Piano Repairman Of Ayvansaray Mustafa Bardakçi

After Mustafa Bardakçı moved to Istanbul with his family in 1967 from Kastamonu İnebolu, he started to spend all his time among pianos when we started to work at piano gallery his brother-in-law Necati Özgül owns in Şişhane. For years Bardakçı has been curing pianos just like a doctor.

While it was mostly Armenian, Italian and Greek masters who repaired pianos in Istanbul during Mustafa Bardakçı’s apprenticeship, he became a master in a short time and opened his first shop at a young age in the historical Fatih Fener district of Istanbul. Mustafa Bardakçı worked in this shop for years and since 2000 he is repairing pianos in three small shops in Ayvansaray, with a piano and stool painting on the green painted wall whose facades were renovated by Fatih Municipality. For 57 years, skillful hands of Master Mustafa revive pianos with broken strings, broken keys, damaged for various reasons, defying the years.

THREE GENERATIONS ARE IN THIS BUSINESS

Mustafa Bardakçı, who dedicates his life to this business, states that he continues to perform this profession with his children and grandchildren and adds: “If you do your job well, your customer will always find you. We have devoted our life to this work. We have not earned a lot of money in financial terms. But we are making a living. We are trying to keep the artisan culture alive. I try to teach this to my children and the grandchildren that I train. Our job is difficult; it has to be done with love. Getting appreciation pleases us very much.”

PIANOS CAN BE PLAYED FOR OVER 200 YEARS

Mustafa Bardakçı never received any training in music but he has mastered the tuning by memorizing the note pressed by each key and knows each of the thousands of pieces of the piano by name although he cannot play it. Master Mustafa states that they are careful to use natural lacquer and original parts on the pianos that they repair or service. He also adds that pianos are very sensitive musical instruments, but they have a lifespan of over 200 years if they are looked after well without carrying around too much. Master Mustafa says: “A piano should be kept at 18 to 22 degrees at home and must be protected from damp. Frequent use prolongs a piano’s life. Also, a piano that is carried around, even in the same hall, goes out of tune. We carry the pianos that come for repair to the places they would be used, take them up to their places, make the final tuning and deliver them after we feel comfortable. Every time a piano is carried around, it wears out and this shortens its lifespan.”

MASTER MUSTAFA ALSO REPAIRED ABDÜLHAMİD HAN’S PIANO

Bardakçı says piano is the most difficult one among musical instruments and says “The piano is a musical instrument that consists of over 10,000 pieces, with more than 200 nails and wires. It is not made up of three or five strings like the violin or the bağlama. Each key has its own merits and difficulties.” Stating that he also repaired Sultan Abdulhamid Han’s piano, Bardakçı added: “The piano was unusable. We worked on it for a month and now this piano can be used in a concert. After the repair, they gave a certificate of appreciation from the Department of National Palaces.”

I LIVE AND WORK IN FATİH

Stating that it is important for him to have his workplace close to his home, Bardakçı also said the following about the façade renovation project of Fatih Municipality: “Fatih Mayor Ergün Turan is a hardworking person. He came to visit us. He explained the work done. He explained that the façade renovation efforts will continue until Unkapanı. It was nice work. I congratulate Fatih Municipality for this effort.”

Façades Continue to Blossom at Every Step

With the Golden Horn Coast Urban Design project carried out by the Fatih Municipality, the area, including Balat, Ayvansaray, Cibali and Yavuz Sultan Selim Neighborhoods, continues to blossom at every step day by day.

Fatih Municipality continues to renovate façades of the buildings in the area located within the coastal axis of approximately 2.5 kilometers and that have a special importance in terms of the Istanbul silhouette. Every day, a new building is added in the effort that started considering their integration with historical and cultural structure of Fatih. Façade renovation works will continue along the coast axis.