Petrof AP136 Concert Upright

About the Petrof AP136 Concert Upright

The 136 stands 53.5 inches tall and weighs around 320 kilograms - large even by concert-upright standards - and uses that size specifically to close the gap with a grand rather than just adding bulk. Its solid European spruce soundboard is deliberately 'floating,' with sections left unattached to the frame so it can vibrate more freely than a fully bonded board would allow, while a 45mm cross-laminated birch keybed, hand-joined wooden frame with six CNC-turned spruce back posts, and a CNC-machined cast iron plate with more open area than a standard frame work together to support that soundboard without choking it. The Renner action sits on four dedicated brackets for extra stability, strung with German Röslau steel wire and Degen copper-wound bass strings through 88 brass agraffes - the kind of component sourcing usually associated with premium grand pianos rather than uprights. Wider, lower-set solid brass pedals on an adjustable wooden mechanism echo a grand's pedal feel, a recessed slow-closing fallboard protects the keys without a loud slam, and a second interior music rack becomes usable once the front panel is removed, a small but telling detail for a piano built to be played seriously rather than just displayed. It belongs to Petrof's self-titled 'ANT. PETROF' line, the company's flagship tier launched in 2014 for its 150th anniversary and named after founder Antonín Petrof, debuting with the 275 concert grand before the 225 semi-concert grand followed in 2016 and this 136 upright completed the line in 2017.

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Sound character of the Petrof AP136 Concert Upright

The clearest independent description calls the tone mellow with a round, full character, and notes it produces significantly more volume than Petrof's smaller 131 upright - consistent with a design built specifically to push an upright's projection toward grand-piano territory. Petrof's own marketing describes a 'romantic' tonal character with strong colour across the full range, attributing much of it to the floating soundboard's dynamic range, and a pianist quoted on Petrof's own site - a promotional rather than independent source - calls the balance and tone in the keyboard's extreme registers unprecedented for an upright. Treat that specific superlative as the company's own framing rather than a verified claim, but the independent reviewer's account of a notably mellow, full, loud tone lines up with it in substance if not in marketing enthusiasm.

What owners of the Petrof AP136 Concert Upright say

As a high-priced, low-volume flagship model, the 136 hasn't accumulated the kind of forum or buyer-review trail more common instruments build up - the strongest available independent voice is a single detailed professional assessment rather than a broad sample of owner opinions. That reviewer, a conservatory-trained pianist and piano teacher, judged the ANT. PETROF line overall - grands and this upright alike - as exceptional, powerful and versatile instruments suited to professional pianists and serious dedicated players, while being transparent that her judgment rested on one showroom sample of each model, prepared by a single technician, and that some calls (particularly tonal color preference) come down to personal taste rather than objective measurement. That caveat is worth keeping in mind: this is a well-informed, credentialed single opinion, not a consensus built from many owners' experience over time.

Playability & handling of the Petrof AP136 Concert Upright

An independent review by Dr. Pei-Hsin Kao - a Peabody Conservatory-trained pianist who teaches at Bellevue College and runs her own piano studio - found the action unusually sensitive and easy to control for an upright, crediting the longer keys with producing a touch that felt closer to a grand's than typical upright pianos manage. As a practical test, she played the rapid repeated notes of Chopin's Étude Op. 25 No. 6 with relative ease, a passage that punishes sluggish or poorly regulated action on lesser instruments. Comparing it directly to Petrof's smaller 131 upright, she described the 131 as denser and more straightforward - better suited to technical practice for students and intermediate-to-advanced amateurs - while judging the 136 the closest any upright she'd played had come to true grand piano feel, without claiming it fully matches one. Her clearest practical caveat: the instrument's sheer volume can overwhelm a small room unless the practice (middle) or half-blow (left) pedal gets used regularly, which is why she recommends it for larger spaces like classrooms, churches or rehearsal studios rather than a typical home living room.

Recommended accessories & strings for the Petrof AP136 Concert Upright

Given the reviewer's specific warning about room-filling volume, the two soft/practice pedals aren't optional extras here but a practical daily tool for anyone playing this instrument in a smaller space - using them regularly is presented as the main way to tame an upright built to project like something much bigger. Beyond that, upkeep follows standard upright piano practice: periodic tuning (string material here is German Röslau steel wire with Degen copper-wound bass strings, both reputable piano-wire brands), and action regulation appropriate to an instrument built around a genuine Renner mechanism rather than a budget substitute.

Technical data for the Petrof AP136 Concert Upright

The history of the Petrof AP136 Concert Upright

The 136 is the upright member of Petrof's 'ANT. PETROF' line, the company's self-described flagship tier, launched in 2014 to mark Petrof's 150th anniversary and named in tribute to founder Antonín Petrof. The line opened with the 275 concert grand that same year, followed by the 225 semi-concert grand in 2016, before this 136 upright completed the trio in 2017 as proof the flagship treatment wasn't reserved for grand pianos alone. The line reached the US market at the 2019 NAMM show in Anaheim, where Northwest Pianos in Bellevue, Washington evaluated early samples - the same showroom where the independent review informing much of this entry's playability and sound assessment was conducted.

About Petrof as a manufacturer

Antonín Petrof (1839-1915) was born in Hradec Králové and learned piano making in Vienna under his uncle Jan Heitzmann before returning to Bohemia in 1864 to build his first instrument. In 1865 he converted his father's cabinetry workshop on the old town square into a piano-making operation, and in 1866 formally registered the company as A. Petrof. The firm expanded steadily - relocating to larger premises on the outskirts of Hradec Králové in 1874, opening an auxiliary factory in Temesvár (today Timișoara, Romania) in 1880, debuting its own keyboard and action design in 1881, and beginning series production in 1883. Today Petrof is Europe's largest manufacturer of acoustic pianos, exporting to more than 60 countries, and the 'ANT. PETROF' line this 136 upright belongs to represents the company's modern attempt to put that scale and heritage behind a small, deliberately exclusive flagship tier rather than spreading flagship-level engineering across its entire catalog.