Anton Walter

Anton Walter. Oil painting by Friedrich Gauermann, 1825 (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum) Gabriel Anton Walter (5 February 1752 – 11 April 1826) was a builder of pianos. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes him as "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time". Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert all owned and played on Walter's pianos.

Life Walter was born in Neuhausen auf den Fildern, Germany. His earlier surviving pianos are dated to this year.

Walter's career extended over several decades, and his instruments evolved with the times, with ever heavier construction as the piano began its shift from the lightweight Classical-era norm toward its far heavier modern incarnation, achieved by about 1870. He died in Vienna, aged 74.

Mozart's instrument Mozart's Walter, on display in the main hall of the Tanzmeisterhaus, where the Mozart family lived in Salzburg after 1773. The location (now a Mozart museum) is ahistorical; during his lifetime Mozart kept the instrument in his adopted city of Vienna. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart bought a Walter piano in about 1782, In about 1800 (nine years after Mozart's death), this instrument was apparently considerably modified by the Walter firm. – The Mozart instrument, now kept in the composer's birth home in Salzburg 1789 – Musical Instrument Museum in Poznań, Poland (part of the collection of National Museum in Poznań) – Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (mentioned above in discussion of hand stops). The instrument is veneered in walnut. The museum owns two other pianos by Walter and one by Walter & Son. – Rector's Palace, Dubrovnik – Villa Cicogna Mozzoni, Italy – Richard Burnett Collection, formerly Finchcocks collection, Tunbridge Wells, England. A small portable square piano by Walter & Sohn. Each note has but one string, in contrast to the usual two or three used in most pianos even in Walter's day. The range is C–f3. Kottick and Lucktenberg describe its tone as having a "bell-like quality that never fails to charm." – Musikinstrumenten-Museum, Berlin, Walter & Sohn – Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart. This instrument has a 6½ half octave range, an octave and a half more than the standard (F–f) of Mozart's day. It is decorated with "gilded caryatids and grillework and medallions in brass." 1820–1830 – National Museum, Prague. A six-pedal piano described by Kottick and Lucktenberg as "eye-catching ... an elegant and harmonious example of the finest piano making of the time."

Walter's pianos as models for modern builders

In modern times, fortepianos have been constructed by a number of builders for purposes of historically informed performance of 18th century and early 19th century music. For this purpose Walter's instruments have been important, serving as the model for instruments constructed by Philip Belt, Chris Maene, Paul McNulty, Paul Poletti, and Rodney Regier, among others.

Recordings made with originals and replicas of Walter's pianos

Paul Badura-Skoda. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Works for piano. Played on an Anton Walter 1790 fortepiano. Label: Gramola Paul Badura-Skoda with Musica Florea. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Piano concertos K.271, K.414. Played on a replica of a Walter instrument made by Paul McNulty Malcolm Bilson, John Eliot Gardiner, The English Baroque Soloists. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Piano Concertos Nos. 20&21/ Concertos Pour Piano K. 466 & K.467. Played on a replica of Walter fortepiano by Philip Belt. Label: Archiv Production Kristian Bezuidenhout. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Keyboard Music Vol.2 Played on a replica of a Walter instrument made by Paul McNulty. Robert Levin with the Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Piano Concertos Nos. 15 & 26. Played on Mozart’s own Walter (restored) Andreas Staier. Joseph Haydn. Sonatas and Variations. Played on a replica of a Walter instrument made by Christopher Clarke

Viviana Sofronitsky with Warsaw Chamber Opera Orchestra. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Complete Mozart works for keyboard instrument and orchestra (11 CD box). Played on a replica of a Walter instrument made by Paul McNulty