"It is the greatest achievement in piano making since the invention of the fortepiano"
Wilhelm Backhaus
The History of the Emanuel Moór Keyboard, 1978
"I do not hesitate for a moment to say what a strong impression the Moór grand piano has made on me. It is not only the richness of sound, never thought possible, which is created by the coupling and the octavations, but it is above all the stimulus for the creation of new piano literature in combination with the technical innovations that has made the greatest impression on me."
Bruno Walter
The History of the Emanuel Moór Keyboard, 1978
In the middle of his life, Emanuel Moór stopped composing and became an inventor. He had a vision to expand the piano sound and create new ways of playing the piano. He developed the Duplex Coupler Grand Piano. Pleyel, Bechstein, Steinway, Bösendorfer: they all built this piano and saw potential in it. Today, there are only a few playable examples left.
Moór's second wife, Winifred Christie, toured the world as a soloist, playing a two-manual Moór grand piano. For example, in November 1927 she played Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and the Chopin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic under Bruno Walter in Berlin. In December she performed in Paris and on 8 January 1928 she played the two-manual piano in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic, again conducted by Bruno Walter. She performed under Willem Mengelberg at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Winifred Christie made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1930 with the Moór grand piano.
Alfred Cortot established a piano class for this instrument in Paris. Werner von Siemens had a Moór grand piano built by Steinway, which was then played in the concert hall of his villa in Berlin.
The project "The Duplex Coupler Grand Piano" delves into an exciting chapter of music history. And the most important personalities of the time play a role in it.
