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| Industry | Musical instruments |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1864 |
| Founder | Antonín Petrof |
| Headquarters | Hradec Králové, Czech Republic |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Zuzana Ceralová Petrofová |
| Products | Grand pianos and upright pianos |
Production output | Yearly around 2,000 new grand pianos and 12,000 uprights [1] |
Number of employees | about 1,000 [1] |
| Website | petrof.com |
Petrof is a Czech piano manufacturer founded in 1864. It is a leading European piano manufacturer, exporting to more than 60 countries. [2]
The company was founded in 1864 in Hradec Králové, Kingdom of Bohemia, by Antonín Petrof (d. 1915), who had apprenticed at Viennese companies such as Heintzman & Co., Friedrich Ehrbar and Schweighofer.
The owner Antonín Petrof was awarded an imperial and royal warrant of appointment to the court of Austria-Hungary. [3] In 1924 the company was exporting its pianos to Europe, Japan, China, Australia and South America.
At the World Exhibition 1934 in Brussels, the Petrof instruments won the gold medal. [4] At that time, approximately 400 people worked at their factory.
After the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, the company was nationalized.
In 1991, the company was returned to the Petrof family. [5] Petrof is currently led by two sisters from the fifth generation of the Petrof family and produces annually approximately 2,000 grand pianos and 12,000 upright pianos. [6] [1] Petrof is known for several innovations, such as ways to adjust the mechanics and particularly pressure point through magnetic systems. [7] [8]
After 1993, the piano company G. Rösler of Česká Lípa, Bohemia was acquired.
Petrof pianos have been used by many famous musicians, including among others: Ray Charles, Paul McCartney, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Sviatoslav Richter, Count Basie, Richard Clayderman, Ennio Morricone, Renato Carosone and Mark Levinson. [2] [9]
Current Grand Piano Models: [10]
Current Upright Piano Models: [11]
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana. Dvořák's style has been described as "the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them," and Dvořák has been described as "arguably the most versatile... composer of his time".
The Czechs, or the Czech people, are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, culture, history, and the Czech language.
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50°11′31.75″N15°51′3.33″E / 50.1921528°N 15.8509250°E
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