Estonia Pianos from R. KASSMAN
Piano making in Estonia stretches back 200 years, but the company itself was founded in 1893 by Ernst Hiis, an Estonian master craftsman trained at Steinway-Hamburg. When the Soviets annexed the Baltic state in 1940, the Estonia was forced to give Joseph Stalin a gift, and the nation of 1.5 million gave a Hiis-made piano. Stalin apparently loved the handmade grand, and made sure Hiis was given a factory in which to consolidate all other Estonian piano workshops under him with the Estonia name. After the Berlin Wall fell, Estonia regained its national independence, and in 1993 the factory’s 130 employees took the piano maker private.
In 1994, gifted Estonian pianist Indrek Laul was getting his doctorate at the Juilliard School. Whenever Laul cut a record or performed, he spent his pay buying out Estonia stockholders until he owned the factory outright. Laul, from a well-known musical family in Estonia, stayed in New York to build the brand and put his choirmaster father in charge of quality control at the Tallinn factory. His mother was enlisted to test-run every piano before it was put in containers bound for the market. “Most other piano companies went for bright, brilliant tones sounding through the orchestra,” says Laul. “We wanted to offer something different, something that when you sat down and played, you really enjoyed.”
Bay Area Estonia Pianos
Play Estonia for Quality and Value
Estonia pianos are handcrafted, and a professional instrument with the highest musical qualities using only the highest quality European materials. Iron plates are made the old-fashioned, European way: sand-cast, then seasoned. Thick layers of polyester from Austria provide spectacular and durable cabinetry. Estonia’s European soundboards are made of the highest quality material possible employing Spruce from the same groves used by Hamburg Steinway, Blüthner and others. On every Estonia piano, the action is completely Renner, the pin-block is made by Delignite, the upper strings are Röslau wire, the keyboards are by Kluge and tuning pins by Biene; all imported from Germany. Each piano is played and evaluated by a member of the Laul family.
If you are in the market for a new Yamaha, Kawai, Petrof or other mid-price grand piano, be sure to also consider Estonia pianos. Estonia grand pianos are the only truly high-end grand pianos in the mid-price field.
Play Estonia in Berkeley, California
Musicians choose R. KASSMAN above all San Francisco Bay Area piano shops because of our exceptional selection of custom, new and used pianos and our knowledgeable, experienced customer service. Come into our Berkeley, California piano showroom to see, touch, and play our exquisite Estonia pianos for yourself.