Xi'an Evening News: European piano making master tells the "Artisan Spirit" in Xi'an
2019-06-05
This article was reprinted from the Xi'an Evening News on June 5, 2019, the original title "An European piano maker tells the "artisan spirit" in Xi'an", author Zhi Yin
Mr. Peter Veletzky from Austria and his ancestors are masters of European piano making. After two world wars, they still inherit their skills through tenacious will. Yesterday, Mr. Peter Veletzky came to Xi'an and told the reporter at the appreciation concert hosted by the Xi'an Piano Association about the legendary story of piano manufacturing skills for more than a hundred years.
Peter Veletzky’s great-grandfather Stefan Lung was born in 1876, and he began his family-made piano career since he was 14 years old. With outstanding talent and exquisite skills, in 1910, together with another piano maker, Mr. Wendl, opened a piano factory in Vienna, named Wendl&Lung, and created the centennial career of Wendl&Lung pianos.
The second generation is the grandmother Stefanie, she is a legendary woman. Peter Veletzky told the reporter that after his grandmother was born in 1912, as the only one-child girl in her family, she began to study hard skills since she was a child, and eventually became the first woman to receive a European piano master certificate during World War II. In that era, few women could achieve such an achievement.
After the outbreak of "World War II", the grandfather joined the army and only returned to his hometown in the middle. In 1944, he died in the battlefield. In 1945, his great-grandfather died. A series of blows did not knock down his grandmother. She was alone with her 11-year-old son and her newborn son, who struggled to maintain the factory operation. She also won the certificate of the European piano master. "She is a very powerful and outstanding female. Under her guidance, my father also became the master of European piano making and the chairman of the Austrian Piano Manufacturers Association."
In 1974, 14-year-old Peter Veletzky entered the factory to learn piano manufacturing. The teacher of enlightenment is his grandmother. After eight years of hard work, he repaired thousands of pianos from different countries and different eras. He mastered the core technology of making piano. At the age of 22, he won the title of European piano master. A four-generation piano master is a spur and a glory.
Peter Veletzky believes: "The development of science and technology in the new era is advancing by leaps and bounds. In my generation, the inheritance of piano manufacturing skills is no longer family-style, but open the door to the world. Our team of technicians are German, Japanese, Chinese and American people. For example, the most important part of an upright piano was invented by a Japanese expert."
For nearly 40 years, Peter Veletzky’s team has also been dedicated to imparting piano craftsmanship to Chinese piano technicians, helping China to make its own national brand piano, and letting ancient art from Austria open in China.