Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin, and this is Piano Test-Drive! I have a gorgeous instrument to present to you! The first thing I did on this piano is the first thing I do on almost every piano I encounter, which is to improvise. I let the sounds take me where they will. Truth be known, I did record the Chopin G minor Ballade on this instrument. You can find that performance here. But what’s really fascinating is sitting down on an instrument with no preconceived notions and just letting the sound take you.
An instrument like this Steinway Concert Grand from 1952, which has been masterfully rebuilt, is almost like driving a sports car.
Any maneuver you want to undertake, the instrument can handle it. You can go anywhere you like, and it can take you there at lightning speed! For example, the opening chords of the improvisation you’re about to hear, which I recorded last night. They’re massive chords. They blend from one to the next and it’s a glorious big sound. Yet in the middle, I come down and play with delicacy, just like if you’re in that sports car and you decide to take a scenic drive by the ocean to enjoy a little bit of the scenery. There are repeated notes, there’s everything I could throw at this piano! I’m wondering how you’ll like this. Listen for the end, because you’ll hear the massively strong, lowest B-flat octave on the piano at the end of this improvisation. I hope you like it!
The Steinway model D is the Concert Grand you see on stages throughout the world!
If you go to the symphony to see a concerto, 97% of the time it’s a Steinway model D Concert Grand on stage. It’s the de facto standard. To have a glorious instrument like this is such a treat. I just want to record as much as I can on this piano for the time I have it.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this! I would love to hear your impressions of this instrument in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and YouTube. Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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12 thoughts on “Piano Test-Drive: Steinway Concert Grand”
Was disappointed in treble with such a great bass. Perhaps voicing changes. I love when middle octaves can still have a beautiful, soulful melody ring thru without losing beautiful round, full tones of the bass.
You might try listening on a different sound system since no one else has had that impression. The listening device you choose can make a huge difference in the sound.
Thanks for sharing this performance, Bob ! A fantastic instrument.
If I have the piano long enough, I’d really like to record the Liszt B-minor Sonata on this piano. But there is already a very interested party. We shall see!
My eyes r moist. This instrument’s uniformity throughout makes me emotional.
I agree the 50s instruments were/are superior
Franz Mohr would agree
Many people love Steinways from this era. With used instruments, the rebuilding is as important as the original manufacturing. This instrument has it all!
2022.03.17
Dear Robert,
What a fantastic Steinway 9′ concert grand you are featuring today. If I had space and $85,595.00 lying around I would order that piano right now.
I wanted to comment further that to me there is “a certain something” that fine pianos had that were made back in the early 1950s — Steinways and Baldwins, in particular. I can’t put my finger on what that certain something is (no pun intended) but I can hear it, and I really hear it in that 9′ Steinway. I am 80 years old, but “back in the day” when I was 12 my parents bought me a 5′ 2″ Baldwin baby grand, and it was such a wonderful piano. Of course that was when Baldwins were made in Cincinnati, OH. I have played Baldwins that are made in China, and to me there is no comparison.
Have you contacted music schools to see if they might be interested in buying that Steinway 9′
Sincerely,
Charles Beck
There is a new jazz club opening right here in the Waterloo Arts District working on securing financing to get the Steinway D. It would be great if that worked out!
Dark and brooding mood! Danger ahead! Then the sun came out!
You got it exactly!
Better than a new Steinway to my ear. So much soul in the tonal mix.
Every Steinway is unique. And this one is truly a gem!