MUSIC

Ludwig’s Favorite 88s: Beethoven’s favorite piano, said to be the world’s most valuable musical instrument, will return to England next week to be used in a series of charity concerts. The English-made piano, given to the composer in 1818 by Thomas Broadwood, son of the founder of the firm that made it, has been insured for $8.8 million for the six weeks it will be away from the National Museum of Hungary. The meticulously restored piano, described by a contemporary Viennese arts journal as “possibly the most perfect grand pianoforte ever constructed,” will be played in concerts in London and Bath before being returned to Budapest. After Beethoven’s death, the piano was bought for Liszt, who bequeathed it to the Budapest museum.