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The classic question......what is your favorite brand of pianos?and what do you own at this time?

I must say my all-time favourite is the remarkable bosendorfer(hence the name )i've played many pianos, but i've particularly enjoyed this one.......however owning one is far from real, i have a poor 9 year old Otto Meister who's having hard time keeping up with all the Liszt

I can't afford a bosendorfer right now, but well, good things come to those who wait i guess

Best piano i've ever played was a bosendorfer imperial grand, just incredible. second best was probably a 7'6" Fazioli which i actually liked better than the 9' Fazioli.

I've played numerous steinways the odd bechstien and petroff, and the above mention pianos were head a shoulders above them

At home i have a 7' Heintzman, and a late 19th century knabe upright.

id love to try a steingraeber or a stuart and sons.

I also had the privelige of playing on a Bosendorfer. It was a 2.75m Schubert Memorial edition. One of my most treasured experiences of my short life.

At the other end of the price spectrum, I played on a Palatino baby grand a while back that got to me in a similar way. I loved its warm, bell-like sound and the touch was really weird, but in a good way. Some new Japanese thing (???).

I played Boesendorfer, Steinway, August Forster, Petrof, Tchaikovsky.. and many others.

I find Boesendorfer really great, but is it me or Steinway is harder to play (the keyboard returns slower)?

Maybe because it offers more possibilities for dinamics control.. I played only 2 steinways this year.

I've played lots of different brands including Bosendorfer, M&H, Schimmel, Petrof, Estonia-- but I always come back to Steinway as my favorite. Bosendorfer second. I recently played a new Steinway D (NY) that was absolutely exquisite-- perfect touch and a gorgeous multicolored sound. If I had the money I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

Sophia

I've played Schimmel, Petrof, Estonia, Steinway (both NY and Hamburg), and a lot of other miscillaneous brands. I currently own (or my parents do...) a Schimmel, which I love, but its not my favorite. Steinway Hamburg would be my favorite - they're amazing pianos - I like them much more than the NY ones. Someday I really want to play a Bosendorfer Imperial..

Fazioli of course, even though i haven't touched one in my life.

my favorite brand of pianos would have to be either blu(e)thner or schimmel. i however am far from being able to own one. right now i play on a kawai ust-12!

Well, then, how would you know that it's your favorite piano? :rolleyes:

I understand the point of the question, but I do believe that it is, in fact, quite impossible to say which "brand" of piano is ones favourite. The more pianos you get to play, the more you begin to realize that even among the same models of the same brand there is so much variance that a definitive answer to the question is impossible.

I've played a couple of new Bösendorfers that I have liked, and I have played a few new Bösendorfers that make me wonder why they aren't selling for half the price they are listed for.

I've played a couple of older Mason & Hamlins that I would love to own; I've played newer ones that I wouldn't be happy to live with if they were (almost) given to me.

Some newer Steinways I've played I've had to fight to get anything out of them and others of varying vintage have practically played themselves for me with a musicality I never thought I could coax from an instrument.

I think that Sophial has the right idea when she singles out one particular Steinway that she would have bought "in a hearbeat," without saying that Steinway is her favourite brand.

So much depends on so many variables; and so much of what you experience playing a piano can be changed - for the better, in my cases - by the work of a good technician. I recently spoke to a technician who is working on a recently purchased, brand new Steinway D in a local venue. When I asked him about it he said: "Well, I think it's going to be a good piano, but it's going to take a couple of years for it to settle, for it to be voiced and regulated, and then I'll be able to give you a more definite opinion." I spoke to a professional who has recently played that instrument who gave me much the same response.

The key is to find the one piano that speaks your language. I have spoken to a few concert artists about piano brands, and have heard which has been a favourite individual piano; I have never heard an experienced, seasoned pianist claim that a particular brand is his/her favourite.

Regards,

Among the best pianos I have played are: Steinway, Petrof, Feurich and... Kawai. Mine is an upright kawai k25 which i really like how it sounds.

Absolutely right.