When the first Estonia pianos made their way to Vancouver in the mid-90's, I was immediately struck by the unique quality of tone on the pianos that I tried. An article in Sunday's Columbus Dispatch looks at the story of these Talinn-made instruments, sold for a fraction of the price of their Steinway competitors.
Does anyone have any experience with owning an Estonia over time? Your comments are welcome as to how these instruments grow and change through the years. One of the important things about purchasing pianos is not only how they sound in the showroom but how the instrument's mechanism stands up to years of playing.
On YouTube, there are a few clips of pianists playing Estonias. Here's one of them--Andy Quin taking a 9-footer for a test drive at the Talinn factory:
Estonia pianos home page
Wikipedia entry on the Estonia Piano Factory
(Image via the Suzuki-Orff School of Music's photostream on Flickr)
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7 comments:
Definitely fine pianos and built like trucks. Marc-Andre Hamelin has one in his home.
Two hundred years building pianos has to say something for the quality and longevity of these pianos...
I know these instruments long time ago. THey were very popular in my coutry (part of the soviet block that time). Definitelly very strong and durable mechanism. And even more - in my opinion thir mechanism is the best part. SOmebody say "built like trucks". I totally agree :)
If you are interested, there is one for sale in Cleveland, OH. A 9 feet, about 15 yrs old (I believe), almost not used. That was an instrument in a teaching piano studio. It was only used for kids recitals from time to time. I think the price was 20k, probably not sold yet.
www.kehoestudio.com
20k for an Estonia concert grand? That's an insane price for such a great piano...if I had the room in my house and lived anywhere close to Cleveland I would check it out. If you can find any more info about that piano I'm sure there would be some CPB readers interested in it.
Shameless promotion. Over priced and over praised. Old factory, old equipment with second rate results. You get what you pay for if you are lucky.
I previously owned a 2001 Estonia
5'6" grand piano, which was my instrument for six years before trading it for a Steinway B. It was a gorgeous sounding instrument, beautiful in construction, and with an amazing touch(Renner action and Renner blue hammers). In the six years I owned it, I never had any problems. It was a joy to have it.
The post just before me does not know what he/she's talking about, and reveals more of the ignorance and insecurity of the poster than reality. The Piano Book by Larry Fine, an invaluable source on pianos, rates the Estonia very highly, as high as any Mason Hamlin and Schimmel pianos. My experience with the Estonia is the same. I rate it very highly, and consider it as one of the best pianos available out there. I will not hesitate to buy one again in the future.
I bought mine new in 2002. This is a "studio grand" 5'6" It has a really sweet tone. The build is beefy and solid.The action is perfect. I did have 3 bass strings start to buzz but the warranty took care of this without issue. Over all I give it 8 out of 10 stars. My benchmark is a Steinway Model B! I highly recommend Estonia pianos.
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