It was easy to spot Robert Mockus as a serious musician as soon as he entered the piano store.  A highly regarded professional pianist in Chicago, Mr. Mockus walked into the showroom with a stack of music tucked under his arm.

Many of the great composers like Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and Schubert were represented in the music Mr. Mockus carried, and as he moved through the showroom, he played samples from each master on different pianos.

“I was putting the pianos to a test, so to speak, comparing one to another in terms of how they responded to the range of different demands that the works of these classical composers make on an instrument,” recalled Mr. Mockus, who serves as the Director of Music at St. George Parish in Chicago, and an accompanist with the Halevi Choral Society, the only professional Jewish chorus in North America.

Mr. Mockus’ test lasted for close to two hours, and when it was completed, one piano emerged as clearly superior-a 5’8” Petrof grand.

“The Petrof really stood head and shoulders above the rest,” he said.  “At the time, Petrof was relatively new to this country, and I wasn’t familiar with the piano, although I’d heard some good things about it.  However, after experiencing its tone and responsiveness, I was sold.  I went back to the salesman’s desk, and said, ‘I’m ready to talk.”

One of the qualities of the Petrof that particularly impressed Mr. Mockus was the piano’s “boldness” when making sudden dynamic shifts.  The classics call for a much wider palette of expressions than popular music, he explained, so a piano must be able to respond to sudden dynamic shifts instantly and authoritatively.

“If a piano can’t make sudden dynamic shifts, it limits your expression as a musician,” he noted.  “With my Petrof, I feel I can go anywhere musically.”

Mr. Mockus is also very enthused about the way his Petrof grand maintains a clear, bright voice throughout every register.  “It’s rare that you encounter a piano that is very responsive all the way through from the lower to the upper registers,” he explained.  “With some pianos, you get a ting, ting sound in the upper register, and with others there’s dead spot in the middle.  But with Petrof, you have this beautiful consistency at every register.  Its lower register sound is among the clearest I’ve experienced.”

The only regret Mr. Mockus has about his Petrof is that he can’t “fold it up” and carry it with him when he gives recitals or plays at churches.  “I perform at many venues that have their own 9’ grands with famous nameplates,” he said.  “These pianos are fine instruments, but I seldom encounter one that approaches the level of the 5’8” Petrof I have at home.”