Chopin's grand piano discovered in Britain

A grand piano that once belonged to Frederic Chopin has been discovered in a country house in Britain, more than 150 years after the composer's death.The French-made piano, which Chopin shipped to Britain in 1848 and used in his last concert tour, was found in antique collector Alec Cobbe's home by a renowned Chopin scholar, The Times of London reported.

Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger tracked the instrument to Cobbe -- who paid a mere $3,880 for the instrument without knowing its history -- and informed him of its illustrious past owner.The Pleyel piano is now on display at the National Trust house in the county of Surrey, where fans of the Polish-born composer can hear his compositions from the instrument on which he personally played them. Cobbe said the difference is clear to the trained ear as the aged instrument plays such compositions with an unrequited beauty. The pianos of today produce lone, sustaining, liquid notes, whereas with the Pleyel the notes die away much more quickly and this gives a completely different texture to the music, he told the newspaper.

Source: UPI 17 Mar 2007 LONDON