The most expensive pianos in the world

Did you ever wonder why some pianos are cheaper than others?

Are you interested in the diversity of brands and styles?

This article will go through the most high-priced piano brands and models.

 

Fazioli Brunei

This piano is said to be the world’s most expensive piano right now.

Paolo Fazioli spent time researching and studying piano constructions. By 1981, he incorporated his company based on the philosophy of designing and producing “grand and concert grand pianos exclusively aiming for the highest quality with no concern for large production”. This specific design plays on the colours red and gold to resonate the fire of the powerful characteristics that the sound spectrum can be produced by the instrument. Not only this but the case is inlaid with mother-of-pearl and semi-precious stones.

Heintzman Crystal Piano

This entirely see-through crystal piano by Heintzman is an incredible 9ft long and is worth $3.22m. It was first publicly displayed in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and has only ever been used for that one performance.

John Lennon’s Piano

Surprisingly this piano was just a standard, faded brown, upright Steinway Piano that retained cigarette burns over the years. But because the song Imagine was written on it, it becomes a historical monument. It is one of the most expensive Steinway grand pianos at the moment.

Although John Lennon originally paid £1,000 for this piano, George Michael owned it after winning a bidding war between the Oasis brothers and Robbie Williams. He ended up paying a staggering £1.45m which soon became Guinness World Records’ highest price achieved for a piano to date. ,Imagine that amount of money!

Sound of Harmony Concert Grand, Steinway & Sons

Worth $1.63m, this piano took four whole years just to build as it was customised especially for a Chinese art collector named Guo Qingxiang. This eccentric design contains 40 different types of wood ranging from ebony, ashwood, rosewood and more, making the sound incredibly acoustic. The lid represents artwork from the Chinese painter Shi Qi and Steinway ensures everyone knew it was their company who built it, as they signed the name using crystallised gold as opposed to their regular ink mark.

Galaxy Piano

The Galaxy piano is the fifth most expensive piano in the world and is worth around $1.36m. This unique piano design has curved keys, an automatic piano lid and is made out of 24-carat gold. There are only five pianos like this in the world so you’d have to be extremely lucky to get your hands on one.

Marilyn Monroe’s Piano

As documented in her autobiography, Marilyn was given her white lacquered baby grand piano by her mother before she got taken to a psychiatric hospital. The piano then belonged to Fredric March, before Mariah Carey bought it at an auction for $600,000. It is considered one of the world most expensive piano.

Marilyn Monroe Collection

Now we know the most expensive piano models, what about the piano brands?

Bosendorfer

The Bosendorfer was created by Ignaz Bosenforger in 1824.

He began refining handmade pianos of Joseph Brodman who was a piano builder in Vienna at that time. His goal was to heighten the volume of the instrument whilst preserving the soft and melodic sound of the strings. Handcrafted in Austria, these are some of the most expensive grand pianos of the world, retails between $256,000 and $560,000 in the U.S and is extremely unique with some models containing 92 keys or even 97 keys instead of the regular 88. The Bosendorfer reputation soared when one of its particularly ornate pianos was chosen as a gift from Emperor Franz Joseph in 1869 and remains one of the greatest piano brands today.

Bechstein

Carl Bechstein founded the piano factory C Bechstein in Berlin (1853). The new branch opened in London in 1885 and the desire for the instrument rocketed when a Bechstein grand piano was supplied to Queen Victoria.

In 1945 the production facilities of Bechstein were destroyed by the bombardment of British and American forces during the Second World War and so the company moved to America. Since then the piano maker has been known to make one-of-a-kind art cases since the 19th century, one of the most expensive piano brands in the world. They were commissioned by interior designers for royal palaces and mansions. Artists and craftsmen were hired by Bechstein to make unique pianist decorated with gold details and hand-painted art on the case. Some of these designs are now in museums whilst others are traded at auctions in London and New York.

Steinway

This is most probably one of the most known and one of the best piano brands. In 1836 H. Englehard Steinway built his first piano in his kitchen in Seesen, Germany which is known as the “Kitchen” piano. This iconic piano is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

On March 5th, 1853, the company Steinway & Sons was founded and the family decided to Americanise their name to Steinway. In 1871, Steinway sold around 2,500 pianos and made pianos at a rate of 1 piano per hour, or 10 pianos per day.

Steinway Company is based on a 4% increase per year, considering the retail price of a Steinway Model D, this will be $183,200 in 2020.

The world’s most expensive Steinway grand piano is an art case piano built by Steinway’s factory in Hamburg, Germany, in 2008, valued at €1.2 million. It took about four years to be built.

Fazioli

Founded by Paolo Fazioli in 1978, Fazioli builds around 140 pianos a year. The traditional six models of satin and polished ebony grand pianos range from $128,000 to $234,000, which is equal to the best German and Austrian piano manufacturers.

In 1983 Fazioli placed a concert grand in the Teatro Comunale di Monfalcone. This meant that any pianist who played in the concert hall from that point forward had the opportunity to play a Fazioli piano. Because of this, it wasn`t long before many big-name concert pianists had tried the new piano model. Soon after in 2004, Fazioli was not just creating top-quality pianos, but they also had their concert hall.

Bluthner

Although Bluthner became a reality at the same time as Bechstein, the qualities of the instruments were extremely different. The Bluthner piano had a much clearer tone than the Bechstein, and the hammers and felts it used were more compact.

Julius Bluthner created his company in 1853, incorporating the philosophy of “Quality above everything”. He displayed his instruments at exhibitions in 1854 and the important and increasing demands of the instruments led to the enlargement of the factory in 1876. In 1890 Bluthner became one of the most important European piano firms. It was in increasingly high demand in Australia, South America and South Asia and in 2003 Bluthner became the desired instrument for prestigious pianists, and one of the most expensive pianos worldwide.

My Experience Testing Different Piano Brands

When attending a piano auction in Slough, I was interested in comparing the selling prices of each brand with the quality that they held. I was able to experience first-hand and give my honest and real opinion, which is something that should be shared.

With the nicest sounding (and feeling) piano being the Yamaha C6, the brightness that it created filled the room with each touch. This was very surprising to me as it was one of the cheaper brands in comparison to those such as the Bosendorfer, which had some pianos go for a whopping £34,000, even though I didn’t think the specific ones at the auction were that mesmerising. It was evident that many people agreed with me that the C6 held significant quality as it ended up selling for £9,800.

The Bluthner grand pianos (which sold for around £4,000) sounded too dull for me, which is astonishing considering they are meant to be one of the most popular piano brands. Whilst the key resistance wasn’t for my preference and the energy it took to play it seemed a bit too much, it definitely was the weaker model in the room.

Lastly, the Steinways which seemed to go at the highest prices ranging from £13,000 – £21,000 were, as expected, of great quality. Despite some being old and looking a little worse for wear, they created grand sounds, provided reactive keys and of course looked aesthetically pleasing to have in your home.

I was surprised with what I experienced at the auction, walking out with a different opinion than I originally believed would be the case. Of course, all the pianos were wonderful, but there were definitely some that stood out more than others.

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