Pianos get a new lease of life in Europe
Top-notch specialists have made Poland's city of Kalisz Europe's hub
for piano restorers, with aging instruments being trucked in from far
and wide for a new lease of life.
Driver Tadeusz Krakowski brings in a truckload of pianos from various
parts of Europe each Thursday. On Mondays, he winds his way back with a
consignment of restored instruments.
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A worker renovates a piano for the “Piano Fiks” company
specialized in reconstruction of grand pianos in Nowe
Skalmierzyce March 30. AFP |
"I've been been transporting pianos for 20 years, from all across
Europe," he said while unloading a white Sauter piano at a workshop in
the western city.
"Today I've brought back seven grand pianos and an upright one.
They'll be restored here in Kalisz," he told AFP.
"This one is going to be made as good as new. Everything, from the
mechanics to the body, which is going to done in black in line with the
customer's taste."
It takes around three months to get a piano back into shape.
"We're capable of restoring pretty much any piano, even if it's in an
appalling condition," said workshop owner Witold Czubak.
"We redo the sound-board, the metal frame, the mechanical part.
Damaged keys are re-covered - with genuine ivory if the client's budget
allows," he said. After that comes the tuning.
Czubak was putting the final touches to a white Bechstein Model A,
made in 1915, before its return to the German capital Berlin.
"Most owners don't even know that their instruments have sometimes
been on a return journey spanning several thousand kilometres," he said.
"Restoration firms in Western Europe are just intermediaries who
subcontract their work to us," he added.
More than 30 piano workshops in Kalisz and the surrounding area
employ around 400 expert restorers.
The largest and oldest is located in the historic former railway
station at Nowe Skalmierzyce on the city's outskirts.
There, Krzysztof Fiks has a staff of 70. He deals with any make of
piano but his passion is Steinways.
A full restoration costs between 3,000 and 4,00 euros which is 30-40
percent cheaper than it would be in France, Germany or The Netherlands.
AFP |
