SchimmelSchimmel grand

Schimmel — a baby grand from Braunschweig, 1.75 m long, in satin mahogany.

For a living room where the instrument sets the tone, for teaching at home, and for small rehearsal rooms.

Schimmel is one of the great German piano houses, and 1.75 m is the compact grand size: more bass string than any upright, less than the instruments around 1.90 m, but it fits rooms where a bigger grand would have no air left. A grand action repeats faster than an upright action, so quick repeated notes and trills come more easily. Two pedals: the right holds the note, the left shifts the action and takes back both volume and colour. It has no sostenuto pedal.

Satin mahogany shows the grain and swallows fingerprints and window light where high gloss reflects them. Direct sun bleaches veneer, so keep it away from a south-facing window.

Allow roughly 2.3 × 1.6 m of floor: the case measures 1.75 × 1.45 m, and the stool and legroom take the rest. No grand goes through a door upright; the legs and lyre come off, it travels on its side on the trolley, and that is work for movers. Not by the radiator, not in the sun, or the tuning begins to drift. And if there are neighbours behind the wall: an acoustic grand can have a Silent System fitted, and you then practise in headphones on the same keys.