Steinway Piano - 2003-06-24

The Steinway piano has been used by prominent pianists around the world, both past and present. For instance, Vladimir Horowitz refused to go to Moscow before his Steinway piano was shipped there. Arthur Rubinstein, Murray Perahia, Van Cliburn, Emmanuel Ax, Gary Grafman, Richard Goode, and Glenn Gould are all customers of Steinway. In major concert halls around the world, such as Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, and other venues in America and Europe, Steinway pianos are used. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Steinway & Sons piano factory in New York. After 150 years, the factory remains in its original location and has maintained its good reputation. During this time, over half a million Steinway pianos have been built in New York City. This figure is not large compared to the production numbers of other piano factories, but over 90% of renowned artists use this piano. The establishment of Steinway & Sons dates back to 1853, when Henry Engelhard Steinway immigrated from Germany to New York. He was a carpenter but had built 482 pianos in Germany. In New York, he launched his 483rd piano and sold it for $500 that year. That piano is now on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. During the first 40 years after its establishment, Henry and his five sons registered more than half of their 114 inventions, all based on modern scientific and technical findings. From the beginning, the beautiful and high-quality Steinway piano gained great fame and received gold awards at exhibitions worldwide. For example, at the 1867 exhibition in Paris, the grand gold medal of the exhibition was awarded to this piano. Henry Steinway built a village next to New York City for the factory and its workers to reside. This village had beautiful parks, schools, clinics, and other amenities. Among his five sons, Theodore showed more talent than the others. He was a skilled pianist and personally registered 41 inventions. Carnegie Hall in New York is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the introduction of the Steinway piano this year. Last week, Gary Grafman, Van Cliburn, and other famous pianists performed in this hall to commemorate the occasion. Today, each Steinway piano is valued at $150,000. If you do not have access to play a Steinway piano, try to listen to programs played on a Steinway.