In a discussion about the Boesendorfer SE electronic-acoustic
reproducing piano on Usenet/rec.music.makers.piano, the following
highly unlikely message has just appeared:

 "I also heard a figure of about $250K for this piano.  I also
  believe that this sort of piano has been used in some high-profile
  piano competitions, at least in the preliminary rounds, if I'm not
  mistaken.  The artist could enter the contest submitting his/her
  performance via the proprietary data device the Boesendorfer SE
  system uses (I don't know if it's a disc or just what).  The judges
  listen to the performance as played by the automatic player.  If
  anyone knows more about that I'd be interested to hear about it.
  -- Richard"

So would I, with knobs on !

Dan Wilson, London

 [ Editor's note:
 [
 [ Fritz Lachnit, the SE expert at Boesendorfer, Vienna, says that he
 [ also heard the story as a rumor.  Wayne Stahnke recalls hearing the
 [ story too, but he doesn't know from whom or where it arose.  Here's
 [ the version Wayne heard:
 [
 [ For the preliminary round of competition, the pianists all perform
 [ (and record) at the same SE piano in the same recital hall, under the
 [ supervision of the competition staff.  Later, in privacy, the judges
 [ sit in the recital hall and evaluate the performances reproduced by
 [ the SE piano, without the distractions of an audience (nor the
 [ pianist's gyrations).
 [
 [ Fritz says that when it was in production the Model 290 SE Imperial
 [ Concert Grand Boesendorfer (290 cm = 9' 6", 97 keys) sold for about
 [ $150,000.  Jim Turner, the former SE product manager at Kimball, says
 [ that today the smaller Model 225 SE pianos bring over $100K used.
 [
 [ Before production ended a total of 32 Boesendorfer pianos were fitted
 [ with the SE computer-controlled recording and reproducing system.
 [ (SE means "Stahnke Electronics" or "Stahnke Equipped".)
 [
 [ Visit the Boesendorfer SE web site: http://boesendorfer.com/se/
 [
 [ -- Robbie