It is the last place you would expect to see one, but when you consider it was once nearly turned into a fancy children’s sandpit, it is clear "the old girl" is robust and still has a lot of life left in her.
On Saturday, it was carefully placed in the newly refurbished part of George St, between Moray Pl and St Andrew St, and played by a handful of prominent Dunedin pianists to raise money for the Hawke’s Bay Flood Relief Fund.
The German-built instrument was found in an old barn in Pokeno in the Waikato in the late 1950s, minus its legs.
It was bought by a man for £10 because he liked the shape of it and thought it would make a great sandpit for his children.
When he opened the lid and saw the brass-bronze Ibach medallion inside it, he realised it was special.
It was recently restored in Dunedin by Alexander Pianos owner and repairer Adrian Mann, who spent about 800 hours working on it.
He said Ibach pianos were high quality and were used in some of Europe’s top concert halls. They were also a rarity outside Europe.
"You wouldn’t normally find a piano like this in the street, but this particular piano is well-used to travelling.
"It’s been played on top of a mountain — we’ve done all sorts of things with it now.
"It was made back in 1886 and they made things so well back then.
"It’s a pretty solid instrument.
"It’s had a couple of lives now, so it’s well used to it."
