MODARTT releases Conrad Graf and Johann Schantz add-ons for Pianoteq

MODARTT has released two new add-ons for use with Pianoteq: a Conrad Graf (1826) and a Johann Schantz (1790), two pianoforte built in Vienna. They complement the two other pianoforte already available: a Donat Schöffstoss (1812) and a Johann Evangelist Schmidt (1790). These four pianoforte represent the important period of piano music around 1800, and are located in Kremsegg Schloss museum, Kremsmünster, Austria, and Handelhaus museum, Halle, Germany.

These add-ons are offered for free for use with Pianoteq. They are created in the frame of the non profit cultural project KIViR (Keyboard Instrument Virtual Restoration) which concerns historic keyboard instruments museums.

With the will of conservation and safeguarding of original instrument manufacturing, particularly if it has a great historic value, pianoforte can often not be played by the public visiting a museum: they are too fragile or not completely restored.

One objective of this project is to make it possible for the public to access these instruments through virtual copies obtained with Pianoteq technology. This is achieved by installing in museums sound devices allowing the public to play these virtual copies on a digital keyboard, standing for example near the original instrument. Another objective of this project is to perform digital restoration of historic keyboard instruments, bringing them back to live without changing their original state.

On a long-term basis, MODARTT aims to build an important collection of digital copies of historic instruments from all parts of the world, serving as maintainable testimony of the past.