Pleyel 174 vleugel (1975)

 
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This grand piano has a pleasantly warm, balanced and overtone-rich sound that can offer a delicate sound and feel to almost any living room.
The wonderfully playing Renner mechanism provides the instrument with excellent touch and dynamics control.

Although France currently no longer has a single piano factory, it has played a very important role in the development of piano making.
Paris, together with London and Vienna, was one of the three most important piano cities and the French brands Pleyel, Erard, Pape and Gaveau were among the world's top.
Ignaz Joseph Pleyel, Austrian composer and piano manufacturer, was born on June 18, 1757 in Ruppersthal and died on November 14, 1831 in Paris. The famous Parisian “Salle Pleyel” is named after him.
Pleyel built beautiful instruments about which Frederic Chopin said: "When I feel the music flowing inside me and I feel good enough to create my own sound, then I need a Pleyel."

Public relations were in good hands with Pleyel. Son Camille Pleyel married a famous pianist and Camille's daughter married Auguste Wolff, teacher at the Paris Conservatory. As co-director of the Pleyel company, he played a role in the development of the third pedal (prolongement) or the "sustaining pedal".

That he knew how to take good care of his "public relations" is especially evident from the recruitment of Henri Pape in 1815. He was very important for the further development of the piano with 137 inventions. His most important invention was a useful felt hammer head (1826). In addition, he invented the cross-string system in 1828, which meant a huge improvement in the tone, because longer strings could be used and the string tension was better distributed.

After the Second World War, French factories could not compete with the more modern German pianos produced. In 1960, Pleyel was forced to merge with Erard and in 1971 the German piano factory Schimmel was given the right to use the Pleyel brand name. Around 1993, production was moved to the Leipzig pianoforte factory and in 1995 Pleyel, Erard and Gaveau returned to France.

In 2006, the last French factory in Alès in the south of France had to close its doors.