Rodney Corkin wrote:

>Beethoven had a preference for instruments by Streicher as late as the
>1820's. He stated his dissatisfaction with both of his heavy English
>actioned pianos - the Erard, and even the much vaunted Broadwood which,
>he said, did not meet his expectations of it (despite his love of it as
>a gift).

Yes and no.  His utterances about the Broadwood are very contradictory.
Sometimes he really seems to have loved it, though he couldn't hear it,
but sometimes he seemed to have been dissatisfied, as can be seen from
the conversation books and the various testimonies of visitors.

>But Streicher pianos are few and far between these days, whereas there
>are quite a few Grafs still around, which are most beautiful sounding
>instruments.  The Graf is the one piano I would choose for Beethoven, I
>no-longer even consider modern pianos.

Chacun a son gout.  I've heard the Graf present in the Beethoven-Haus in
Bonn and I was not at all impressed.  Yet it is, they say, exactly the same
as Beethoven's (also in the Beethoven-Haus, but not used for performances).

Best,
Joyce Maier