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Steinway Hall
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reading at Steinway Hall, Boston, in 1867]]
Steinway Hall is the name of concert halls housing Steinway & Sons piano showrooms and sales departments in one building. The flagship Steinway Hall is located on 57th Street in New York City, near Carnegie Hall. Today Steinway Halls are located in New York City, London, Hamburg, Tokyo and Shanghai. Other Steinway buildings around the world have all the same features but are smaller. These buildings are called Steinway Houses, Homes of Steinway, Steinway Galleries or Steinway Salons, and are located in such cultural centers as Berlin, Munich, Lausanne, and Vienna, as well as in Osaka, Seoul and Beijing.
864, William Steinway built elegant showrooms housing over 100 Steinway & Sons pianos on East 14th Street, between University Place and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
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Encyclopedia
reading at Steinway Hall, Boston, in 1867]]
Steinway Hall is the name of concert halls housing Steinway & Sons piano showrooms and sales departments in one building. The flagship Steinway Hall is located on 57th Street in New York City, near Carnegie Hall. Today Steinway Halls are located in New York City, London, Hamburg, Tokyo and Shanghai. Other Steinway buildings around the world have all the same features but are smaller. These buildings are called Steinway Houses, Homes of Steinway, Steinway Galleries or Steinway Salons, and are located in such cultural centers as Berlin, Munich, Lausanne, and Vienna, as well as in Osaka, Seoul and Beijing.
New York
#71-73 East 14th Street
In 1864, William Steinway built elegant showrooms housing over 100 Steinway & Sons pianos on East 14th Street, between University Place and Fifth Avenue 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 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.
It 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. Four days after the Academy of Music in 14th Street burned down to the ground. On May 22, 1866, William Steinway laid the first stone of the Steinway Hall building. 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 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 America.
The First Steinway Hall was also the home for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for 25 years, from 1866 to 1891, until Carnegie Hall was opened in 1891. 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 the Russian virtuoso pianist Anton Rubinstein. Rubinstein's legendary concert at the Steinway Hall was sold out with 3.000 guests, many of them standing. One concert on Saturday night, sells pianos on Monday morning was one of William Steinway's sayings. 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 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 renown stars tours in America, such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who was invited on a two-month American tour in 1891, by piano maker Wm. Knabe & Co.. Around the same time, concert halls where also built in Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
#109-113 West 57th Street
The New Steinway Hall opened on January 11, 1925 across the street from the Carnegie Hall on 57th Street, between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue in the New York City. The new Steinway Building replaced the old Steinway Hall, which was closed that same year.
Steinway & Sons sales and marketing departments saw business benefits in having their piano showrooms near Carnegie Hall. Steinway pianos were played at both the intimate New Steinway Hall and the cavernous Carnegie Hall across the 57th Street. The New Steinway Hall also introduced its own recording studio and technical equipment to broadcast classical music over the radio. The official opening night was on October 27, 1925 with a performance by Willem Mengelberg and 35 musicians from New York Philharmonics before 300 invited guests of the New York society. The entire performance was broadcast over the radio. Among the invited guests where musicians, media, industrialists and politicians. The Steinway family was represented by Frederick T. (Steinway & Sons president until 1927), Henry Ziegler, Theodore E. (Steinway & Sons president from 1927-1952), and William R., all were grandchildren of the company founder Henry E. Steinway. Among other notable performances at the new Steinway Hall was the 1928 duo piano recital by Vladimir Horowitz and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
In 1958, Steinway Hall was sold together with the land, and Steinway & Sons rented the rooms. In May 1999, Steinway bought back the building for approximately $31 million, but the land could only be rented for 99 years from the former owner who chose to retain ownership of the land.
Steinway Hall on 57th Street was designated a registered historic and cultural landmark in 2001. The building was designed by Warren & Wetmore. The main room, a two-story rotunda, features high domed ceilings, handpainted by Paul Arndt. The interior design is appointed with marble and portraits of composers and concert artists. Some valuable paintings are showcased throughout Steinway Hall, by such renown artists as Rockwell Kent, N.C. Wyeth, and Charles Chambers. Next gallery celebrates five generations of Steinway memorabilia, including design innovations, awards, and "fan mail" from luminaries like Thomas Edison. The main rotunda seats up to 300 guests and a small symphony orchestra. The showrooms are covered with wood panels for better acoustics. Steinway Artist Department, Steinway's sales and marketing departments, as well as the Steinway Service Department, are still operating in the same building. In the basement of Steinway Hall is the "piano bank": an exclusive collection of Steinway concert grand pianos, maintained for the use in live concerts as well as for studio recordings by performing artists.
London
The Steinway Hall in London was opened in 1875 and became the first Steinway Hall in Europe. Today it is one of the centers of cultural life and entertainment in the capital. 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.
Vienna
The Steinway-Haus in Vienna on the 'Ring' 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 the capital of Austria.
Hamburg
In 1953, the Steinway-Haus was opened on the "Colonnade" 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 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 was marked by a large-scale festival of music, held on April 17, 2005.
Munich
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.
Berlin
The Steinway-Haus in Berlin is one of boutique centers of music and entertainment, it has its own place in 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 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.
Steinway Salons in Japan
Steinway & Sons opened the Steinway Salon Tokyo, its flagship showroom on Ginza street in Tokyo, Japan. The Steinway Salon Tokyo has a nicely appointed wood-paneled concert hall with room for about 100 seats and two Steinway concert grands D-274 on stage. Several other Steinway D's are available in adjacent studios, which are rooms of a regular size with one or two concert grand Steinways in each studio. Practice rooms are available for children as well as for adults to study music.
Steinway Salons opened in Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and three other locations across Japan. Steinway showrooms in Japan provide all three brands of pianos: “Steinway & Sons”, “Boston” and “Essex” to concert halls, schools, entertainers and private individuals. Concert quality Steinway pianos are used in performances by established artists and ensembles, and also by touring international stars, as well as by emerging new local talents.
Newer Steinway Halls
Steinway Hall and showrooms opened in Seoul, Korea, catering to performers and musicians of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kangham University, which is also an All-Steinway school.
Steinway & Sons main showroom recently opened in Beijing, China, 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. Responding to the growing demand from concert halls, entertainers and private individuals, Steinway halls and showrooms provide pianos of all three brands: Steinway & Sons, Boston and Essex.
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