"Through my personal journey as a rebuilder and concert technician I have come to consider Fazioli as arguably the finest pianos in the world today. Paolo Fazioli has taken the piano as an instrument to a new place on the continuum of piano development. He is quite possibly the greatest piano designer since Henry Steinway.

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These pianos are made in extremely small numbers - less than 150 a year. They are truly hand built, and every instrument is personally checked by Paolo before leaving the factory, ensuring that every piano meets his uncompromising standards.

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The tone and touch of Fazioli is distinctive; they are characterised by a very fast, smooth action that allows for the finest control by the pianist, and their tone is exceptionally pure, yet also allows for a huge range of colour and intricate voicing across any repertoire. While offering such refinement and finesse they are also immensely powerful."

Shigeru Kawai is Kawai’s range of hand built premium pianos. They are by far the best value of the few piano brands which qualify as ‘fine pianos’. Shigeru Kawai, along with Steinway and Fazioli, are becoming the standard performance concert pianos offered in international competitions and concert halls.

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The attention to detail in these pianos is impressive. They are built by small teams, all of whom are Master Piano Artisans, which is Kawai’s highest technical qualification. They have a wide and expressive dynamic range with superb control even in the most delicate passages, as well as unusual power and a generous, full bass register.

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There is some interesting common ground with Fazioli, as both brands blend tradition and innovation in their design and manufacturing, such as carbon fibre in section of the mechanism, improving power and speed in the Shigeru Kawai.

"This is one of the oldest existing European manufacturers, and still family owned and managed. It is currently headed by Susan Petrof, great great granddaughter of Antonin Petrof, the original founder. The pianos have been produced in the same factory in the Czech Republic for over one hundred and fifty years.

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I have always valued and admired the Petrof pianos we’ve worked on, and I’ve rebuilt several Petrof concert grands, which were extremely impressive instruments. The quality of those pianos remains very clear in their new instruments. Petrof have a classic European tone character and a precisely articulated touch. They are a very strong contender in the European market for concert venues, professionals, teachers and serious amateur pianists."

It is for good reason Kawai pianos are considered among the best affordable quality instruments available. Kawai used to build a range of instruments, but they now solely focus on building pianos. This single mindedness of purpose translates into truly wonderful instruments.

Although embracing modern production processes, there remains a large amount of handwork involved in the production of each Kawai piano. They have pioneered the use of composite materials in the production of their pianos, most notably the carbon fibre used in the piano actions.

Ian Burgess-Simpson Pianos stock a select number of pre-owned pianos. Typically we only stock pre-owned pianos of high quality reputable brands and specific pianos that are in good condition.