Dear Friends of Italian Innovators, this month I take you to Sacile, in the Northeastern region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, where in 1980 a Roman pianist and engineer, Paolo Fazioli, started his own company to pursue his dream of achieving perfect sound. Fazioli is now the world’s most sought-after brand of concert pianos.

The astounding quality of Fazioli’s pianos, and the excellence of the company’s F 308 model (the longest gran coda in the world) grows from the fertile Italian musical soil, which gave rise to the “pianoforte” in the 18^th century (thanks to the ingenuity of Bartolomeo Cristofori) and launched it all over Europe (thanks to the performing and entrepreneurial ability of Roman pianist Muzio Clementi).

The perfection of Fazioli’s sound also derives from the extraordinary quality of the instrument’s wood (the same that Stradivari used for his violins) which comes from the harmonic spruce trees of Val di Fiemme, and from the patient teamwork of technicians and performers in designing inimitable instruments. You can hear the F 308 in the first few seconds of the video (and Fazioli playing it at the end).

Here is how Paolo Fazioli achieved excellence in piano making. Here is the story of the “pianoforte”.