Kawai vs K.Kawai vs Shigeru Kawai

[mitch24]

Can someone help differenciate these brands.  Like are they all the same or what?

[pianobil]

Dear Mitch,

I don't know the difference between K. Kawai and Kawai, if there is any, but the Shigeru Kawais are a truly high end piano.  I am a competitive pianist, and in a recent competition in Japan, I was offered the choice of performing on one of four pianos - a Yamaha, a Bosendorfer, a Steinway, and a Shigeru Kawai.  Though I went with the Steinway at the end, I was torn between the Steinway and the Shigeru, and found mysely quite surprised at the indecision.  My entire life until that choice, I had always found Steinway to be the only choice.  (I do suppose every now and then a Bosendorfer or Bechstein will fit a particular piece well, but there's just that great security on a Steinway.)

Anyway, abuot the Shigerus, I have not yet ween one outside of Japan.  However, upon Baldwin doing out of business, Earl Wild switched his sponsorship from Baldwin to Kawai, so if he plays a concert near you soon, you can probably bet that it will be on a Shigeru Kawai.  (What his personal problem was with Steinway, I do not know, but he has long avoided them.)

Hope that helps answer any questions...

Best,
Bill

[happyface94]

They're the same company, I guess they just change the names. Shigeru kawai are their high brand, I think they're all hand made. My conservatory in Canada is filled with those (6'5" or something) However, our concert grand consist of Yamaha and Steinways.

[zlh]

Yes, they are same company.

Kawai: Upright
K. Kawai: Grand
Shigeru Kawai: Special higher-end Grand

Some like to call Shigeru handcrafted; I personally find it a misnomer, since all pianos are to some degree crafted by hand. I guess it is the amount of personal attention the piano gets, as well as the different materials used. Was told the construction is different as well.

Using Toyota-Lexus analogy to compare Kawai-Shigeru shouldn't be too far off. Another way to think is the C vs. S Yamaha series comparison.

I bought a Shigeru SKII two months ago, and couldn't be happier. I particularly like the mellow, but very clean and ringing tone of the SK series. The responsiveness of the touch is amazing, and the dynamic range breathtaking. Of course the above view is owner-biased, but I am very pleased.

Shigeru is vastly superior to mainstream Kawai RX-series. I played a RX-7 (I think 7'7") and a SKII (5'10") side by side, and preferred the SKII a whole lot more.

Hope this helps.

LH

[Waldszenen]

The "K" in K. Kawai stands for "Koichi", the founder of the Kawai piano firm (and interestingly, Yamaha's accountant until the latter's death). Just for your information.


And as already discussed, Shigeru Kawais are superior and are excellent pianos.

[dmk]

Anyway, abuot the Shigerus, I have not yet ween one outside of Japan.  However, upon Baldwin doing out of business, Earl Wild switched his sponsorship from Baldwin to Kawai, so if he plays a concert near you soon, you can probably bet that it will be on a Shigeru Kawai.  (What his personal problem was with Steinway, I do not know, but he has long avoided them.)

John Chen won the Sydney International Piano Competition last year playing a Shigeru Kawai!!

[Waldszenen]

John Chen won the Sydney International Piano Competition last year playing a Shigeru Kawai!!

Playing the Rach 3, incidentally. 

Out of the six finalists, only two used Steinway.

[Axtremus]

Interesting on both counts.

Personally, I very much like the way Rachmaninoff's music sounds on big Kawais... most memorable was hearing the c# minor Prelude (Op.3, #2) played on a 7-foot Shigeru SK-6.

As for only 1/3 of the finalists in the Sydney International Competition having chosed Steinway, that's a rather odd statistics... perhaps there was something wrong with that particular Steinway at the competition? What else was available besides Steinway and Shigeru-Kawai?

[dmk]

Interesting on both counts.

Personally, I very much like the way Rachmaninoff's music sounds on big Kawais... most memorable was hearing the c# minor Prelude (Op.3, #2) played on a 7-foot Shigeru SK-6.

As for only 1/3 of the finalists in the Sydney International Competition having chosed Steinway, that's a rather odd statistics... perhaps there was something wrong with that particular Steinway at the competition? What else was available besides Steinway and Shigeru-Kawai?

There were Yamaha, Bosendorfer, Shigeru-Kawai and Steinway.

The vast bulk of the competitors played on Steinways with several also using Yamahas.  Only 2 used a Kawai (to the best of my memory) and both of them made the final.  I am not sure that anyone used a bosendorfer but I was , apparently a very nice instrument!!!

As for wether anything was wrong with the Steinway at the competition, I have heard it was a little difficult to control and bass hard.  But 2nd and 3rd both played on it......

I think people come to the competition knowing which piano they are going to play, Im not sure they would switch 'brands'' like that although I could definately be wrong on this!!!!!!