tuning an old piano

I have bought an old Wagner piano probably made in London according to a reliable source. After getting it home I had it tuned by a local piano tuner. However I think it has already gone slightly out of tune. I was charged £40 for the tuning as it hasn't been tuned for approximately fifty years according to my friend who I bought the piano from. My reliable source said the piano has been seriously underplayed and despite lots of dust it is a very sound piano with solid tuning pegs e.t.c.

Should I ask the piano tuner to come back to tune it again. To be honest I don't want to have to part with cash again so early after the first tuning. Also the A above middle C is tuned to G according to my electronic tuner. I have heard that old pianos cannot be tuned to concert pitch as strings can break easily. Is this correct?

Any advice please

If it hasn't been tuned in 50 years, you will be lucky if it starts to hold a tuning after 3 or 4 tunings. It's unreasonable to expect 1 tuning in 50 years to stabilize the piano. It's not the tuner's fault. The fault is lack of maintenance.

Pianos that are in particulary bad shape or extrememly old may break some strings if you try to bring them up to concert pitch.

The pitch you describe is a piano one full tone flat.This is horrendous, but again, indicative of owner neglect. If it's a 20th century piano in decent condition, it ought to be able to be brought up to pitch. But someone has to be willing to pay for the work to do it, and the follow up tunings needed to stabilize it.

Rick Clark