Hi all,

I travelled to Poland last week on business, and while there had an opportunity to visit a music store, where Feurich and Calisia pianos were sold. I played a Calisia studio piano before at home, but I had no idea that their piano lines were so extensive (European consoles to concert Grands). I was very impressed with the 52"(?) upright. A wonderful sound. The grands were a bit dull in tone, but not distractingly so. Does anyone know anything about the history of this company, and how the Calisia brand is considered in Europe? Also, weren't they associated with a German manufacturer at one time? My search on the web turned up nothing.

Also in the store was a Feurich 190 grand. I played it several times, and then stopped to size up the piano to make sure it was indeed a 190. The tone was amazing, and so was the price. I've seen Feurich's listed in the piano book in the $40k US range, but the price tag on this piano, in Polish Zloty, (on sale) was 32,898.00 (that's around 13K US, if I've done my math right). Is there really such a disparity between piano's sold in Europe, and those same models imported to the US? (The dealer did confirm the piano is new)

Jamie

Jamie:

I don't know the Polish pianos you refer to, but as to your last question, I believe there is a great disparity in piano prices between European and American merchants; I've heard this observation made several times on this forum. I recently saw an ad from a London piano house for a Bosendorfer 225 in the low US$30's. Yes, they even published the price in US dollars.

What is the 225 going for these days in the US?

Our first piano at the end of sixties was a Calisia studio upright. It was 3 years old at that time. I and my brother played on it for about 15 years. I believe it is still in good condition, though played from time to time for the last 10-15 years, just sitting in mom's home now.
Our technician used to say that Calisias were among the better built Europian pianos at that time. That's all I can say and don't know about their current status now.
Rgds,
Hakki.

CORRECTION!

Let me correct my most recent post on this thread where I quoted an incorrect Bosendorfer price. I have now located the ad, and share the following sales prices from a London Bosendorfer dealer this summer, quoted in their ad in $US:

Upright $15,199
170 cm $31,999
200 cm $35,399
214 cm $40,499
225 cm $44,899

So, obviously, my memory was faulty on the 225 sale price; my apologies. Nevertheless, it seems that these sale prices are still much, much lower than US prices, even when on sale.

Again, what are these pianos going for in the US? Does anyone know?

Regards,

From what I've seen of 'new' pianos, there's not a great deal of disparity between European prices on European pianos and US prices on European pianos. However, we do seem to pay quite a bit more for American pianos.

The main bargains to be had in Europe/UK are on the s/h market. There is something of a glut of good quality used Bluthner and Bechstein grands along with other quality German makes.

There are also a lot of English grands, which, apart from the odd Erard, are not so good IMO. Old Broadwoods are common and worth very little here in the UK, whereas they seem to go for thousands when they come up for sale in the US...

Bosendorfers, of course, are expensive pretty much everywhere!