For the Brussels World’s Exhibition of 1958, a number of Austrian design teams were invited to submit new and unique renderings of familiar domestic forms. At this time, young architect Jürgen Felsenstein—who had always had a special affinity for music and the piano in particular—submitted a design to Bösendorfer which affirmed the necessity of innovation alongside the supreme importance of highly refined craftsmanship.

What has since come to be called the Bosendorfer “Brussels” presents its first radical structural departure to the eye in the placement of the legs of two legs to the aft of the piano, while a single Y-Form leg, encompassing the pedal mechanism, cradles the front underside of the instrument. The top of the piano too, employs unexpected lines and hinges, and actually comes forward in the front to secure itself over the keyboard, thus eliminating the traditional fallboard!

So too was the original color scheme of the Brussels piano as employed by Felsenstein a confrontation with the modern. It emphasizes in its own structure the beautiful contrast between the solid-toned case and the backdrop of mahogany furniture as reflected in the finely-veneered space around the keyboard.

In several instances history has furnished us with a “new take” on the piano. Rarely however, has a re-conceptualization ever resulted in such an elegant form as in the Bösendorfer “Brussels” piano.