8/10/2019 Fazioli Pianos

1/1

The Globe and Mail, Saturday,May 3, 2008 A

. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .

I

ll l

l

l l l l

ll l l

ll

l

l ll

ll

l l

l

l

I .

l

When concert pianist IanParker tried out one ofthe Fazioli pianos now

available for sale in Vancouver,

his hometown, he was im-pressed. The sound was beauti-ful and articulate, he says, andhe admired the flash of thehigh-end, handcrafted instru-ment. But when his positivecomments about the experi-ence surfaced as a marketingtool for Fazioli, things got a lit-tle complicated.

Parker is a Steinway artist.And just as you wouldnt ex-pect Tiger Woods to sport anAdidas ball cap, or George Fore-man to extol the virtues ofWeber barbecues, when Stein-

way & Sons saw Parkers com-ments employed by thecompetition, they balked.

You might not know it frompolite recital etiquette, but thepiano industry is fiercely politi-cal. And its becoming more so

as the Italian grand-pianomanufacturer Fazioli is perceiv-ed by some to be giving Stein-

way a run for its moneyproducing the piano of choicefor the concert stage and theliving room. The race has new-ly arrived in Canada, where inrecent months, Faziolis havebecome available for sale in theVancouver and Toronto areas,setting the stage for a cacopho-nous round of duelling pianos.

Obviously, pianos like theFazioli and cars like the Ferrariare something that I want totry, Parker said recently fromNew York, where he now lives.But at the end of the day, I

want to drive a Steinway.Parker and Steinway quickly

mended their fences, but notall artists have remained so loy-al to the concert pianos on

which they grew up. Jazz leg-end Herbie Hancock andfamed Canadian pianists Ange-la Hewitt and Louis Lortie areamong those who have jumpedship to Fazioli. That decisioncomes with a price, say someartists including beingdropped from the prestigiousSteinway artist list but theyare adamantthey choose theinstrument with which theymake music.

Its like telling a violinistyoure going to play on this in-strument, or telling a singer

youre going to use this micro-phone tonight, says Lortie.Its ones own voice in a wayand if I want to come in witha Yamaha or a Kawai, I shouldbe allowed to do so.

Fazioli believers speak of the

pianos in reverential terms,bordering on cultish.

This is like the Stradivarius.These are so incredibly rareand so beautiful that when anartist sits down at them, they

just melt, says Alan Merriam,whose Oakville, Ont., store be-gan selling Faziolis last year.

Every well-known pianist intown has been in here to playon these, and theres just sucha buzz about them, says Man-uel Bernaschek, the enthusias-tic Vancouver dealer who usedParkers comments to try to sellhis pianos, and who recentlystaged a media event that in-

volved bringing in a 14-year-oldprodigy to play a Fazioli. At hisnewly opened Showcase Pian-os, business is good: Bernas-chek had projected he wouldsell one piano in his first fourmonths. Just over six months

later, he has sold five.As much as pianists might

rave about the action, the artic-ulation and the fine craftsman-ship including hinges platedin 18-karat gold for mostplayers, Faziolis are an inacces-sible dream. In Canada, theysell for between $75,000 and$400,000. (Steinway grandsstart at just under $50,000.)

I think its the price to payfor something a little more ex-

clusive, says Lortie, who has aFazioli at his home in the Lau-rentians. Does anybody find itnot normal to pay a little bit[more] for a Ferrari?

Even at that price, Fazioli fanssay its rise is reaching a criticalstage. I believe that Fazioli willbe the leader within the nextthree to five years, says Mer-riam. Its really a question offollow-the-leader, and as moreand more great pianists choosethe Fazioli, more and morepeople that want the verybest will only choose a Fazio-li now.

EXCLUSIVITY VS. FLEXIBILITY

Fazioli pianos are handcraftedin Italy, using wood from Val diFiemme, the same valley whereAntonio Stradivari collected

the spruce for his violins. Thecompany, established in 1981, isfamily-run, with about 40 em-ployees. They make 120 pianosannually, each taking abouttwo years to complete.

Established in 1853, Steinway& Sons produces pianos in twolocations: New York and Ham-burg, Germany. While therehas been some criticism of theNew York Steinway in recent

years (inconsistency is a chargethat comes up repeatedly),Steinway is unquestionably theleader for both the high-endhome market and the profes-sional circuit, with nearly 1,500musicians listed as Steinwayartists, ranging from Billy Joelto Diana Krall to Lang Lang.

Steinway artists are pianistswho choose to play the Stein-way piano exclusively, bothpersonally and professionally,

according to Peter Goodrich,vice-president, concert and art-ist activities, with Steinway &Sons. The affiliation is not acontract, but an agreementthrough which we will providethe artist with the services ofour concert-and-artist programin exchange for using the art-ists name in our publicity andpromotional activity.

Steinway artists have accessto the pianos virtually any-

where they play (there aremore than 300 Steinway pianosin North America alone for thispurpose). There are also com-plimentary practice facilities,and sometimes artists can havea piano shipped to their hotelroom. All that has to be cov-ered is local shipping and tun-ing costs, and out-of-pocketexpenses.

Anyone choosing to go with aFazioli, though, has to find oneof the rare pianos (if possible),and get it to the concert hall. Asa result, pianists spend time es-tablishing relationships withdealers and private ownersaround the world so that theycan arrange to use the pianoshould they be in town.

Fazioli does not engage incontractual endorsements, ac-

cording to a company spokes-person.

For a concert pianist whosengaging in a serious career,theres a trade-off to be made,says Larry Fine, author of ThePiano Book, the definitiveguide for consumers looking topurchase a piano. Do they

want to have the guarantee ofat least a reasonably good pi-ano available anywhere inthe world, plus a little prestigefrom being named a Steinwayartist? Or do they prefer to havethe flexibility of playing any pi-ano they want?

HANCOCK VS. THE PROMOTERS

Hancock insists on playing aFazioli even if its not always

what concert promoters want.When he opens the VancouverInternational Jazz Festival this

June, he will be playing a Fazio-

li, even though the festival isco-sponsored by a local Stein-

way dealership.He also insisted on playing a

Fazioli at last years TorontoJazz Festival, which is co-spon-sored by Yamaha. For weeks,the festival went back and forth

with Hancocks people, nego-tiating. We did offer him first a Yamaha, then a Bosen-dorfer [which is owned by Ya-maha], then a Steinway and

finally we had to source a Fa-zioli, says the festivals execu-tive director, Patrick Taylor.

We wont let sponsorship in-terfere with the programmingof the jazz festival. So it wasmore important to have HerbieHancock appear, and thankgoodness Yamahas a very un-derstanding sponsor, addsTaylor, who this year has hissecond request for a Fazioli,from American Geri Allen.

Tom Lee Music, the Vancou-ver Steinway dealer, says it isnot going to cause a fuss overHancocks piano choice. Itsnot a concern, says RichardHowland, spokesperson withTom Lee. Artists like HerbieHancock can ask for any pianothey want to play on, and itdoesnt affect our sponsorship

with the jazz festival. (TomLee Music also held a promo-tional event last month, bring-ing in its own 14-year-old pianoprodigy to play a rare Steinwaythat had been created to markthe 125th anniversary of thecompanys Hamburg division.)

Hewitt, the Ottawa-born pia-nist regarded as one of theleading interpreters of Bach,used to be a Steinway artist until she bought a Fazioli. Myformer German agent had a calla few years ago from the [Stein-

way] office in Hamburg, sayinghow distressed they were that I

was playing Fazioli in public.When my agent told them Ihad just purchased a concertgrand Fazioli, my name was re-moved from Steinways list ofartists, Hewitt wrote in an e-mail from Asia, where she wason tour.

We have never forced a pia-nist to play the Steinwayagainst his or her will, nor

would we ever do that, Stein-ways Goodrich responds.Should an artist feel that an-

other piano can do that forthem, and should the artist

wish to play and endorse thatpiano, we do not believe itmakes sense for him or her tocontinue to identify them-selves as a Steinway artist.Goodrich adds that Steinway

would welcome Hewitt back,should Steinway become herpiano of choice.

Some people criticize Stein-way for doing that, beingheavy-handed, says authorFine, but its a contractual re-lationship like anything else.No ones having a gun put totheir head that they have to be-come a Steinway artist.

And Parker says Steinwaywas within its rights to ask himwhy he was seen to be endors-ing a competitor. Im a Stein-

way artist. Ive been endorsedby Steinway. So I have to ob-viously be a little bit carefulabout what is said about differ-ent instruments.

TRADITION VS. THE CONVERTS

With Merriam Pianos in Oak-ville now selling Fazioli, andShowcase Pianos opening inVancouver, its easier for pia-nists to arrange to have onebrought to Roy Thomson Hallor the Chan Centre for the Per-forming Arts. And the race ison to convince pianists evennon-professionals to sit downat a Fazioli.

Sherill McCall, a former real-tor in West Vancouver, is a con-

vert. Ive played piano foralmost 50 years and Ive had anumber of grand pianos in mylifetime, she said recently

from her home. When I satdown at the Fazioli Icouldnt believe the articula-tion and the sound. The claritythe tonality of the instrument

was unlike anything Id everheard or played.

After McCall placed her orderfor a Fazioli, Showcases Ber-naschek travelled to Italy,

where he and company foun-der Paolo Fazioli personally se-lected her piano. Its notsomething that you just go outand buy. Its like the love of

your life, McCall says.While Fazioli devotees (and

dealers) say it is poised to bethe new market leader, Finedoesnt think so. Its a great piano. But they make [about]100 of them a year, and theyrenever going to exceed what

Steinway does just by num-bers. Last year, Steinway soldabout 3,000 pianos morethan Fazioli has made in its en-tire history.

Hewitt also believes Steinwaywill remain the market leader.Many pianists will continue toplay Steinway because it is thesafe option. They know it,they have practised on it for

years, and they dont want tochange.

I want a piano on which Ican get the best musical resultsand which makes me happy. When I play on Steinways, es-pecially the American ones, Isee what an unsubtle instru-ment it is. So it makes me a lit-tle sad that so many pianists

work on these instruments andthink that it is the best, be-cause there is so much more

you can do with a piano.

MUSIC 8 DUELLING PIANOS

Combative vibrationsVenerable Steinway has long been the instrument of choice for serious pianists. But as Italian piano-maker Fazioli lures the likesof Herbie Hancock and Louis Lortie into its fold, its giving the king of the ivories some stiff competition. Marsha Lederman reports

Vancouvers Sherill McCall (with husband, Sam) loves the clarity, the tonality of her new Fazioli. JEFF VINNICK FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL

VANCOUVER

TRISH McALASTER/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

ITALY

F

RANCE

SWITZ. AUSTRIA

CROATIA

HUNGARY

MALTA

Rome AdriaticSea

TyrrhenianSea

IonianSea

Val di Fiemme

Naples

Sicily

Sardinia

Corsica

Milan

KM

Musical valley

Fazioli pianos are handcraftedin Italy, using wood from Val diFiemme, the same valley whereAntonio Stradivari collected thespruce for his violins.