Hello everyone and congratulations on this very useful forum!
For some time now, I have been managing a B&B located inside a 16th-century villa. In one of the rooms, there is an Erard piano from the second half of the 1800s, certainly later than 1867. The instrument was used by Giuseppe Verdi during his visits to Genoa, as he was a very close friend of the family whose descendants are still the owners of the property. Autograph letters still present in the villa testify that our man was fond of pansoti with walnut sauce!
The piano is in good aesthetic condition, but it has many stuck keys. Only those of the two central octaves are free to play, while those of the low and high octaves do not move: I fear that the wood of the keys has swollen and therefore they are rubbing against each other. Is this possible? Or is there a sort of key lock activated for transport that was never unlocked?
I am attaching some photos of the instrument and the action.
Thank you and best regards.
Davide
