Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Fazioli and Steinway - side by side

I just thought I'd like to share this pic with you. It's a Fazioli 278 and a Steinway D in our new concert hall here in Jakobstad, Finland.



They are both stunning grands, but very different. The Fazioli has a really low iH, so it needs to be tuned with a very different approach than the D. Soundwise, the Steinway D is round and full, the Fazioli crisp, projecting and powerful, with a really long sustain that seems to go on forever.

The Fazioli, as some of you might know, has a patented fourth pedal that acts pretty much the same way as the left pedal in an upright. It shifts the hammers closer to the strings, but naturally takes advantage of gravity, a real edge grands have over uprights.

One can also tune the duplex area by moving small aluminum blocks under the strings. This is said to be one explanation to the outstanding sustain of the instrument.

Given the choice between the grands, the concert pianists visiting the hall have favored the Steinway to the Fazioli roughly 2 times out of 3.

It is a true pleasure to care for these two pianos!

Hi Patrick,

I hope you don't mind that I linked this thread from the Piano Forum. It is just too tempting to pass.

Thanks for posting the photo!

Patrick--

That is like showing a thirsty man a glass of cool water!!! Recordings?!?!

(Good to hear from you Patrick! It's been awhile!)

No, I don't mind at all, just go ahead and link it as much as you want!

Hi Andy,

Yes, I really really hope that this year (now that we are past all kinds of inauguration ceremonies for our brand new campus over here) I will be able to return to my normal role here - participating, and learning. I miss you folks!

Without doubt I will post some recorded examples in the feature!

Both are wonderful instruments. Arguably the top two produced in Europe today. The Fazioli sustain is an awesome experience. Not surprising about the 2 out of 3 choice. Look forward to recordings. Thanks for posting.

That would be quite an argument about superlatives.

Indeed it would. And has. And shall forever be. Especially here.

Both great pianos. But for me Steinway is still just a little step forward from Fazioli. It has a little bit more "faces" , still, I like the way Fazioli can be controlled, it has a very big tonal palette but Steinway in my opinion offers more colors, difficult to say, they are just both great!

I did find the sound projection of Fazioli not so good, mostly as if the tone goes straight to the ceiling, not in circles as with higher iH pianos

I seem to understand that the duplexes are not tuned to the ih of the wire, but to the theoretical ih of the note (using only the zero strech pitch)

as the stretch is almost nil that may not make a real difference anyway

Fazioli has a huge dinamic range, it is very hard to get to the saturation point, but you are right, the sound is projected somehow straight, but it has a much much more tonal variety from Yamaha, steinway on the other side has more shadows between colors, it offers more tonal mixtures, I dont know how to explain it, but I equally enjoy playing both of them.

Time for me to play dumb, what's iH?

Also, where's the photo?

It's not working on my computer either.

iH stands for inharmonicity, which is the deviation of the partials from their theoretical frequencies. This is why pianos need to be "stretched" sharper in the high treble.

Steve, patH - i uploaded the pic to the PW gallery instead. Can you see it now?

Fazioli 278 and Steinway D look a little bit different from below.

Will you be posting some recordings, Pat?

Yes, I can see it. Beautiful sight indeed.

Yes, Ian, I plan to. We have a festival coming up next week, so I'll try to record something shortly after that!

Hi Patrick,

Enjoyed your post about these 2 great pianos.

Last year, I attended a concert in one of the premier Piano stores in NYC. While I was waiting to go into the concert, I struck up a conversation with one of the tuners the store uses, and who was on call that night to tune the piano being used. I commented on the large Fazioli grand on the floor that was for sale. His view about it was neutral, and it was not his favorite sounding piano, he preferred Steinway. It goes to show you how subjective this subject is.

Look forward to hearing both, and what type of tuning you use for them. All the best, GP

Quite something to see those two together.

It may be fair to say that concert grand pianos are more encountered via recordings than they are live in the concert hall.

I have wanted to love Fazioli but in various CD recordings I have, I find a coolness, and I can't love them more than, or maybe as much as, a good Steinway D.

I heard Angela Hewitt live playing Book One of Bach's 48 Preludes and Fugues, quite near the piano in good seats. I wouldn't say that in that recital the piano was cold or uninteresting. I don't know what it is about recordings.

I am extremely impressed by the sound on the Shigeru Kawai EX10 concert grand in Earl Wild's later CDs. Warm and velvety and beautiful.