Beethoven Pianos

The New Estonia

Estonia Grand 5'4" 0261 Polished Ebony New Renner Action $11,900 Estonia Grand 6'3" 5250 Satin Ebony New Renner Action $14,900

Beethoven Pianos is the largest retailer of Estonia pianos in the United States.

Estonia makes a concert grand as well which is pictured above. In fact Estonia may hold the record for the number of concert grands they have made as a percentage of their entire output of pianos. It was a shame that the pictures we took of these incredible pianos did not come out. One shot showed the inside of the 5'4" grand, a unique design. This is my choice for the absolute best "baby grand" piano on the market today. The design of this piano is said to be derived from an early Mason & Hamlin design. It uses a wide bell shaped tail which gives the soundboard more space to vibrate. This piano has such a pronounced and developed bass that it doesn't even seem like a baby grand. The larger grand is just simply marvelous, a perfectly balanced European piano comparing favorably with pianos costing almost twice the price. Here's what's inside.

First of all Estonias use Renner actions that are assembled by Renner and shipped as one unit. Each piano is built from the keyboard out. This is a feature similar to Bosendorfer. The detail work on these pianos is superb, extending to their proud insignia, which rather than being merely a decal, is literally inlayed into the fallboards and cases. The soundboards are all Siberian spruce, which is now so highly regarded that even the high end Asian pianos are beginning to use it. These pianos have a warm, mellow sound rather than an over bright, "glassy" sound. The pinblocks are 22 ply hard rock maple and the bridges are vertical laminated, just as in the finest pianos. Hammers are Abel, keyboards are Kluge.

Years ago I saw and played my first Estonias in Atlanta. They were dull and uninteresting. But as Carl Demler remarked, "they learned fast." Beethoven has been an active partner with Estonia, actually contributing to improving their quality and design. Believe me folks, these are killer pianos! You know when you sit at a piano and feel that weird sort of ache that says, "yes, I too would own one of these" that something is right. These pianos play and sound like something magical is going on with them. Try anything you like and hear what happens. Simply astounding.

232 West 58th Street, MIDTOWN

New York, NY 10019

(212) 765-7300