 | |
| 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 the 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 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."
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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