“The F212 Fazioli 7 foot grand piano sound was delicious: it possessed an effortless crystal clear upper register that I enjoyed!”

Svetlana Ponomarëva - Concert Pianist

"The Fazioli pianos at Showcase Pianos have an exquisite sound.  I was particularly impressed with how responsive they were in reproducing a whispering pianissimo, and they were equally impressive in the larger dynamic range.  For the owner of one of these pianos, most people would recognize immediately that you have something unique and very special."

Dr. Ronald Morgan – Concert Pianist

“The Fazioli piano is a most responsive and refined instrument that inspires one to create with the utmost of simplicity, an absolute dream to perform on.  Definitely Lesterian!”

Lester J. Soo – Pianist/Musician

“Fazioli has a limited production and makes sure that each of their pianos is impeccable…”

Louis Lortie – Pianist

“The Fazioli is a beautiful instrument, one of the most interesting pianos I’ve ever played!”

Bob Murphy – Jazz Pianist

"The crystalline clarity of a Fazioli piano combined with a limitless palette of tonal color gives the performer the ability to fully realize their artistic soul.  This is a rare and unique jewel, and an experience not to be missed."

Dr. Sasha Starcevich – Concert Pianist

“The FAZIOLI piano allows your imagination to take flight and soar...”

Angela Hewitt – Concert Pianist

"The Fazioli is every pianist's dream.  This piano can sing - cry - scream - and even dance for you.  Anything you ask of it - it responds beautifully.  Thank you for bringing this incredible "Dream Machine" to Vancouver.  It is quite simply the most wonderful piano being made in the world today."

Linda Lee Thomas – Principal Pianist, VSO and CBC Radio Orchestra

“Once you get past the visual impact of the craftsman-like elegance of the Fazioli concert grand, you sit down and play a chord - and the piano says "as you like it".  It will bring incredible gradations of tone easily, from a shimmering glassy pianissimo to a thundering triple forte.  I divide pianos into two categories, the first piano says "anything you say!" and the second says "just try and make me!".   Now I have three categories.  The Fazioli has a magic which goes a little beyond what you might expect - it seems to say "I know how you want to sound: here it is".”

David Pickell – Musician/Song Writer

"With a Fazioli piano, I am able to create beautiful sounds with a wide range of colours."

Avan Yu – Concert Pianist

"Several things come to mind about the Fazioli: First of all, through [Manuel’s] sincerity, the dealership in Vancouver exhibits a touch of class.  My immediate impressions after playing were that many aspects of piano building have been elevated to new heights.  The action is so acutely responsive and precisely mated to what you hear, the sustainability especially in the upper registers is incredible.  The feedback you get from these instruments allows you to create music you thought not possible. The F278 feels like you have an orchestra at your command."

Laurence Pellizzari – Pianist

"... the best piano in the world..."
Nikolai Demidenko – Concert Pianist

"..an instrument of rare distinction..."
Stephen Hough – Concert Pianist

"The main piano used in performance at Mt. Royal College is a Fazioli F308, a gift to the Conservatory in honour of the Blackstone family. Given by an anonymous donor in 2001, it is one of only 40 existing F308’s. It was built by hand over eighteen months by Fazioli Pianoforti at Sacile in Pordenone, Italy, an area renowned for woodworking. At 10’2”, it is the largest piano in the world; a standard concert grand piano is nine feet long. The wood for the sounding board, “abete rosso” or red spruce, comes from the Magnifica Communità di Fiemme, a community forest in the Italian Alps that also supplied wood for the famous violin makers Stradivari and the Cremona School.  Seasoned maple for the pin blocks comes from Canada.  It is a lovely piano to play, with a responsive, sensitive action and a beautiful sound."

Dr. Peter Jancewicz – Professor of Piano Performance, Mt. Royal Conservatory College, Calgary AB

"Some artists believe that FAZIOLI now makes the best pianos in the world."

The Economist - June 7, 2003

MY FAZIOLI DREAM: About 3 years ago, I received a copy of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by TE Carhart. The book is about the author’s relationship with Luc, the owner of a little Parisian piano shop in which old pianos are nursed back to health. It is also an endearing history of the piano from its heyday in the mid- to late-nineteenth century and the technical advances that have transformed it. I was well into the book when I turned the page to a new chapter and was presented with the title “Fazioli”. 

Fazioli?  What is a Fazioli piano? I had never heard of it. By the end of the chapter, which included the author’s experience of visiting the Fazioli Factory in Italy, I was thoroughly entranced and enchanted by this piano. Even without playing one, I knew this was something exceptional. But until now, the Fazioli piano has just been a fantastic dream.

Finally, it is available here in western Canada. When I walked into Manuel Bernaschek’s new Showcase Pianos store and played his Fazioli pianos I had some minor feelings of trepidation - would I be disappointed? Would it indeed be the glorious piano I had created in my imagination?  Well, my experience exceeded my wildest dreams! The Fazioli piano is nothing short of miraculous! Every detail from design, construction and of course sound is attended to. You know what you are getting when you play this piano. Unlike some other high end pianos, the Fazioli does not need to be worked in for a year before it really starts to sing. They take care of that before they ship the piano.

Craig Addy – Pianist/Composer

Paolo Fazioli:

I am writing you today to compliment you on the superb quality of your pianos.

Here at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts during the past several months we have had the opportunity of enjoying one of your F278 pianos during two different concerts. The piano for both events was provided by Showcase Piano’s here in Vancouver.

Most recently Louis Lortie played Mozart’s piano concerto no. 20 in D minor, K.466 in concert with the CBC Radio Orchestra. What struck me most about the F278 was the level of clarity and tonality that the instrument maintained and incumbent with that was the detail of rhythmic articulation that could be heard within the venue.

As the person responsible for adjusting the room acoustics to best serve the artist and audience a lot of my time is spent in critical listening. And having been here at the venue for such a long time, I have heard many different instruments played by numerous artists – to the point where I have begun to discern between individual Stradivarius - and in all honesty few pianos have sounded as nice in our venue and in my opinion only one sounded better.

I have always been fascinated by the mechanics and ergonomics of playing music and there respective influences on execution and interpretation of the repertoire being played. One of the privileges that I enjoy is having the opportunity to chat with some of the greatest performers of our age and on rare occasion, when time and circumstance permits, engage an artist in depth over the nuances and minutiae of their craft. One of the most generous with his time and knowledge has been pianist Krystian Zimmerman.

During Mr. Zimmerman’s last visit we chatted for about 45 minutes where we discussed his preferences in balancing the action and tuning the piano; he shared his knowledge and insight about everything from hammer reflex to the coupling effects of wheels on various surfaces. Mr. Zimmerman is perhaps the most fastidious and particular pianist that I have ever had the pleasure of working with and without a doubt the Steinway instrument that he toured with sounded the absolute best in this venue. That piano was an instrument that he had spent weeks preparing prior to the concert tour.

In contrast your Fazioli fresh from the showroom floor faired just as well.

In a highly reverberant field, such as ours, it is often difficult to hear the detail or maintain the harmonic integrity during fast passages because the reverberant energy tends to build up to the point were it begins to obscure the rhythmic motion and chord structure. What I have noticed most with your piano is the balance of the overtones, the upper partials do not tend to smear together, but rather continue to sing and decay at a favorable rate. This is especially true with harmonics generated from notes in the lower registers – which to my ear is what differentiates a good piano from an exceptional one.

I know full well that different artists, with their different styles, different repertoire and differing preferences to tuning and hammer felt density all have a profound effect on how a particular instrument sounds. This is why I chose to reserve my opinion on your piano until after I had the opportunity to hear your instrument in a second setting, with a different artist.

In closing, as of yet I have not had the opportunity to hear your piano’s in other venues, but in this one your F278 sounds spectacular.

Cheers,

Jay O’Keeffe — Head Audio Technician
Chan Centre for the performing Arts
At the University of British Columbia

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