Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner professional classical pianists: what did you buy?

Forgive me if this topic has already been discussed to death. I haven't found what I am looking for by using the search box.

I am interested to know what serious performers actually buy for home use excluding those who have inherited wealth or other sources of high income.

I should rephrase that: I am particularly interested in the sorts of compromises people make when they are serious performers with limited budgets.

Thanks in advance!

Are we talking about pianos, music, furniture, ???

I think he means pianos.

Any professional concert pianist, famous or not, probably has at least a large Yamaha in their home.

Most pianists I know have used instruments - often a decent brand like Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai, Baldwin, Mason&Hamlin, etc... Often they're older, rebuilt instruments. Some have 2nd pianos for teaching, a good upright - Yamaha U series.

I guess Kreisler nailed it...I'm one of those with a used, rebuilt instrument.

Back in the 1980s I found a 1917 Weber (old American make) 7 foot grand that was not rebuilt but had been restrung. It was a quality piano, and I played it into the ground, and at some point I had to decide whether to rebuild it or move on to something else.

Around 2000, I found a 9 foot Mason from 1928 that had been competently rebuilt in 1985. I wasn't looking for something that big, but it "appeared" and I did have the room for it. It's all the piano I need and then some. Needs some work now, but I've been playing it for 10 years.

But I must say that I know a fair number of pianists here in NYC who own Steinways. Some were bought new, and they are Steinway artists. Others are vintage instruments, often rebuilt.

A rebuilt vintage is perfection.

Depends a great deal on who did the work, what parts they used, and what definition of "rebuilt" they go by.

Schimmel upright. I don't have a large income or enough space for a grand, but I needed an instrument with the capability to handle virtuoso literature. That was the best compromise I found and it cost a lot less than a comparable Steinway.

The only professional I know is a Steinway artist who couldn't afford a Steinway. She has a Yamaha.

That is just plain dumb.

I thought one of the requirements to be a Steinway artist is that they must have Steinway piano at home.

Ha-ha, PL'us! Are you picking up stores' mantle?

I think what mazurkajoe may have meant (though incorrectly worded) is that a serious pianist would have A PIANO OF AT LEAST THE SAME QUALITY AS a large Yamaha.

My understanding is that the Steinway artist designation relates specifically to the pianos they choose to perform on. What they have at home may be another matter.

I haven't read the Steinway website very recently, but I'm quite sure their literature/site said all Steinway artists must first own a Steinway before they can be designated as a Steinway artist.

As far as I know, they have to own a Steinway. I wonder if they send someone to your home or apartment to check? And does an old or rebuilt Steinway fill the bill?

Yes, old rebuilt Steinway is OK. My teacher is a Steinway artist, and he has 1937 Steinway.

Yes - I found it.....

"Often a formal affiliation with Steinway & Sons has not been possible for an emerging artist, since all Steinway Artists must personally own a Steinway piano. The financial realities of developing a career can often make that requirement difficult for many otherwise deserving young musicians. Steinway & Sons has always taken pride in its role of nurturing talent and promoting the art of piano playing. In that spirit, Steinway has developed a new program in an effort to reach out to young pianists at an early point in burgeoning careers. This program, "Young Steinway Artist", confers upon a select group of talented musicians the distinction of affiliation with the Steinway Artist family, and access to the worldwide resources of Steinway & Sons and its exclusive network of dealers.

The Young Steinway Artist program will consider all pianists who own an instrument from the Family of Steinway-Designed Pianos, which include not only the Steinway Piano, but the Boston and Essex lines as well."

There are neither enough faces nor palms in the observable universe to create a mass 'facepalm' at the level of magnitude of which your comprehension deserves.

This is my understanding as well and it had been years since this individual actually concertized so older rules may have applied.