TUNING and SETTINGS
Our tuners, trained in Petignac, and graduates from the ITEMM, ally competence and passion to follow you at their best.
Care and maintenance
Gérard Fauvin prepares new instruments for conservatories and peoples.
RESTORATION WORKSHOP
At the Domaine Musical de Pétignac, the workshop is the reference, both holding and culminating in all our actions and approaches.
INSTRUMENT RATING
Gérard Fauvin has been an apprentice for more than 30 years. In contact with his masters (Stein, Walter, Graf, Erard, Blüthner, Steinway, Broadwood and many more) he has learnt to forget his ego in order to let the “master” express himself through the instrument that has been designed 100, 150, 200 years ago and sometimes even more.
At the bedside of those old pianos that need restoration, the question “How serious is it Doctor ?” Often offers an apparently simple answer that we can often summarize as “It’s dead, but we can change everything and make it new”. In fact the answer is NO !
The long relationship with these historical pianos has generated within this restorer – doctor a long series of questioning. Through 5 questions Gerard Fauvin answers the question “What is the value, according to you, of this piano?”.
Having helped to define if “it’s worth it”, we can consider a restoration and we can propose the choice between many eventualities:
– Conservation of the instrument as it is
– Partial Restoration if possible
– High quality traditional restoration
– Historical restoration
What follows are important decisions that commit the esthetics of the restoration:
– Priorities choice
– Materials choice
– Choice of implemented techniques
Gerard Fauvin has given two conferences at the Carrousel du Louvre during the Cultural Heritage Show in 2005 and 2006, dealing with “Appraisal of antique pianos” and “The historical Restoration”.
