The piano is a formidable instrument from any angle. True masters have sat before one to create wonders that survive intact over time, but in addition to possessing invaluable worth in the world of art, it also displays extraordinary advances in engineering and construction. Once again, the Web gifts us a video from Steinway & Sons, in which they share some of the main details about the making of their magnificent pianos.
The most expensive pianos in the world
If for a moment we try to find the most expensive pianos on the planet, one name appears again and again: Steinway & Sons. One of the most famous, and why not mediatic, examples is linked to another high-profile name: John Lennon. The story goes that Lennon bought a Steinway vertical piano for 1,500 dollars, on which he composed nothing less than Imagine, along with other songs. In October of the year 2000, that same piano was sold at auction, and its new owner, George Michael, had to pay more than two million dollars.
The instruments of famous musicians always command extraordinary sums, but no one believes its brand is a coincidence. Why are Steinway pianos so special? Perhaps this video serves as an answer.
The making of a Steinway
As narrator we can hear John H. Steinway, great-grandson of the company's founder Henry E. Steinway (born Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg in 1797), but the most interesting part is that the audio was recorded decades earlier, and it remains perfectly valid when describing the manufacturing process. Anyone can imagine that the piano incorporated some high-tech elements during its evolution, however, the basic points remain unchanged: 85 percent of a piano is wood, and obtaining the maximum quality from it requires a careful inspection of each cut, accompanied by a drying process that can extend up to a year.
Another elementary, and at the same time impressive, process involves placing several wooden boards in a special press, to establish the shape of the case (read: furniture). The frame is removed the next day, and stored in a conditioned warehouse where it will rest for several more months, depending on its size.
We are talking about just over a year only for the wood to reach its ideal state. How long can a Steinway take? That question leads us to Sound of Harmony, the most expensive grand piano in the world. Steinway used 40 different types of wood, and it took four years of work. The piano is in the hands of Guo Qingxiang, a Chinese art collector, and the magic number was 1.2 million euros.
From the tree to the calibration of each key, through the manual installation of the strings and the cutting of the hammers, the making of a Steinway seems to justify everything that has been said about these pianos to date. And the best part, as John Steinway himself says, is that each piano has its own "flavor", which gives it a unique profile.
