Imperial Bösendorfer
97 key grand piano
The Bösendorfer Model 290 Imperial, or Imperial Bösendorfer (also colloquially known as the 290), is the largest model and flagship piano manufactured by Bösendorfer, at around 290 cm (9 ft 6 in) long, 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) wide, and weighing 552 kg (1,217 lb). It has an eight-octave range from C0 to C8. For 90 years it was the only concert grand piano in the world with 97 keys, until it was joined in 1990 by the instruments of Stuart & Sons of Australia. Music critic Melinda Bargreen has described the Imperial as the ne plus ultra of pianos, while pianist Garrick Ohlsson dubbed it the "Rolls-Royce of pianos".
Extra keys
Bösendorfer built the first Imperial in 1909, following a suggestion by composer Ferruccio Busoni to build a model with an extended range. Busoni sought to extend the range to accommodate his transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach's organ works. In order to emulate the 32 foot registers available on some large organs, he needed the entire octave down to C0. For instance, the final page of Busoni's transcription of Bach's "St. Anne" fugue, BWV 552, contains the notes A♭0 and G0.
The Bösendorfer Imperial features 97 keys: a full eight octaves.
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