Lectures

For several years I have been giving lectures about Bartolomeo Cristofori, about his work at the Medici court in Florence, about Cristofori's instruments and especially about his hammer action. Since I have built the Silbermann piano copy I have enlarged the subject of my lectures to include the influence of Cristofori's invention in Germany and the pianos of Gottfried Silbermann.

Music hall in the Sans-Souci Palace in Potsdam with the Silbermann piano from 1746
Adolph Menzel Flute concert with Frederick the Great in Sanssouci, painting from 1852, National Gallery Berlin
Hammer heads Cristofori piano and combination instrument by Ferrini
the hitchpin construction of the Cristofori pianos
Cristofori harpsichord and piano from 1726, Grassi-Museum Leipzig
the Cristofori piano from 1722 in Rome with details of the action
the ribbing of the Cristofori and the Silbermann piano
Prince Ferdinando de' Medici,, copper plate
Anton Domenico Gabbiani, Prince Ferdinando with his musicians, around 1685, Galleria dell'Accademia

Overview of the presentations, some can be read in PDF format.

„Cristofori and the Medici“, Clavecin en France, Conservatoire National Nizza, April 2011, English (15,50 MB, PDF)

“Bartolomeo Cristofori e Giovanni Ferrini: la nascita del pianoforte e la convivenza con il clavicembalo”, San Colombano. Collezione Tagliavini Bologna, March 2013, Italian (2,8 MB, PDF)

„Bartolomeo Cristofori e la nascita del pianoforte“ Corso Internazionale di Musica Antica, Urbino, July 2013

„Bartolomeo Cristoforis Stoßzungenmechanik in den Hammerflügeln Gottfried Silbermanns“, 20. Silbermann Festival Freiberg 2013, Paper in the clock museum Glashütte

„Die Hammerflügel Bartolomeo Cristoforis und Gottfried Silbermanns – Zwei verschiedene Klangwelten mit der gleichen Mechanik“, 32nd Musical Instrument Symposium, Kloster Michaelstein, November 2013

„Die Erfindung der Hammerklaviermechanik durch Bartolomeo Cristofori und dessen Einfluss auf Gottfried Silbermann“, Musikhochschule Augsburg, November 2013

„I pianoforti di Gottfried Silbermanns, strumenti amati da Federico il Grande, re di Prussia (1712 – 1786)“ Conservatorio di Musica Milano, April 2014, Italian (16,5 MB, PDF)

„The pianos by Bartolomeo Cristofori und Gottfried Silbermann – Two different worlds of sound produced by the same hammer action“ Rencontres harmoniques Lausanne/ Genève, November 2014, English (3 MB, PDF)

„L'invenzione del pianoforte in Italia e Germania - Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655 - 1732) e Gottfried Silbermann (1683 – 1753), Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Valencia, February 2015

"Durch Nachbau altem Klang auf der Spur", paper in occasion of the conference about the restoration of historic pianos Klaviersymposiums from 15th to 16th February 2016 at the museum Städtisches Museum in Brunswick

"The construction of Early string keyboard instruments", Lecture during the Trainig school (organology), organized by E-COST in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam on 14th April 2016

"Antichi Strumenti a tastiera: una grande varietà di forme, materiali e suoni" Lecture on the 15th of October 2016 in the museum San Colombano in Bologna

"I pianoforti di Bartolomeo Cristofori e Gottfried Silbermann - La stessa meccanica a martelletti - Due strumenti diversi - Due suoni diversi" Lecture during the international conference Il cembalo a martelli: da Bartolomeo Cristofori a Giovanni Ferrini from 21st to 22nd of October 2017 in the San Colombano museum in Bologna

„Gli strumenti di Bartolomeo Cristofori – invenzioni di un genio“ Lecture during the Europiano conference on the 21st May 2018 (Conference of the Union of European Piano Tuners and Technicians Associations, Val di Fiemme 20th to 24th May)

"Die Erfindung des Klaviers" Lecture during the festival Flügelschläge on the 10th November 2018 at the church Bühlkirche in Zurich.