Storied French Piano Manufacturer to Close
By RACHEL DONADIO

PARIS — Ending an era on a mournful chord, Pleyel, the storied French piano manufacturer whose pianos were once favored by Frédéric Chopin and Maurice Ravel, has announced that it will close its workshop after two centuries of production.

The company was founded in 1807 by Ignaz Pleyel, who studied with Josef Haydn. In a statement, the company said it was closing its workshop in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, and firing its 14 remaining employees, because of “recurring losses and a very low level of activity.”

In recent years, Pleyel tried to reinvent itself by focusing on high-end pianos and moved its production to Saint-Denis from the south of France, but that strategy did not work out. It also faced international competition, particularly in Asia where manufacturing costs are cheaper.

This year, Pleyel was bought by a French investment fund, a common fate for piano manufacturers. In August, Steinway Musical Instruments was bought by the hedge-fund manager John Paulson.

“Pleyel will look for alternative solutions,” the statement said. In the mean time, the company will continue to sell its existing stock. Pleyel pianos cost between 42,000 euros or roughly $56,000 for a more modest model and range up to around 250,000 euros or about $336,000 for a bespoke concert grand.

The company name will live on through the Salle Pleyel, one of Paris’s premier venues for classical music.

蕭邦的最愛…「鋼琴界法拉利」百雅將停產

鋼琴詩人蕭邦的最愛、深獲德布西、李斯特、史特拉汶斯基的青睞，擁有兩百年輝煌歷史的法國鋼琴製造商「百雅」（Pleyel），終究不敵中國大陸、南韓等亞洲國家平價鋼琴的嚴峻挑戰，將於年底停產。

創於1807年的「百雅」，是當今鋼琴業中資格最老的一家。創始人百雅（Ignaz Pleyel）是知名作曲家，也是海頓的得意門生。百雅生產的鋼琴，圓潤柔和的音色獲蕭邦指定為正式用琴。

兩百年來，百雅共製造出近廿五萬架鋼琴。每架鋼琴需要廿位不同領域的工匠，花費五百至一千五百個工時，才能將五千個不同組件組裝完成，因而在法國被譽為「鋼琴界的法拉利」。每架百雅鋼琴要價從四萬二千歐元到廿萬歐元（約一百六十七萬至七百九十五萬台幣）不等。全盛時期，百雅每年出貨三千架，現在剩下廿架，平均每月不到兩架。諷刺的是，百雅宣布停產的當天，法國政府啟動三點八億歐元（約一百五十億台幣）對抗關廠計畫。

歐美鋼琴大廠遭遇亞洲同業的削價競爭，紛感不支。今年七月，美國「史坦威」賣給對沖基金業者；英國最後一家鋼琴業者「肯寶」在2009年打烊，現改由「山葉」亞洲廠生產。

原文參照：
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/storied-french-piano-manufacturer-to-close/

2013-11-15．聯合報．A22．文化．編譯張佑生