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Schimmel grands and uprights are among the finest in the world. Their superb European tonal characteristics and playability, has helped earn them the title of Germany’s highest selling piano. Hutchings Pianos is the only piano store in New South Wales approved to have access to this exclusive range of pianos.
Simon Tedeschi, world famous Australian pianist, endorses the Schimmel range and has released a number of recordings on their pianos. The music playing on our homepage is of Simon Tedeschi performing Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ on a Schimmel Konzert 169 & Konzert 189. For further information on Simon’s recordings for Schimmel, click here.
History of Schimmel
Wilhelm Schimmel, founded Schimmel Pianos in Leipzig, Germany in 1885. His instruments impressed many artists with their advanced technique, excellent tone and contemporary form. His motto ‘Quality will prevail’ has been proven correct by his company’s longevity and success.
In 1927, his son Wilhelm Arno Schimmel took over the management of the company and relocated the site to Braunschweig (Brunswick). The family firm continued to flourish. By the end of the 1950s, Schimmel instruments were the most frequently purchased pianos produced in Germany and were exported all round the world. In 1961, Nikolaus Wilhelm Schimmel became head of the company and focused on the firm’s expansion into its third generation. In 2003, Nikolaus Wilhelm Schimmel passed on the management of the company to Hannes Schimmel-Vogel.
The Schimmel Secret
The firm has continued today with a passion for piano manufacture, innovation and technical excellence. Schimmel is constantly researching and innovating. Their unique CAPE software (Computer Assisted Piano Engineering) was developed at Schimmel itself and provides specialist knowledge and skills in manufacture using the latest in technology. They are dedicated to perfection. For example, 400 prototypes were constructed during the design process of the first grand pianos in the Konzert Line.
Schimmel is also one of the largest and most preferred training centres in Europe for aspiring piano technicians. Nearly 400 young people have successfully completed Schimmel’s apprenticeship program. Many of them have completed the five-year Journeymanship and passed the Master Piano Builder examination. Schimmel’s continued investment in education and training demonstrates their commitment to the exceptional quality of their pianos.
This is particularly evident in the highly trained ears of their technicians. For example, technicians prick the 88 felt hammer heads on each instrument with voicing needles, several ten thousand times by hand, in a painstaking process to form the versatile tonal colouring representative of Schimmel pianos. Their technicians voice the pianos using expertly trained manual dexterity and sensitivity to the finest sound nuances, providing each instrument with optimum tone quality.
Schimmel cabinets are also greatly sought after. They select only the best exotic woods, with special characteristics from around the world. Their wood-inlay master specialist spends more than two weeks completing the carvings. Sometimes integrating over 300 individual filigree elements into artistic motifs. Schimmel instruments are particularly distinct from other pianos due to their exceptional exterior finish. They apply a traditional piano varnish thirteen times, with around one and a half kilograms layered per square metre! It is further buffed by hand to produce a beautiful high gloss.
Award Winning
Schimmel’s grand and upright pianos have both been entered in international instrument tests since 1988 and have repeatedly received accolades. Concert pianists and journalists from around the world participate in tests such as those for French music journals ‘Le Monde de la Musique’, ‘Diapason’ and ‘Pianiste’, behind closed doors, following precisely defined and strict criteria. The numerous awards received by Schimmel during these tests provide proof that the quality of Schimmel instruments is internationally acclaimed by experts. Read more details on Schimmel's website.
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