We are excited to announce that Ian Burgess-Simpson Pianos (IBSP) has been appointed the first and sole distributor of Fazioli pianos in South Africa. After a thorough review of South African piano dealers, the Fazioli team agreed that IBSP is uniquely placed in the South African market to represent the brand owing to our technical, logistical and commercial expertise acquired over more than twenty years. We are thrilled to bring this superb brand to South Africa, a brand which while internationally renowned, has a ghost like reputation due to the lack of local instruments in circulation. This is set to change!
Ian had the following to say about the Fazioli agency agreement: “Fazioli has been on my list of brands to represent for a number of years and so when the opportunity arose to formally become the Fazioli South African agent I couldn’t have been happier. Having spent time in the Fazioli factory in Sacile, Italy, and their superb showroom in Milan and having now spent time getting to know the pianos intimately I can confess that it’s the piano I want in my living room.
I can understand why so many up and coming pianists have chosen Fazioli as their performance piano because it brings an entirely new set of possibilities to the performer. The attention to detail, the build quality, the materials used, and the loving care taken during each piano’s construction is without equal in the industry. The sound has a golden quality and combines a huge colour range with exquisite purity in a way no other manufacturer has achieved. It’s wonderful that the local market can now more easily access these incredible instruments and I’m proud that we have been chosen to play a part in what I foresee as the most significant event in South Africa’s piano history.”
Fazioli began life in 1978, when musician and engineer Paolo Fazioli of Rome, Italy, began designing and building pianos, with the object of making the finest-quality instruments possible. Now even the most famous piano makers of Western Europe are recognizing his accomplishment, and artists throughout the world are using the instruments successfully on the concert stage and elsewhere. And more importantly, amateur musicians increasingly realise that they can acquire and enjoy one of these rare instruments.
Fazioli builds only grands, about 140 per year, in six sizes from a baby grand of 156cm through to concert pianos of over 3m in length. The F308 concert piano is one of the largest pianos in the world, with the further distinction of having four pedals. Three are the usual sustain, sostenuto, and una corda. The fourth is a “soft” pedal that brings the hammers closer to the strings — similar to the function in uprights and some older grands — to soften the sound without altering the tonal quality, as the una corda often does. A unique compensating device corrects for the action irregularity that would otherwise occur when the hammers are moved in this manner.
The company says that a critical factor in the sound of these pianos is the painstaking selection of its woods, such as the “resonant spruce” obtained from the Val di Fiemme, the wood that Stradivari reportedly used for his violins. Each piece of wood is carefully tested for certain resonant properties before being used in the pianos. Similarly, three different types of wood are used for the bridge caps, each chosen for the most efficient transmission of tonal energy for a particular register.
An incredible level of detail has gone into the design and construction of these pianos. For instance, in one small portion of the soundboard where additional stiffness is required, the grain of the wood runs perpendicular to that of the rest of the soundboard, cleverly disguised so as to be almost unnoticeable. The pianos are impeccably prepared at the factory, including very fine voicing — even perfect tuning of the duplex scales.
A series of stunning art-case pianos is a testament to the ability of the Fazioli artisans to execute virtually any custom-ordered artistic variation on the six Fazioli models.
Many artists, and others most familiar with Fazioli pianos, describe them as sources of inspiration with a wide color palette and dynamic range, and combining great power with great warmth in a way that causes music played on them to “make sense” in a way made possible by few other pianos.
If you would like to experience one of these magnificent pianos, please call or visit our showroom or give us a call on 021 788 9389 in Cape Town or 011 234 7555 in Johannesburg.