About

A WORKSHOP, IN THE MOST DEMANDING SENSE OF THE WORD

The Atelier Balleron gives a new lease of life to pianos that have weathered the passage of time. This is neither a factory nor a trading house, but simply a workshop where the human hand still knows what the machine does not. Here, every restoration is a dialogue with the instrument, conducted with the patience that only the artisan’s touch can afford.

EXCELLENCE RECOGNISED AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

Under the direction of Sylvie Fouanon, a Master of Art honoured by the Ministry of Culture in 2019, a Knight of the Legion of Honour and a sworn judicial expert at the Paris Court of Appeal, the workshop perpetuates a rare craft: the complete restoration of grand antique pianos — Pleyel, Erard, Gaveau, Steinway, Bechstein — restored to their original splendour, note by note, grain by grain.

THE CRAFT, MINUTE BY MINUTE

An easel will take shape again this week, just like so many others before it: cut, fitted and glued by hand. A new pinblock will restore the tuning stability of a century-old Pleyel. The grain of the mahogany or rosewood, dulled by a century of silence, re-emerges beneath a shellac varnish applied with a rubber stamp – applied using the traditional method, entirely by hand, layer by layer. The ivory keyboard is polished with the same patience, and the action is refitted piece by piece, before the final step of voicing reveals the instrument’s precise timbre. Nothing is left to machines: every stage bears the mark of the technician who carried it out.

A LIVING TRADITION Recognised as an ‘Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant’ (Living Heritage Company) since 2008, the Atelier Balleron does more than simply repair: it passes on the tradition. Every restored piano bears the mark of a living craft, where technical rigour is matched by absolute fidelity to the soul of the instrument. “We don’t restore an object; we bring a voice back to life.”

Here, time is not measured in hours, but in precise movements.

ONE HAND, ONE CRAFT, ONE DEVOTION

At the age of fifteen, Sylvie Fouanon walked through the doors of the Balleron workshop for the first time. She would never leave. In this workshop, where the beautiful piano takes centre stage, she trained her ear to recognise the beauty of sound and her hands to perform the precise movements required – a dual challenge that convinced her, from a very early age, of the need to keep this craft alive in order to pass on the sonic aesthetics of the repertoire from the eras she serves. Forty-four years later, those hands – which have learnt the grain of the wood, the memory of a glue, of a sound – have become some of the most renowned in France.

THE TIME IT TAKES, NOT THE TIME WE WOULD LIKE

There is something that Sylvie Fouanon’s hand knows, and that nothing and no one can teach it any faster than she has learnt it herself: wood needs time. Glue needs time. The varnish, applied with a pad, layer upon layer, needs even more. So she takes that time – she has been taking it for forty-four years, every day, in her Parisian workshop – because a piano is not simply repaired; it must be understood.

FAITHFULNESS, NOT SLOWNESS

His philosophy is based on a simple conviction, one he has never wavered from since he first entered the workshop at the age of fifteen: to follow the material rather than constrain it or impose his own ego upon it. To respect the maker’s intention rather than alter it. Every step – sanding, gluing, harmonising – is carried out by hand, using the original techniques and materials, because this is the only way to remain true to what the instrument once was. It is a conviction she herself expresses quite plainly: destroying the original material to replace it with plastic is not ethical!

A SOUND RECOGNISED BY THE GREATEST

This fidelity is recognised instantly by the greatest musicians. Those who lay their hands on a piano from her workshop rediscover something they no longer thought they would hear: the sound of the era in which the instrument was designed, with its texture, its timbre, its presence. It is this recreation – rare, almost lost – that has built her reputation far beyond Paris.

TRUST THAT CROSSES BORDERS

Clients from abroad, who have never set foot in the workshop, entrust him with their most precious instruments on the sole basis of his reputation: restored pianos are sent to England, whilst others find their way to music lovers in Japan; they know that in his hands, a century-old piano will rediscover its voice without ever losing its soul.

Master of Art, Knight of the Legion of Honour, Court-appointed expert at the Paris Court of Appeal, Medal for Excellence in Craftsmanship – these titles have merely confirmed what his hands had already been achieving, on their own, for a long time.

JUDICIAL EXPERT

Sylvie Fouanon has been an Expert at the Paris Court of Appeal since 2011. A judicial expert report provides a precise diagnosis of the cause of defects, going far beyond a commercial quotation or a technician’s personal opinion. It carries the weight of a binding commitment and guarantees an impartial, objective and competent assessment of the instrument’s condition, its technical capabilities, the cost of the work, its appropriateness and who should bear the costs.

The court-appointed expert submits a lengthy, detailed and well-reasoned report which serves as technical input to assist the judge in reaching a decision to resolve a dispute. Her opinion is binding for thirty years.

This status as a court-appointed expert provides an additional guarantee of integrity: equally authoritative in both private and court-appointed expert assessments, piano expert Sylvie Fouanon acts on behalf of the client to assist them in cases of doubt, disputes with insurance companies or legal disputes with sellers.

‘Integrity is the quality of being upright, that is to say, just, honest, incorruptible, of high moral character, and self-disciplined. Integrity is a moral quality of righteousness, good faith and honesty which manifests itself through the rigorous observance of moral rules and the principles of justice’.

Sylvie Fouanon is a member of the Association of Experts in Furniture, Works of Art and Collectables at the Paris Court of Appeal

Sylvie Fouanon has put together a team dedicated to producing beautiful work together. This communal working means the team can meet the specific needs of each customer, whether they are professional musicians or music lovers who are looking for authenticity in the means as well as the musical ends. The team, which has been working with Sylvie in her workshop for several years, have learnt their skills by repeating the same delicate tasks time and time again during complex restoration work. Sylvie gives each member of her team free reign to develop their own style. Each person has been hand-picked for their ability to work with the others towards a single shared aim: touching the pianist’s emotions through the feel, sound and beauty of an instrument working together.

Japan is a country of full of music lovers, and they are passionate about beauty and tradition. When Akiko Wada-Okayasu returned from France in 2012, she opened the Pianos Balleron Japan workshop in Tokyo. The expertise she learned from 10 years working with Sylvie Fouanon means she can provide the beautiful antique and vintage European pianos that her Japanese customers so desire. Akiko has a selection of over 40 Balleron-restored pianos in Japan. The Balleron workshop exports pianos to Japan which are then restored by Akiko, as well as pianos restored on site in France which have been chosen by music lovers during VIP visits to Paris.

The Balleron workshop applied for and gained the French Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (Living Heritage Company) label in 2009, awarded by the Institut Supérieur des Métiers (Trades Institute). This heritage label is an initiative of the French Ministry for Economy, Industry and Employment. It sets Maison Balleron apart, recognising its artisanal skills, history and links to important musical heritage. It is proof of the innovation and rare skills that have made the workshop so famous. The label must be renewed every 5 years, and in 2014 Maison Balleron secured the mark, and the recognition of quality that is represents, for the next half decade.