[Theoretically] What would you do with a piano like this?

A friend of mine sent me this picture and I got virtually electrocuted at rubbing my eyes, processing what I saw there. So, clearly a Steinway. But where on earth does this capo d'astro bar start? Roughly 1.5 octaves below from what we know of today's Steinway grands. And given the struts' dimensions this must be a concert grand.

But not a D as we know it today.

The Kehl/Kirkland bible gave the crucial bit of information: Between 1884 and 1892 there was a series of concert grands, actually named "D" that matched the details of this piano, which, in a nutshell, had two distinct differences to the 1892 model, which is what today is considered the 'modern' D, with some minor adaptations over the years.

I own an 1886 Steinway B and just love it, so this thing really got my attention. I won't go into details, but it took me a mere two years of chasing ownership changes to finally track down the guy who actually bought this piano - and was willing to sell it to me.

I bought it and sent it to a German, basically a manically obsessed piano restoration expert, who finished this beauty and retained all of its original substance (https://www.youtube.com/@Klavieratelier).

There are only very few new components in this piano:

• A full set of Heller bass strings
• A full set of Röslau blank wire strings
• Corresponding pins
• Carefully shimmed soundboard, sealed with historically correct varnish

That's it. No new soundboard, action, polyester coating, brass wheels, heavier hammers full of lacquer. new dampers, new action geometry with differently shaped back checks etc.

To cut a long story short: This is most likely the one and only remaining model of this production line in its original state (that I know of) - and given its peculiarities i.e. extended capo bar and front duplex scale, plus the bridge pins at an angle not straight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgecQ1uytSA) [1] it's a piano that is completely unique.

Here's a short walkthrough to show what this is all about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J4K-t9vCD8

It has only arrived in my studio location this morning, so all I can show you is stills, because as a next step I had to tune it. I'll add some audio/video-footage in the next days. What I can say is that already one pianist has committed to playing it in a major recital here in Vienna and it is my hope that more will follow and also request studio time with this beauty for recordings.

One more thing: While I am in the process of establishing a piano related business, this beauty is in my private ownership. When contractually necessary, I'll lend it out out to the company.

But this is my piano and that's it.

OK, so I really want to hear what crazy stuff you would plan and do with a piano like that that is so distinctly different from a modern Steinway D?

[1] Please watch this.