a book about its travels and tragedies and took advantage of the post war LP boom by having different soloists record with the heavily ornate instrument.



Whatever the pedigree of this piano, it has a fascinating sound that reminded Liszt of the Harp of King David. Hear history, centuries in the making on the Piano, this Sunday afternoon at 5 on KPAC and KTXI.

host, Randy Anderson