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Last night I attended Pollini's piano recital. The concert was excellent but I wonder a bit about the Steinway they used in the concert. It was a Steinway D. On the side of the piano was the usual Steinway and Son logo but below it, there is a word that I could not read, may be Fabaccini, Fabrioni or something like that. It was a lot more visible than the Steinway logo. From afar, I eventhought initially that the piano was a Fazioli but when I got closer to the stage, I could see the Steinway logo clearly.
I have to say that it was the most beautiful sounding Steinway I ever heard, very rich, velvety and a little darkish and incredibly powerful. I heard many other Steinway D in other concert halls but the sound of this Steinway really stood out. I am sure partially it is the hall as well. Anyhow, I wonder if anyone know if this is a regular Steinway D or if it is may be one of the special Steinway edition or whatever.
The recital was at Grosses Festspielhaus at Salzburg.

I read somewhere that Pollini plays a customized Steinway. I think the name on the piano is the name of the person that modified his piano.

JW

Angelo Fabbrini does specialized work on Hamburg Steinways and Pollini is probably his most prominent customer. I too heard this piano at a Pollini concert last year and it is spectacular. I can only imagine the quality of the action as well.

See: http://h1.ath.cx/aevo/fabbrini/hp/info.php

Thanks for the information. The picture and the signature on the side of the piano is exactly as I saw a few nights ago! I wonder how much extra cost it would add to the Steinway D and if other tech would be able to provide the service afterward or if Mr. Fabbrini has to do all the services himself. It was a spectacular sounding piano. While I have not heard most other manufacturer's concert grand piano, this was definitely the nicest sounding concert grand piano in a concert hall venue I have ever heard.

Also I wonder what is Steinway's stand on post production modification? I assume that Mr. Pollini is then not considered a Steinway artist since he brings his own piano and does not use one that Steinway usually provides through its artist program.