Pleyel

Biography

Pleyel is named among a group of virtuosos—including Clementi, Cramer, Kalkbrenner and Herz—who took such intense interest in the development of the piano that they invested money earned on the concert platform into piano factories, taking an active part in constructing instruments to suit their own artistic desires. A concert hall bearing his name, the Salle Pleyel, was among those erected in Paris specifically to give virtuosi and pianos favorable acoustic conditions in which to be heard, alongside the Salles Erard and Herz. In the author's concluding remarks on the personalities behind the piano industry's founding firms, Pleyel is named as having been an intimate friend of Broadwood, the pair having 'made front against Erard.' The anecdote is offered as an illustration of the strong personal loyalties and rivalries among the industry's leading figures, alongside a parallel mention of Chickering's opposition to Steinway over the overstrung scale. No further biographical detail is given in this passage. Pleyel is named as the maker of the piano favored by Frédéric Chopin, who is described as having a personal friendship with him. Dolge states that Chopin's admiration for the Pleyel piano and his friendship with its maker controlled his choices to the extent that he would refuse to play any other instrument if a Pleyel was available. No further biographical information, dates, or details of Pleyel's career are given in this excerpt beyond his connection to Chopin.

Highlights

• Personal friend of Frédéric Chopin
• Maker of the piano Chopin preferred above all others
• Named among a group of virtuosos who invested concert earnings into piano factories and took an active part in constructing instruments to suit their own artistic desires.
• A concert hall, the Salle Pleyel, was among those erected in Paris to give virtuosi and pianos favorable acoustic conditions.
• Described as an intimate friend of Broadwood.
• Allied with Broadwood in opposition to Erard.

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 398.

Public domain.