Movers smash $194,000 piano belonging to famed musician: ‘It was my best friend’

Concert pianist Angela Hewitt will be in the market for a new piano after movers smashed her precious F278 Fazioli piano.

“It’s kaputt,” said Hewitt, who wrote on Facebook that she has recorded all of her CDs in Europe since 2003 on the piano. According to her biography on her website, Hewitt appears as a solo pianist with major orchestras in Europe, the Americas, Australia and Asia.

Movers dropped the piano following Hewitt’s recent CD recording session in Berlin, she said. The maker of the piano, Paolo Fazioli, told Hewitt it is not salvageable because the iron frame is broken, along with the structure.

“I adored this piano. It was my best friend, best companion,” the Canada native wrote. “I loved how it felt when I was recording — giving me the possibility to do anything I wanted.”

The movers, whom Hewitt did not name, were “mortified” and told her that had never happened in their 35 years doing the job, she said.

Only 150 Fazioli pianos are made each year, Terence Lewis, co-owner of London’s Jaques Samuel Pianos, told The Guardian.

This particular piano would have been worth much more than $194,000 on the resell market because of who it belonged to, Lewis said. He called Hewitt “the goddess of the piano.”

“Accidents do unfortunately happen, but this was a very big one,” Lewis told The Guardian. “She would not have let it be moved by anyone she didn’t trust. She was very happy with them. I would have cried if I’d been involved. They must feel terrible because they would understand what the instrument means to her.”

Hewitt, who appeared on the cover of “Pianist” magazine in 2012, said this particular piano was the only F278 Fazioli in the world to have the 4-pedal mechanism. It was in “top form” after recently having new hammers and strings put on it, she wrote on Facebook.

She said there is now “all the insurance saga” but she hopes to soon choose a new piano from Fazioli.

“But what with his production schedule, and my touring around the world, this will take some months, I imagine,” she wrote.

Fazioli pianos, made in Sacile, Italy, are known for their rare and exotic woods. They have been selling grand and concert pianos since 1981, according to their website.

While she won’t be able to cash in on the piano, she does have one wish for it.

“I hope my piano will be happy in piano heaven,” she said.

This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 9:20 AM with the headline "Movers smash $194,000 piano belonging to famed musician: ‘It was my best friend’."