40°45′54″N 73°58′43″W / 40.7649°N 73.9787°W / 40.7649; -73.9787
104-504: Steinway Hall (German: Steinway-Haus ) is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and Steinway-Häuser are located in cities such as New York City, London, Berlin, and Vienna. A related concept by Steinway is "Steinway Piano Galleries". The Steinway Piano Galleries have all
208-486: A rate of return of only 2%. Steinway Hall and its land were sold to the Manhattan Life Insurance Company in 1958. Throughout the years, Steinway Hall's tenants also included publications such as Musical America , Architectural Forum , and The Economist , as well as CBS broadcasting studios. Steinway Hall was acquired by 111 West 57th Street Associates in 1980. Steinway bought back
312-464: A 125th anniversary Steinway limited edition grand piano was designed by Count Albrecht von Goertz . Until his death on September 18, 2008, at the age of 93, Henry Z. Steinway , the great-grandson of the Steinway founder, still worked for Steinway and put his signature on custom-made limited-edition pianos. At several public occasions, Henry Z. Steinway represented the Steinway family. He started at
416-399: A 35-foot (11 m) domed ceiling, marble decoration, and a chandelier. The ceiling has four paintings by Paul Arndt , surrounded by grotesques and images painted by Cooper and Gentiluomo. The rotunda sat up to 300 guests and a small symphony orchestra. The lobby level also contained Steinway Hall's showrooms, covered with wood panels for better acoustics. Originally Steinway & Sons used
520-500: A beautiful attribute of the world-renowned firm of Steinway & Sons. ...Owing to my ignorance of the mechanism of piano construction I can but praise the magnificent result in the volume and quality of sound." In 1890, Steinway received its first royal warrant , granted by Queen Victoria . The following year the patrons of Steinway included the Prince of Wales and other members of royalty and nobility. In subsequent years Steinway
624-528: A commemorative Steinway limited edition grand piano. In 2005, Steinway celebrated the 125th anniversary of the establishment of its factory in Hamburg, Germany. The celebration featured a concert at the Laeiszhalle concert hall in Hamburg with performances by Vladimir and Vovka Ashkenazy, Lang Lang , and Detlef Kraus . 1,800 people from 33 countries attended the concert. As part of the celebration,
728-490: A concert hall, several showrooms, and practice rooms available for children as well as adults to study music. Over 100 Steinway, Boston and Essex pianos are housed in the 5-story building. The Steinway-Haus has a "piano bank" of Hamburg Steinway pianos maintained and available for use in concerts and studio recordings by guests as well as by local entertainers. The 125th anniversary of the Hamburg Steinway factory
832-485: A factory at Park Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Street (the present site of the Seagram Building ) where it covered a whole block. With a workforce of 350 men, production increased from 500 to nearly 1,800 pianos per year. The employees were mostly German immigrants and the official language of the company was German. The pianos themselves underwent numerous substantial improvements through innovations made both at
936-462: A few blocks away burned down to the ground, on May 22, 1866, William Steinway laid the first stone of the Steinway Hall building. The hall opened on October 31, 1866. Its four floors had enough space to fit in a showroom for more than 100 pianos, the concert hall and rooms for piano lessons. The hall and the other rooms were illuminated with over 700 gaslights . The ground floor was occupied by
1040-522: A greater range of preferences. 57th Street (Manhattan) 57th Street is a broad thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan , one of the major two-way, east-west streets in the borough's grid . As with Manhattan's other “crosstown” streets, it is divided into its east and west sections at Fifth Avenue . The street runs from a small park overlooking the East River in
1144-569: A higher offer, $ 512 million, to take the company private. The Steinway Musical Instruments board recommended that shareholders accept this, and in September 2013 Paulson announced completion of the acquisition. After the 2008 economic downturn , Steinway grand piano sales fell by half, and 30 percent of the union employees were laid off at the New York factory between August 2008 and November 2009. Sales were down 21 percent in 2009 in
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#17327731507001248-689: A homogenization of the sound favored by pianists. Steinway pianos have received numerous awards. One of the first is a gold medal in 1855 at the American Institute Fair at the New York Crystal Palace . From 1855 to 1862, Steinway pianos received 35 gold medals. More awards and recognitions followed, including three medals at the International Exposition of 1867 in Paris. The European part of
1352-529: A hundred pianos per year left the factory. In the later years of the war, the company was ordered to give up all the prepared and dried wood their lumber yard held for war production. In an air raid over Hamburg, several Allied bombs hit the factory and nearly destroyed it. After the war, Steinway restored the Hamburg factory with help from the Marshall Plan . In the late 1960s, Steinway brought countersuit against Grotrian-Steinweg to stop them from using
1456-453: A judge had been paid directly, although Barron states that the judge was bribed through an intermediary, the pianist Frederic Boscovitz. According to freelancer Isabel Wolff, William Steinway admitted in his diary that under his leadership the New York City arm of the company bribed judges at trade fairs to favor Steinway pianos. According to musicologist Donald W. Fostle, it is untrue that Steinway repeatedly bribed judges at trade fairs, and in
1560-608: A line of art case pianos, designed by artists. In 1903, the 100,000th Steinway grand piano was given as a gift to the White House ; it was decorated by the artist Thomas Wilmer Dewing . The 100,000th Steinway grand piano was replaced in 1938 by the 300,000th, which remains in use in the White House. The piano is normally placed in the largest room of the White House, the East Room . Later, Steinway diversified into
1664-400: A lot reaching back to 58th Street. William K. Benedict and Marvin & Davis designed a 10-story building for the site, but because of legal disputes and the recently enacted 1916 Zoning Resolution , plans were delayed for several years. A 16-story building was ultimately designed by Warren and Wetmore and built from June 1924 to April 1925. A grand opening was held on October 27, 1925. Among
1768-520: A preference for pianos from Steinway's Hamburg factory over those made in New York, or vice versa. Emanuel Ax , concert pianist and piano teacher at the Juilliard School , has said that "... the differences have more to do with individual instruments than with where they were made." Larry Fine , American piano technician and author of The Piano Book , considers Hamburg Steinways to be of higher quality than those from New York. In 2010,
1872-461: A residential development at 111 West 57th Street , which started construction in 2014. Steinway & Sons were allowed to stay in the 57th Street building for eighteen months after it had been sold. Steinway moved out of that building in the end of 2014. In 2016, a new Steinway Hall opened at 1133 Sixth Avenue and 43rd Street, next to The Town Hall , a Steinway venue. The Steinway Hall in London
1976-512: A skyscraper for the Calvary Baptist Church was erected at 123 West 57th Street between 1929 and 1930. On East 57th Street, several luxury apartment buildings were also developed. Starting in the 2010s, quite a few very tall ultra-luxury residential buildings have been constructed or proposed on the stretch of West 57th Street between Eighth and Park Avenues, which is largely within two blocks of Central Park. The first of these
2080-570: A small city park overlooking the East River just east of Sutton Place. The street was designated by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 that established the Manhattan street grid as one of 15 east-west streets that would be 100 feet (30 m) in width (while other streets were designated as 60 feet (18 m) in width). Throughout its history, 57th Street has contained high-end housing and retail, as well as artistic uses. 57th Street
2184-399: A three-day concert series with performances by Peter Cincotti , Art Garfunkel , Herbie Hancock , Ben Heppner , Ahmad Jamal , Ramsey Lewis , Randy Newman , Roger Williams , Nancy Wilson , Yundi Li and Eroica Trio , among others. The first concert featured classical music, the second jazz, and the third pop. As part of the 150th anniversary, fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld created
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#17327731507002288-534: A worldwide "piano bank" from which performing pianists, especially Steinway Artists , can select a Steinway piano with the touch and tonal characteristics they prefer for use in a certain concert, recording, or tour. Steinway prepares, tunes, and delivers the piano of the performer's choice to the designated concert hall or recording studio at the performer's expense. The "piano bank" consists of approximately 250 Steinway pianos valued collectively at $ 12.5 million in 2019. Some pianists and technicians have expressed
2392-515: Is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to a move to a larger factory in New York, and later opening an additional factory in Hamburg , Germany. The New York factory, in the borough of Queens , supplies the Americas, and the factory in Hamburg supplies
2496-595: Is home to the city-owned performance venue Carnegie Hall . The mid-block between Seventh and Sixth Avenues is a terminus of a north-south pedestrian avenue named Sixth and a Half Avenue . East of Sixth Avenue, the street is home to numerous high-end retail establishments including the Tiffany & Co. flagship store and the Bergdorf Goodman Building . The stores located at 57th Street's intersections with Fifth and Madison Avenues occupy some of
2600-561: Is named after the company. In 1876, Steinway participated in the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The competition among piano makers principally involved Steinway, Chickering , and Weber . According to journalist James Barron 's account of Steinway's participation in the competition, the company was able to secure success by bribing one of the judges. William Steinway denied to the exposition's organizers that
2704-558: Is notable for prestigious art galleries, restaurants and up-market shops. The first block of 57th Street, at its western end at Twelfth Avenue near the Hudson River waterfront, is home to the VIA 57 West building, designed in the form of a triangular pyramid by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels . From there to Tenth Avenue are low-rise industrial properties, several automobile dealerships, and small-scale residential buildings. Much of
2808-562: Is now the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City. Steinway Village was built as its own town, and included a new factory (still used today) with its own foundry and sawmill, houses for employees, kindergarten, lending library, post office, volunteer fire department, and parks. Steinway Village later became part of Long Island City . Steinway Street , one of the major streets in the Astoria and Long Island City neighborhoods of Queens,
2912-465: Is simply their size (which is indicated by their model letter), which is also one of the most important indicators of their relative prices. Steinway pianos are also sold in the secondary market. The price of a used Steinway can vary tremendously, depending on the model (size), age, condition, and the quality of any restoration work that has been done. Additionally, Steinway offers certified pre-owned pianos, using Steinway-approved parts. Steinway makes
3016-529: The Fibonacci spiral and Macassar ebony veneer. It took 6,000 hours of work over 4 years to make, and was priced at $ 2.4 million. As of early 2021, Paulson & Co. remains the ultimate parent of Steinway & Sons, with head office at 1251 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Steinway pianos are sold by a worldwide network of around 200 authorized Steinway dealers who operate around 300 showrooms. The primary differentiation between Steinway models
3120-774: The Kangnam University , which is also an All-Steinway School . Steinway & Sons' main showroom recently opened in Beijing, where UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lang Lang introduced his own branded line of pianos, designed by Steinway & Sons, to the audience of Beijing society and media. The 65th Steinway Children and Youth Competition was recently held in Beijing. Today, additional forms of Steinway & Sons sales venues are located in Shanghai and Tokyo. Steinway %26 Sons Steinway & Sons , also known as Steinway ( / ˈ s t aɪ n w eɪ / ),
3224-727: The Ringstraße is one of the boutique Steinway showrooms that caters to entertainers in Austria and Central Europe. Besides the showrooms, the Steinway Haus in Vienna has several practice rooms and music classes open for students of all ages to polish their performing skills. The Steinway concert department has a "piano bank" of Hamburg Steinways. The Steinway-Haus of Vienna has been the main supplier of concert grand pianos to classical venues, as well as other entertainment centers in
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3328-535: The Steinway & Sons brand, Steinway markets two other brands: Boston for the mid-level market and Essex for the entry-level market. Boston and Essex pianos are made using lower-cost components and labor. Pianos of these two brands, made with Steinway owned designs, are manufactured in Asia by suppliers. Steinway allows only its authorized Steinway dealers to carry new Boston and Essex pianos. Steinway maintains
3432-617: The 1890s, with the development of Carnegie Hall . The section between Fifth and Eighth Avenues is two blocks south of Central Park . Since the early 21st century, the portion of the street south of Central Park has formed part of Billionaires' Row , which contains luxury residential skyscrapers such as 111 West 57th Street , One57 , and the Central Park Tower . Over its two-mile (3 km) length, 57th Street passes through several distinct neighborhoods with differing mixes of commercial, retail, and residential uses. 57th Street
3536-629: The 3-story building. The Steinway-Haus has a "piano bank" of Hamburg Steinway pianos maintained and available for use in concerts and studio recordings by guests as well as by local entertainers. In 1953, the Steinway-Haus was opened on the Colonnaden street in Hamburg. In 2003, the 50th anniversary of Steinway-Haus Hamburg was marked by a series of concerts of classical and popular music performed by numerous guest stars as well as by local musicians. Today Steinway-Haus in Hamburg has
3640-580: The 300,000th Steinway piano from 1938, and the Sound of Harmony from 2008. The Alma-Tadema grand piano was designed by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and received great public acclaim when it was exhibited in London. The piano is made of ebony , inlaid with ivory and mother of pearl , with carved case, lid, and legs, and painted in the inside lid by artist Edward Poynter . It was bought by financier Henry Gurdon Marquand for his New York City mansion. In 1997, it
3744-615: The Allied Armies to build wooden gliders to convey troops behind enemy lines. Steinway could make few normal pianos, but built 2,436 special models called the Victory Vertical or G.I. Piano . It was a small piano that four men could lift, painted olive drab, gray, or blue, designed to be carried aboard ships or dropped by parachute from an airplane to bring music to the soldiers. The factory in Hamburg, Germany, could sell very few pianos during World War II. No more than
3848-688: The German manufacturer Kluge in Wuppertal, which supplies keyboards, in December 1998, and in November 1999 purchased the company that supplies its cast iron plates, O. S. Kelly Co. in Springfield, Ohio. A majority of the world's concert halls own at least one Steinway piano, and some (for example Carnegie Hall ) have model D-274s from both the Hamburg factory and the New York factory to satisfy
3952-525: The Gothic palaces of railroad kings". The area to the west contained townhouses, some of which were known as New York City's "choicest" residences. On East 57th Street, there were homes interspersed with structures built for the arts. An artistic hub developed around the two blocks of West 57th Street from Sixth Avenue to Broadway during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the opening of Carnegie Hall in 1891. Artists' studio apartments, such as
4056-729: The Grotrian-Steinweg brand – both the Hamburg-based Steinway factory and the Braunschweig-based Grotrian-Steinweg factory became known for making premium German pianos. Meanwhile, the 1880s saw the company embroiled in a series of labor disputes between the New York City factory's management and workers. Back then, industrialists faced labor strikes frequently. One dispute, in 1880, saw the company lead an industry-wide lockout of piano workers in New York City. In later disputes in
4160-400: The New York factory made some changes in its manufacturing processes and materials to improve quality, and Fine was invited to tour the factory to see some of the changes. Fine wrote in his Acoustic & Digital Piano Buyer of Spring 2011 that the changes have improved the quality of the New York pianos, but that the Hamburg pianos are still of higher quality. Steinway has two sales areas:
4264-597: The Rembrandt at 152 West 57th Street and the Sherwood Studios at 58 West 57th Street, both since demolished, were developed on the south side of the street to take advantage of light from the north, while the Osborne Apartments were built diagonally across Carnegie Hall to provide soundproof residences for musicians. On the south side of the street, other artists' studio apartments were erected in
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4368-609: The Russian virtuoso pianist Anton Rubinstein . Rubinstein's legendary concert at the Steinway Hall was sold out with 3000 guests, many of them standing. Cultural highlights included performances of such artists as Fritz Kreisler , Walter Damrosch , Jenny Lind , readings of Charles Dickens and performances of the Boston Symphony Orchestra . Steinway Hall, as the center of New York's cultural life, attracted more customers to Steinway showrooms. The marketing idea
4472-430: The Steinway Hall on 14th Street in 1923 and closed it two years later. While the section on 14th Street was immediately demolished, the rear section housing the concert hall remained through the 1980s. After the closure of the auditorium at 14th Street, Steinway & Sons began looking for new sites near Carnegie Hall. In 1916, the firm found a site at 109–113 West 57th Street , between Sixth and Seventh Avenues , with
4576-528: The Steinway factory and elsewhere in the industry based on emerging engineering and scientific research, including developments in the understanding of acoustics. Almost half of the company's 139 patented inventions were developed by the first and second generations of the Steinway family. Steinway's pianos won prizes at exhibitions in New York City, London, and Paris. By 1862, Steinway pianos had received more than 35 medals . Part of Steinway's early reputation arose from its successes in trade fairs. In 1865,
4680-953: The Steinway family sent a letter to C. F. Theodor Steinweg asking that he leave the German Steinweg factory (by then located in Braunschweig (Brunswick)) and travel to New York City to take over the leadership of the family firm due to the deaths of his brothers Henry and Charles from disease. C. F. Theodor Steinweg obeyed, selling his share of the German piano company to his partner Wilhelm Grotrian (son of Friedrich Grotrian) and two other workmen, Adolph Helfferich and H. G. W. Schulz. The German factory changed its name from C. F. Theodor Steinweg to Grotrian, Helfferich, Schulz, Th. Steinweg Nachf. (English: Grotrian, Helfferich, Schulz, successors to Th. Steinweg ), later shortened to Grotrian-Steinweg . In New York City, C. F. Theodor Steinweg anglicized his name to C. F. Theodore Steinway. During
4784-618: The Steinway piano line, Steinway markets two other, lower-priced brands of piano sold under the brand names Boston and Essex . Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg first made pianos in the 1820s from his house in Seesen , Germany. He made pianos under the Steinweg brand until he emigrated from Germany to America in 1850 with his wife and seven of his nine children. The eldest son, C. F. Theodor Steinweg , remained in Germany, and continued making
4888-558: The Steinweg brand of pianos, partnering with Friedrich Grotrian, a piano dealer, from 1856 to 1865. In 1853, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg founded Steinway & Sons. His first workshop in America was in a small loft at the back of 85 Varick Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The first piano made by Steinway & Sons was given the number 483 because Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg had built 482 pianos in Germany. Number 483
4992-661: The United States. But sales began increasing a little in 2010, and they continued to improve the following year. In 2015, Steinway went back to the player piano industry from around the 1920s by introducing a digital player piano series called Spirio. The technology in the Spirio pianos was created in 2007 by Wayne Stahnke, an Austrian engineer who has previously made digital player piano systems for other piano companies, like Yamaha and Bösendorfer . Wayne Stahnke's technology, originally called Live Performance Model LX ,
5096-473: The art case piano line or the limited edition piano line. Steinway began creating art case pianos in 1857 and the making of art case pianos reached its peak in the late 19th century. Today, Steinway only builds art case pianos on rare occasions. The art case pianos are unique. Some of Steinway's most notable art case pianos are the Alma-Tadema grand piano from 1887, the 100,000th Steinway piano from 1903,
5200-538: The block to the west. William B. Bishop, a banker and stockbroker, built one of the first, a brownstone at number 10. An 1876 directory gives addresses on the block for bankers John Ellis and John S. Kennedy ; merchants John Auchincloss, Richard R. Haines, Caleb Marsh, and James Talcot; importer Sigmund Housman; lawyers Frederick W. Stevens and Stephen Benton Elkins ; manufacturer Henry T. Sloane ; and politicians Edwin Einstein and Samuel B. H. Vance . At that time,
5304-469: The block's best-known residents were two branches of the Roosevelt family, one headed by James A. Roosevelt and the other by Theodore Roosevelt Sr., President Theodore Roosevelt 's father. A directory of 1881 adds the names of other prominent citizens including merchant Augustus D. Juilliard , financier William Bayard Cutting , and banker Jacob Schiff . The intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue
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#17327731507005408-518: The block's mansions into upscale retail establishments. A real estate specialist was quoted in 1922 as saying 57th Street was "the greatest street in New York". As the transformation to fashionable shopping district proceeded, reporters began referring to the block as " Rue de la Paix of New York" or "the Rue de la Paix of America". Furthermore, after about 1921, art galleries started to supplant residences on 57th Street, and other art galleries developed on
5512-449: The building in 1999 and leased the land for 99 years from the former owner. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated Steinway Hall's facade as a New York City landmark in November 2001. The leasehold interest was sold to developers in 2013, and the LPC designated the rotunda as an interior landmark the same year. The Steinway Hall on 57th Street was incorporated into
5616-599: The capital of Austria. Steinway Hall in Chicago (1896–1970) was a theater, and later cinema, located at 64 E. Van Buren Street, Chicago. It had at least 14 different name changes over the years, opening in 1896 as the Steinway Hall, and closing in the late 1960s as Capri Cinema. Steinway Hall and showrooms opened in Seoul, catering to performers and musicians of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and
5720-483: The company held a royal warrant of appointment to Queen Elizabeth II . Steinway & Sons was named Company of the Year in 1996 by The Music Trades magazine. The award was given in recognition of Steinway's "overall performance, quality, value-added products, a well-executed promotional program and disciplined distribution which generated the most impressive results in the entire music industry." In addition to
5824-422: The company in 1937 after graduating from Harvard University . He was president of the company from 1956 to 1977 and was the last Steinway family member to be president of Steinway. In 1972, after a lengthy strike, a long-running financial struggle, high legal expenses, and a lack of business interest among some of the Steinway family members, the firm was sold to CBS . At that time, CBS owned many enterprises in
5928-510: The concert hall concertgoers had to pass through the showrooms, a way to advertise Steinway pianos. Sales increased by more than 400 pianos in 1867. Steinway Hall quickly became one of New York City's most prominent cultural centers, housing the New York Philharmonic for the next 25 years until Carnegie Hall opened in 1891. In 1925, the Steinway Hall on East 14th Street was closed and a new Steinway Hall on West 57th Street
6032-475: The construction of the piano. About a third of Steinway's patented inventions are under the name of C. F. Theodore Steinway. The Steinway factory in Hamburg was part laboratory, part factory. Much of the precision cutting and drilling machinery installed in the New York factory was tried in the Hamburg factory first. C. F. Theodore Steinway died in Braunschweig in 1889, having successfully competed against
6136-630: The core of Midtown Manhattan, the street is dominated by very large commercial and residential towers, such as at the Hearst Tower at the southwest corner of 57th Street and Eighth Avenue. This stretch of 57th Street is home to several large hotels such as Le Parker Meridien and well-known restaurants such as the Russian Tea Room (both between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue ), and to the offices of several magazines including The Economist . The corner of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue
6240-598: The cultural life of the German capital. Since its opening in 1909, the Steinway-Haus in Berlin has been through many dramatic events of history, it was re-opened in 1948 in the ex-house of the pianist Josef Hofmann in the Hardenbergstraße No. 9. Today Steinway-Haus in Berlin has a miniature concert hall, several showrooms, and practice rooms available for children as well as adults to study music. Over 80 Steinway, Boston and Essex pianos are housed in
6344-554: The decade, the company hired detectives to spy on its workers, paid police to take management's side in the dispute and to protect company property, and evicted strike leaders from company housing. In 1883, the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt wrote in a letter to Steinway: "...The new Steinway grand is a glorious masterpiece in power, sonority, singing quality, and perfect harmonic effects, affording delight even to my old piano-weary fingers. Ever continuing success remains
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#17327731507006448-649: The early 20th century, such as 130 West 57th Street , 140 West 57th Street , and Rodin Studios . West 57th Street also served as the headquarters of organizations such as the Lotos Club , Architectural League of New York , Art Students League of New York , Louis H. Chalif Normal School of Dancing at 165 West 57th Street , and Society of American Artists . Following World War I , the block of 57th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues transitioned from residential to commercial as speculators bought and transformed
6552-577: The east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River in the west. 57th Street runs through the Midtown Manhattan neighborhoods of Sutton Place , Billionaire's Row , and Hell's Kitchen from east to west. 57th Street was created according to the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 and was developed as a mainly residential street in the mid-19th century. The central portion of 57th Street was developed as an artistic hub starting in
6656-449: The entertainment industry, including electric guitar and amplifier maker Fender , drum maker Rogers , electro-mechanical piano maker Rhodes , and the baseball team New York Yankees . CBS had plans to form a musical conglomerate that made and sold music in all forms and through all outlets, including records, radio, television, and musical instruments. This new conglomerate was evidently not as successful as CBS had expected, and Steinway
6760-607: The factory in New York supplies North and South America, and the one in Hamburg supplies the rest of the world. At all main Steinway showrooms across the world, customers can order pianos from either factory. The Hamburg and New York factories exchange parts and craftsmanship, and the parts for both factories come from the same places: Canadian maple is used for the rim, and the soundboards are made from Sitka spruce from Alaska . Both factories use similar crown parameters for their diaphragmatic soundboards. To maintain quality, Steinway has acquired some of its suppliers. Steinway bought
6864-521: The first Steinway Hall with the full support and cooperation from the City of New York. The concert hall was designed with 2,000 seats, and had a concert stage for a full 100-piece symphony orchestra. The concert hall was built in 1866 behind the showrooms on 14th Street in Manhattan and was one of the first concert halls for wider audiences in New York City. Four days after the Academy of Music on 14th Street
6968-420: The five lowest floors and rented out the upper floors. The basement housed storage, shipping, and a grand-piano testing area; the first story, a reception room and salesroom; the second story, salesrooms; the third floor, executive offices; and the fourth and fifth stories, music studios. Steinway Hall was intended as a speculative development for Steinway & Sons, but it was not particularly successful, with
7072-447: The following models of pianos: The Hamburg factory makes seven models of grand pianos and two upright models. (The numerical portion of each model designation represents the length of the grand pianos and the height of the upright pianos, in centimetres ). The New York factory makes six models of grand pianos and one model of upright piano. (Steinway has previously made upright pianos in different dimensions.) The Model L (5’ 10 1⁄2" )
7176-593: The founding of the Steinway factory in Hamburg, Germany. In 1993, Steinway introduced a new line of specially designed cases, the Steinway Crown Jewel Collection . The collection consists of grand and upright pianos in Steinway's regular models, but instead of the traditional black finish the pianos of the Steinway Crown Jewel Collection have veneers of rare woods from around the world. The collection includes Macassar ebony , East Indian rosewood , and kewazinga bubinga . In addition to
7280-462: The grand piano and it was priced at €1.2 million. The piano was chosen for use at the Expo 2010 Shanghai China . Examples of limited edition pianos include The Steinway Limited Edition by Karl Lagerfeld created to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Steinway company in 2003, and the 125th-anniversary grand piano by Count Albrecht von Goertz designed to celebrate the 125th anniversary in 2005 of
7384-456: The impact these towers will have on the surrounding neighborhoods and the shadows they will cast on Central Park. The 57th Street station on the New York City Subway 's IND Sixth Avenue Line is located at the intersection of 57th Street and Sixth Avenue and is served by the F and <F> train. The 57th Street – Seventh Avenue station on the BMT Broadway Line is located at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue , served by
7488-480: The manufacture of player pianos . Several systems such as the Welte-Mignon , Duo-Art , and Ampico were incorporated. During the 1920s, Steinway had been selling up to 6,000 pianos a year. In 1929, Steinway constructed one double- keyboard grand piano. It has 164 keys and 4 pedals . (In 2005, Steinway refurbished this instrument). During World War II, the Steinway factory in New York received orders from
7592-544: The mid-1920s, two major piano showrooms, Chickering Hall and Steinway Hall, were developed on West 57th Street, as was the Russian Tea Room . Other commercial tenants started moving onto 57th Street, including Henri Bendel in 1912, Bergdorf Goodman in 1928, Bonwit Teller in 1930, FAO Schwarz in 1931, and Tiffany & Co. in 1940. Furthermore, the Hearst Magazine Building was constructed at Eighth Avenue and 57th Street between 1927 and 1928, while
7696-527: The most expensive real estate in the world. Commercial and retail buildings continue to dominate until Third Avenue , where the street rapidly returns to a preponderance of large residential buildings. As it continues from here through its final blocks leading to its terminus at Sutton Place , the street consists of a nearly unbroken stretch of increasingly upscale apartment buildings with doormen, awnings, and small commercial establishments such as drug stores, bank branches, and restaurants. 57th Street ends at
7800-499: The name Steinweg on their pianos. Steinway won the case on appeal in 1975, forcing their competitor to use only the name Grotrian in the United States. The case set a precedent and established the concept of Initial Interest Confusion , in which consumers might be initially attracted to a similarly named but lesser-known brand because of the stronger brand's good reputation. In 1988, Steinway made its 500,000th piano. Designed by artist Wendell Castle , it carries inscriptions of
7904-661: The names of the 832 pianists and 90 ensembles on the Steinway Artist roster of 1987, including Van Cliburn , Vladimir Horowitz and Billy Joel . Six years later the company launched C. F. Theodore Steinway Academy for Concert Technicians , known simply as Steinway Academy , at Steinway's factory in Hamburg, Germany. There, experienced piano tuners and piano technicians from all over the world receive further training in piano tuning and maintenance . By 2000, Steinway had made its 550,000th piano. In 2003, Steinway celebrated its 150th anniversary at Carnegie Hall with
8008-591: The next 15 years of his leadership, he kept a home in Braunschweig and traveled often between Germany and the United States. Through 1870–80, William Steinway (born Wilhelm Steinweg, a son of Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg) established a company town after purchasing a home and its surrounding property from the widow of Benjamin Pike Jr., that would later bear his name as the Steinway Mansion . This company town would go on to become Steinway Village in what
8112-451: The nine Muses . The 100,000th Steinway piano was replaced in 1938 by the 300,000th Steinway piano. The gold gilded mahogany legs of the 300,000th piano are carved as eagles and are molded by sculptor Albert Stewart . The piano remains in use in the White House. The Sound of Harmony is decorated with inlays of 40 different woods, including the lid, which replicates artwork by Chinese painter Shi Qi. It took about four years to build
8216-405: The notable performances at the 57th Street building was the 1928 duo piano recital by Vladimir Horowitz and Sergei Rachmaninoff . The lowest stories of the 57th Street facade are clad with Indiana Limestone above a pink-granite water table , with a central arch flanked by a set of outer portals. Above the central doorway is a lunette with a cement sculptural group by Leo Lentelli . Above
8320-411: The one documented case it is unclear if Steinway were enmeshed, along with others, in bribery or were the target of attempted extortion. To reach European customers who wanted Steinway pianos, and to avoid high European import taxes, William Steinway and C. F. Theodore Steinway established a new piano factory in the free German city of Hamburg in 1880. The first address of Steinway's factory in Hamburg
8424-454: The rest of the world. Steinway is a prominent piano company, known for its high quality and for inventions within the area of piano development. Steinway has been granted 139 patents in piano making, with the first in 1857. The company's share of the high-end grand piano market consistently exceeds 80 percent. The dominant position has been criticized, with some musicians and writers arguing that it has blocked innovation and led to
8528-626: The same features as Steinway Halls, but are smaller. In 1864, William Steinway built elegant showrooms housing over 100 Steinway & Sons pianos at 109 East 14th Street , at the corner of Fourth Ave. (now Park Ave South) in Manhattan . During the next two years, demand for Steinway pianos had increased dramatically. Construction of the first Steinway Hall was pushed by the need for expansion, increased promotion, and better presentation of pianos and music culture through regular live performances. William Steinway carried planning and construction of
8632-555: The same time, concert halls were also built in Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. After Carnegie Hall's opening, the piano industry moved uptown to 57th Street , where Carnegie Hall was located. Accordingly, the main auditorium of Steinway Hall on 14th Street was closed, although performances continued to take place in the smaller recital halls. The S. Klein Union Square Realty Corporation bought
8736-476: The showroom and the office. The first floor there was taken by the concert hall. With 2,500 seats at that time, it was one of the biggest halls in the city of New York, becoming soon one of the cultural centers of the United States. One critic wrote, "no larger auditorium—before or since—has ever been built by a musical instrument manufacturer." Another observer, Moses King , called Steinway Hall "the cradle of classical music in this country". The first Steinway Hall
8840-413: The sound or feel of the piano. The pianist is recorded by over 20 grey-scale optical sensors mounted behind the piano’s keyboard. With over 1000 levels of sensitivity and the ability to record 800 measurements/second, they sense the speed at which the hammers strike the strings. In 2024, the Spirio library contained more than 4,000 recordings. In 2015, Steinway made its 600,000th piano. The piano features
8944-501: The south side of the block between Eleventh and Tenth Avenues is occupied by the CBS Broadcast Center , which is the network's primary East Coast production facility. The street's name was used by CBS to title a newsmagazine program produced by the network in the late 1980s, West 57th . From Tenth Avenue to Eighth Avenue , larger residential buildings appear. Beginning at Eighth Avenue and continuing east through
9048-567: The street in general. For instance, the Fuller Building at 41 East 57th Street has traditionally contained many galleries since its completion in 1929. During the early 20th century, many of the original townhouses on East 57th Street were rebuilt as art galleries. Interior decorators also moved to the area, converting existing houses or erecting new structures such as the Todhunter Building at 119 East 57th Street. During
9152-403: The third story is a frieze with portraits of classical composers and pianists. The northern elevation on 58th Street is clad with brick, limestone, and terracotta . The upper stories on both sides are clad with brick and contain various decorative elements. The interior entrance vestibules, still extant, contain pink-granite floors and coffered domed ceilings. There is an octagonal rotunda with
9256-447: Was One57 , a 1,004-foot (306 m) apartment building between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, which was completed in 2014. Due to the often record-breaking prices that have been set for the apartments in these buildings, the press has dubbed this section of 57th Street as "Billionaires' Row". These projects have generated controversy concerning the economic conditions and zoning policies that have encouraged these buildings, as well as
9360-421: Was also the home for the New York Philharmonic for 25 years, from 1866 to 1891, when Carnegie Hall opened in Midtown Manhattan . William Steinway recognized that it would be good for piano sales, if famous piano artists have a place to play on Steinway pianos, and also take a Steinway piano on a concert tour. In 1872, Steinway & Sons organised an unprecedented concert tour of 215 performances in 239 days for
9464-425: Was at Schanzenstraße in the western part of Hamburg, St. Pauli . C. F. Theodore Steinway became the head of the German factory, and William Steinway went back to the factory in New York. The two factories regularly exchanged experience about their patents and techniques despite the large distance between them, and they continue to do so today. C. F. Theodore Steinway was a talented inventor who made many improvements in
9568-590: Was further developed in 1879 with the construction of the Cornelius Vanderbilt II House at the northwest corner. The block of West 57th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues was described as being "the very best in the city" by 1885. One contemporary observer described the block's family homes as "first-class dwelling houses". Another called them "the brown-stone mansions of rich brewers, the François Premier chateaux of bankers,
9672-496: Was granted royal and imperial warrants from the rulers of Italy, Norway, Persia, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey. From 1864 to 1866, William Steinway , who is credited with establishing Steinway's success in marketing, oversaw the construction of Steinway Hall on East 14th Street in Manhattan, New York City. Steinway Hall had cost $ 200,000 to build. It included the second largest concert hall in New York City as well as showrooms for Steinway pianos. To enter
9776-487: Was laid out and opened in 1857. In the early 19th century, there were industrial concerns clustered around either end of 57th Street, near the Hudson and East Rivers. At the time, the surrounding areas were largely undeveloped except for Central Park two blocks to the north. As late as the 1860s, the area east of Central Park was a shantytown with up to 5,000 squatters. The block of the street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
9880-647: Was marked by a large-scale festival of music, held on April 17, 2005. The Steinway-Haus in Munich was acquired in 2000, it was formerly named Pianohaus Lang , which was an old Steinway dealership partner. It is located in the historic part of the city and plays a role in the cultural life of Bavaria and its capital. It has a miniature concert hall, showrooms and practice rooms for students of all ages to study music. The "piano bank" has mainly Hamburg Steinway pianos maintained and available for local entertainers and touring performers. The Steinway-Haus in Vienna on
9984-506: Was opened in 1875 and became the first Steinway Hall in Europe. It has showrooms as well as several practice rooms available for musicians of all ages. The "piano bank" at London's Steinway Hall consists mostly of Hamburg Steinways, and also has a few New York Steinways D-274 , in order to satisfy a greater range of performing artists. The Steinway-Haus in Berlin is one of boutique centers of music and entertainment, it has its own place in
10088-432: Was opened. In 2013, Steinway sold the Steinway Hall on West 57th Street for $ 46 million and moved out of the building at the end of 2014. In 2016, a new Steinway Hall opened on Sixth Avenue . A second Steinway Hall was opened in London in 1875. It was located first on Wigmore Street , in 1924 it moved to St. George Street, and later it moved to its current address on Marylebone Lane. In 1857, Steinway began to make
10192-573: Was produced and sold as a replacement for the Model O from 1922 to 2006. Designers and artists such as Karl Lagerfeld , Dakota Jackson , Walter Dorwin Teague , Arthur Blackmore, Joseph Burr Tiffany , Louis Comfort Tiffany , Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema , George Schastey , and the Herter Brothers have created original designs for Steinway pianos. These specially designed pianos fall under
10296-573: Was so successful for Steinway & Sons, that competition forced other piano manufacturers, such as the Aeolian Company and Chickering & Sons to build their own concert halls, the Aeolian Hall and Chickering Hall in New York. Other piano companies also invested in renowned stars tours in the United States, such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , who was invited on a two-month US tour in 1891, by piano maker Wm. Knabe & Co. Around
10400-452: Was sold at Christie's auction house in London for $ 1.2 million, setting a price record for a piano sold at auction. It is now on display at the art museum Clark Art Institute . The 100,000th Steinway piano was given as a gift to the White House in 1903 and is made of cherry tree with gold leaf . It is decorated with coats of arms of the thirteen original states of America and painted by Thomas Dewing with dancing figures representing
10504-645: Was sold in 1985, along with classical and church organ maker Rodgers and flute and piccolo maker Gemeinhardt , to a group of Boston-area investors led by Robert and John P. Birmingham. In order to acquire Steinway, the investors founded the musical conglomerate Steinway Musical Properties. In 1995, Steinway Musical Properties was acquired by Selmer Industries to form the musical conglomerate Steinway Musical Instruments . In June 2013, private equity firm Kohlberg & Company offered to buy Steinway parent company Steinway Musical Instruments for $ 438 million. Two months later hedge fund Paulson & Co. Inc. made
10608-492: Was sold to Steinway in 2014 and re-branded as Spirio . In contrast to player pianos by other brands available at the time, a recording option was not originally available in the Steinway Spirio. In 2018, a recording option was made available in Steinway Spirio pianos, known as the Spirio r . The Spirio technology is referred to as "non-parasitic", meaning that the recording and playback equipment do not interfere with
10712-498: Was sold to a New York family for $ 500, and is now on display at the Städtisches Museum Seesen , the town in which Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg began his career as a piano maker. A year later, demand was such that the company moved to larger premises at 82–88 Walker Street. It was not until 1864 that the family anglicized their name from Steinweg to Steinway . By the 1860s, Steinway had built and moved into
10816-421: Was still mostly undeveloped and noted for its boulders and deep ravines where squatters lived in shanties. The block between Fifth and Madison Avenues was the first part of 57th Street to see development, when Mary Mason Jones built the "Marble Row" on the eastern side of Fifth Avenue from 57th to 58th Streets between 1868 and 1870. In the mid-1870s, wealthy New Yorkers began to put up large family residences on
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