Fazioli F212 vs Steinway model B - Grandpiano trip to Europe - I bought it! 

I was rooting for the Makassar! So gorgeous physically, but especially musically in bringing out subtle themes and tones. And it showed how very beautiful YOUR composition is. I applaud, also, your recording process - some of the most sonically engaging piano recordings I've heard - simply beautiful. Thank you!

I love Fazioli, Every now and then I actually practice and perform on a Fazioli 278 in the local church, absolutely amazing instrument. But......there is just something magical about Steinway and the way it "sings", and those overtones...LOVE IT.

I have 1931 Steinway A3 for almost 15 years now. All through those years the sound of the piano continue to slightly change. Luckily, I learn how to voice the hammer to my liking so I always have them to the way I prefer. Bottom line, you can learn how to voice your own piano perfectly to your liking. It saves a lot of time, money and you’ll be happy. Congrats!

You put a lot of work into this video and I really enjoyed it, having gone on a similar journey last year. My main take away was how difficult it was to judge pianos because of the vagaries of their states of tune. An amazing instrument can sound terrible if it’s not tuned properly, whereas a shit piano doesn’t sound all that bad when it’s bang on in tune! Anyhow, amazing piano you procured and I wish you many happy years with it.

My all-time favorite piece!

Fabulous video....I think they were all so outstanding. I LOVE the mid section of the Steinways and thought the 1890 version was so beautiful, as well as the one you chose. The Fazioli's - well there is nothing like them in the upper register they are so so pure. I honestly would love to have that dilemma in my life - Fazioli or Steinway....lol I am looking forward to hearing many fabulous recordings on your beautiful instrument. Congralulations.

Thankyou for taking us on this wonderful voyage of adventure

Wow, what a treat just to listen to you. Thank you very much. All the piano sound absolutely amazing.

Great Video, thank you for providing this content. Great audio and video, and certainly great playing. Looking forward to more of your videos!

Wonderful video! Its must have been an exciting journey. It's a beautiful instrument, both sound and look, you have chosen. Congratulations and thank you for sharing.

My pick was the Steinway 1898 Hands down for my ear (which appreciates your sound equipment). As much as I love all the Fazioli my second pick was the 1960. The two manufacturers pianos have quit different sounds thanks to your video , beautiful all but different. Glad you did your homework and made the pick right for you which is a very good thing.

What a lovely video. Some difficult choices. I myself was leaning toward the piano you chose or one of the earlier Steinway. But the 2022 Fazioli was wonderful as well. Enjoy it. You play so well.

Glad that you bought the piano of your choice! The Steinway was over 100 years old, but its condition looks amazing! I thought it was a newly built piano until I checked the description on your video.

What fun! Thanks for sharing.

What a lovely video! My favourite two from just listening were the Fazioli 2021 and the Steinway 1974. I cannot deny though that your choice was splendid - well done, and good luck!

When I heard the different pianos in the video, I spontaneously liked the sound of the Makassar piano best. It was warm, very full of character and vouminous. I would have taken it as well. Congratulations on this beautiful instrument!

Congrats on your piano. I've never tried a fazioli, but they look like amazing instruments. I just got my piano 1.5 years ago. After playing so many pianos I ended up getting a Kawai that I fell in love with.

Love that Makasar Steinway! Ot sounded lovely and was gorgeous to look at as well.

Fascinating to follow your journey; thank you for sharing. I have had two similar ones with uprights, not to the quality of piano you have bought, but journeys nonetheless. Iniitially through Yamahas, Kawais, Feurichs, Irmler and others before deciding upon a Ritmuller RS122, with a fantastic touch and sound that improved from brand new over the year I have had it. Subsequently through Schimmels, August Forsters, Petroff, Bluthner, Ronisch and Bechstein before deciding upon a Kayserburg KAM5. In my case, price was important, but the KAM5 is outstanding value for the sound it has. The most difficult thing for me was comparing sounds when the showrooms were so different with their acoustics, but touch was also important. Now I need to learn how to get the best out of my new piano.

Beautiful video!! I admire your approach to finding what sounds right for you! I was debating between Model D and B on Pianoteq 8 and honestly the B sounds more clean, close and direct to me. I am glad my research landed me on your video! I hope you are still in love with the Piano you purchased!!

Thank you for sharing your journey. To me, Steinway sound is like a warm hug. Great choice! German seller, Polish delivery men and a Swedish pianist. It looks like the entire EU was involved in this selection. 😉😁

Thank you so much!

Debussy is always going to sound great on the flute-sounding Fazioli... I liked the 1960 Steinway, but the beautiful woman in the room, looked and sounded best! You made the right choice!👂 (Great mic placement, recording and flawless editing! Thank-you for the most enjoyable ride!)

Beautiful choice of instrument :) a little garden work was worth it haha!! 😆

a very beauty in sound and look and the deliveriy looks professionell so wish you all the Best with your Instrument and by the Way a nice video👍🍀🍀🌹

Congratulations! We bought a brand new Steinway B in 1988 for our daughter, with John Steinway’s signature on it. She had played it for 7 years and performed every year as winners, however she never touch it since she went to Carnegie Mellon in 1996 (she loves arts more) It is in an excellent condition, yearly tuned. It is available for buyers.

I loved that first Fazioli (the one in the middle from 2021) - very creamy and delicate. If I had the money, I'd probably have stopped right there and told them to pack it! But even the slightly longer Fazioli sounded lovely, even though packed in that basement. Had a bit of brightness without sounding like glass. For the steinways, I liked the B from 1898, it had that mellow tone I like. It just seemed like the Faziolis were easier to play are were more responsive to the hand, which is what I'd need after some hand surgeries. Hope your injury recovered well by now.

I play a Yamaha DGX-670 combined with Pianoteq Pro. I play the Yamaha CFX voice combined with a Hamburg D and Petrof Mistral from Pianoteq, Three voices sounding simultaneously. Honestly the sound is similar to the pianos you evaluated for only a cost of around $2,500.00 total. The pianos you played are all rather nice. The difference is probably mostly in the voicing of the hammers and probably the freshness of the strings. Unfortunately all will will deteriorate over time. But congratulations on a well thought out purchase that I'm sure you will be happy with.

I love the "ping" in the treble range of the Steinway. I'm not aware of any other piano that has this characteristic.

I like the Fazioli F212 from 2021.

I understand your decision perfectly. I went through a similar process myself, and ultimately settled on a vintage Steinway M 1945 with an original soundboard in excellent condition. While not all Steinway pianos are created equal, the right one can be truly magical. At first, it may not sound as "clean and sweet" as a fine Fazioli, but it offers something else entirely: the promise of everlasting joy. To each their own, but I believe the Steinway experience is akin to savoring a rich, dark chocolate (60% cocoa, to be precise) versus a very fine milk chocolate (Fazioli). Nothing wrong with a fine milk chocolate! I may be content with only two or three squares, but the dark one is simply too good to resist.

Der Steinway, für den Sie sich letztlich entschieden haben, ist auch mir in diesem Video als besonderes Instrument aufgefallen. Trotzdem gefällt mir FAZIOLI besser als Steinway. Ich suchte vor drei Jahren nach meinem Flügel und hatte eine Größe von 212 cm, die gerade noch in den Aufzug paßt, vor Augen. Ich habe mir Steinways, Bösendorfer und einige andere angeschaut. Besonders aufgefallen ist mir dabei ein ESTONIA L190. ESTONIA kann man durchaus als absoluten Geheimtipp betrachten. Schade, daß man die Instrumente in Europa kaum findet. Wäre nicht Corona mit den Reiseeinschränkungen dazwischen gekommen, wäre ich sicher nach Tallinn gereist, um mir einen Estonia Modell 210 ab Werk zu kaufen. Aber verliebt habe ich mich dann in einen FAZIOLI F278. Mit Tränen in den Augen bin ich vom Händler nach Hause gefahren ... Heute steht der F278 in einen 40 qm großen Wohnzimmer. Und nein - dieser Raum ist nicht zu klein für dieses Instrument. Der F278 ist auch ein wunderbares Instrument für Kammermusik und Liedbegleitung, das nie zu laut wird und auf dem man wunderbare Piani erreichen kann. Der F278 ist "mein Instrument"! Aber die Wahl "seines Instrumentes" ist eine sehr individuelle und persönliche Entscheidung. Deshalb mein Glückwunsch, daß auch Du "Dein" Instrument gefunden hast!

Great video! First of all, congrats on your purchase! So much fun and the dilemma is real! Good problem to have. As you went alone I was between 2 Steinways...with one Fazioli in third place. I agree that your music sound different than the Debussy on the same piano...But the piano should be picked by sound, not color or design, as you did...I have one question: What microphone set up do you use? Do you record on a mac or pc? Could you post the specs?

I mostly like the sound of Fazioli.

I've done a fair bit of piano recording work with several music festivals and orchestras. I noticed that one of the first group (a Steinway) needed some work done.. (tuning not great...) That can get fixed, unless there is an issue with the harp. The Faz sounded superb. The Chosen instrument: Superb. Others ranged from ok to great. You made an excellent choice. A piano tech I worked with in the Florida festival in Sarasota totally rebuilt actions there. An amazing woman. I wish I could work with her more to learn. I was just the recordist there. (By the way, if you get the urge, there are some excellent Ribbon mikes available. I have a stereo Royer here, with a ribbon Preamp... makes the recordings 3 dimensional..)

I love these instruments, but so far I was only satisfied with the Fazioli 212 from 2022; I think it is because tuning means much more to me than the sound of the individual tones. If a unisono has gone bad my ear stops. It is probably because I play violin and want to make the tone, create the tone. I can't accept what comes from the key if it is not as perfect as possible (meaning no tuning is ever perfect).

Thanks for sharing your journey. Could you share what song was being played in the background at minute 16+ ?

Spännande att se din resa!

Hi @melkerstendahl - if you add the following text to the description of this video, the chapters will show up on the timeline. This makes it easier to follow. Thank you for sharing your trip, and congratulations on your new piano! Debussy - Arabesque no.1 3:17 Fazioli F212 from 2021 3:37 Fazioli F212 from 2022 3:54 Steinway & Sons B 1974 4:22 Steinway & Sons B 1892 4:50 Steinway & Sons B 1898 5:28 Steinway & Sons B 1909 Makassar Edition 6:06 Steinway & Sons B 1960 6:28 Fazioli F278 from 2020 7:08 Fazioli F228 from 2022 Stendahl - Prelude in A major 8:12 Steinway & Sons B 1892 8:40 Steinway & Sons B 1909 Makassar Edition 9:09 Fazioli F278 from 2020 9:23 Steinway & Sons B 1960 9:44 Fazioli F212 from 2022 10:04 Steinway & Sons B 1898 10:27 Fazioli F228 from 2022 11:05 Fazioli F212 from 2021 Extra 11:35 Steinway & Sons B 1882 11:51 Steinway & Sons B 1904

You play so beautifully, they all sound very fine! Being American, I hear New York Steinway pianos all the time, and only rarely Hamburg ones, which IMHO are superior. I love the Fazioli sound, but that's really just based on recordings, as they are very scarce here. If I may ask, did you ever consider C. Bechstein, or Shigero Kawai? One of the latter was "placed" with my orchestra, (to bring some attention to the brand, I think), and I thought it was very special, but it was not purchased.

Steinway 1974 -Best sound

What brand and model of microphone did you use for the records ? Your Steinway was I chosed.

I am a piano technician in the USA. Could I ask you what needed adjustment on the B you chose? Can’t help my curiosity.

F212 2022 - top.

All of the Steinway pianos in this video that were made in the 1800s and early 1900s, including yours, have the wrong "Steinway & Sons" logos on the fall board. The "Steinway & Sons" logo from the 1800s and early 1900s were very ornate and fancy. When an antique piano is restored it is important to make it true to the time period it was built and historically accurate.

high five!

i outgrew my seduction by Steinway around 1983. Too heavy and full of midrange to my ear. Preferred the Fazioli. But you didn't even try a Bechstein model B? Nor a Steingraeber?

what you paid for the f212? the steinway at 15:36 was very beautifuel too.

Steinway pianos have an opaque sound and a messy bass that obscures any music that gets busy with fast complex multi register sounds (Rachmaninov, Prokofiew, Liszt). But for slow cantabile playing or impressionism music like in this video, it shines. If you listen to Valentina Lisitsa Koln concert on a Bosendorfer you'll think you are hearing Liszt music clealrly and translucently for the first time. On a modern steinway or anything post WW2 it's a mess of clutter metallic sound and hammer clomping sounds.

It seems the Fazioli it's quite richer in harmonics, but the sensation I had while trying it at the Milan showroom was not as pleasant as this recording. I personally didn't like it at all. The versatility and the elegance of a Steinway it's still the best option IMHO

Have you played a C Bechstein?

I prefer the steinways alot more

STEINWAY & SONS

Steinway 1960 model B, in my opinion.

98 steinway all the way

A beautiful journey through winged heaven! To my ears, the F212 2021 and especially the S&S from 1974 had the most beautiful sounds. At least after the F278 from 2020, which was probably in a different league in terms of size and price, but the Makassar, like the F228 from 2020, were also beautiful. Wonderful when you're spoiled for choice! 😊❤