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)
