Byron Janis, (Letter of Recommendation for Obi Manteufel, December 6, 2020)
“It is my deep pleasure to recommend my long-time friend, Obi Manteufel, and his superlative pianos and handcrafted soundboards.
We first met in Seattle, Washington in the early 1980’s. I was performing a Profkofiev Piano Concerto with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra at the Pantages Theatre in Tacoma. It was my first encounter with Obi Manteufel’s genius at creating concert grands.
The piano was an 1876 ‘Centennial’ Steinway which had been completely reconstructed by Obi Manteufel, with his own soundboard design. It was a revelation to play. The sonority and the color were astounding and inspiring.
After this first meeting, I invited Obi to be my personal home technician in New York City.
Over the years, I have found Obi to be a brilliant craftsman and a superb technician. Obi collected turn-of-the-century concert grands from all over Europe to gain insights into different methods of construction. Obi accompanied me on my last Russian tour to prepare the pianos for my concerts.
In closing, Obi is a talented pianist, and his pianos are extraordinary.
Sincerely,
Byron Janis“Background: "Byron Janis is internationally renowned as one of the world's greatest pianists. He made his orchestral debut at age 15 with Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra and the following year was chosen by Vladimir Horowitz as his first student. At 18, he became the youngest artist ever signed to a contract by RCA Victor Records. Two years later, in 1948, he made his Carnegie Hall debut which was hailed as an unparalleled success. Mr. Janis was the first American artist chosen to participate in the 1960 Cultural Exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union and was hailed on the front page of The New York Times as, “an ambassador in breaking down ‘cold war’ barriers. His many recordings appear on the RCA, Mercury Phillips, EMI, Sony and Universal labels.”
R.M. Campbell, (Seattle Post-Intelligencer Music Critic)
"The latest piano to join the ranks is a gleaming black Steinway, about 100 years old, totally rebuilt by Obie Manteufel of Bainbridge Island. When pianist Vladimir Feltsman arrived in Seattle for this weekend's series of all-Bach concerts, he tried it out and fell in love. Thus, the instrument's debut Friday night at Benaroya Hall. Without a doubt, it is one of the most vivid sounding and remarkable pianos I have ever heard; depth in the lower registers and brilliance in the upper, with impressive tonal balance throughout. "
R.M. Campbell, (on Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto)
"(Ursula) Oppens chose a wonderful piano to use: an 1892 Steinway restored by Obi Manteufel and donated to the symphony this season. The Seattle Symphony has a number of pianos it has been given, but none has the clarity or brilliance of this instrument. For once, the piano could be heard regardless of what the orchestra was doing. She demonstrated not only its depth of tone but evenness of registers. It should be played more often."
Jen Graves, (The News Tribune, quote from Byron Janis)
"Obi is a talented pianist, and his pianos are unbelievable."
Eve Dumovich, (The Tacoma News Tribune)
"Manteufel's soundboard proved so successful that when Andras Schiff arrived at the Pantages to perform with the Seattle Symphony last Sunday, he chose to play the Centennial Steinway rather than the Bosendorfer already in place. The Steinway had been rolled into a concrete workroom. Schiff arrived at 1:45 to try it out. He did not stop playing for forty-five minutes. "The sound is like gold", he said, and decided to use the Steinway for the concert. So, during the concert, half the orchestra had to get up and move, then they brought out the piano."
Roger Downey, (The Seattle Weekly, October 23-29, 1985),
"Piano Man - Obi Manteufel Dreams Of Pushing Piano Designs Beyond Steinway"
Lawrence Kreisman, (The Pacific Northwest Magazine, The Seattle Times, February 15, 2004)
"Work & Play - For a passionate piano man, there's room to have it all"
Lawrence Kreisman, (The Pacific Northwest Magazine, The Seattle Times, February 15, 2004)
A rare speech by Sir András Schiff before playing Obi's 1876 Centennial Steinway Grand in Chicago's Symphony Center Orchestra Hall in 2015.
