Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Steinway’s Black Diamond Piano

You are right as usual Pianoloverus. People can buy whatever they want (except exotic endangered pets) and shouldn’t be criticized. And buying a ‘63 split window Corvette that’s never driven does bring fabulous money if it’s stored and never driven. But it is a shame to buy something designed to be played to create music with a pure singing sound and never play it. Or even hire a skilled pianist to play it at a dinner party. But then maybe someone like our trandinhnamh can buy it later and bring it’s beautiful voice out for family and friends to enjoy.

That is just amazing ! I can see you appreciate this incredible piano so that is a great beginning of a new life for the piano.
Yes I think WE all want pianos to be sold from the dealers.That is
vital, but it is OK if people express thier feelings.
New pianos must keep selling.Especially European pianos where
(hope I am wrong)piano manufacturers could be sold to some Chinese firm or worse when pianos end up as a stencel.
No doubt I will cause a mini war now,hope not.

So sad for FEURICH, PLEYEL, WILHEM STEINBERG. They were great brands of the past.

Yes it is and I am sorry Pleyel has now fallen into the same
situation .We were in Paris last year and looked in the dealers
for these pianos.Has Pleyel been taken over by a different
firm in China ?

This is simply not true. The great majority of individuals who purchase Steinway pianos not only play, but they play at an intermediate or advanced level. I'm not sure who it is that seems so committed to perpetuating the "buying a Steinway piano as a status furniture item" myth - - but regardless, it is simply not accurate.

Nothing wrong with something being a status symbol.


This is sort of a two-part thing:

1) I think there's truth to the notion that a Steinway is a status symbol. That's not a criticism. It's simply a fact.

2) Re. the related notion that only the "worthy" should be allowed to buy one, sadly, that's the green-eyed monster. He rears his ugly head here from time to time.


It'd be interesting to see this assertion supported by concrete data.

Perhaps things like when your company introduced Spirio and it was playback only cause us to think along those lines?

It's fine to express emotions over great pianos that are not
played.I bet most of us may have had green eyed monsters about
something. But it is only rational that these pianos get sold.
People spend money all the time on things they do not use.
So yes please somebody buy that incredible Maly Ambiente
Sauter grand downtown Vancouver BC.It would great to know
because I would like the Sauter as a brand to survive just as
I would all the great piano brands to survive.

To me, your post is an example of a prejudice I think some people have against wealthy people. I say that because of your description of them as having "money to burn" and not interested in music. Having a lot of money or not being interested in music does not make someone a bad person.

I agree with pianoloverus again.

To me it depends, perhaps his way of describing what he sees.Describing "someone with money to burn" is just another
slang way of describing a wealthy person by a person with more modest means.
Perhaps I just feel that there so many in this world who REALLY suffer real prejudice and who's whole lives are affected by it.

This is a piano forum. People here have an unusual love of the piano. Some of us think it's a shame to see a lovely piano go to waste. It has nothing to do with money or class, or any other social construct. On a piano forum, many people will be sad to see a piano that's not loved as a musical instrument.

It's the same when parents buy a piano for a child who gives up after a while. It doesn't matter if it's an expensive piano or not -not that there are any cheap pianos.

Maybe we're weird here, but a lot of use regard our pianos as our friends. OK, maybe it's just me.

It's not about who can afford what; not for all of us at least.

There are people on this forum who have bought really expensive new pianos. I have never seen any evidence of jealousy.

When posters criticize someone for buying a piano that's just used as furniture it's almost always when the piano is an expensive one. Being sad about a piano that's not used as a musical instrument is different from being critical of the buyer.

I think that slang expression has a negative connotation almost like "filthy rich", and I think the poster I quoted was clearly being critical of those who bought pianos as furniture.

I think there’s nothing wrong if an expensive grand piano like Steinway is purchased and used just as furniture. It’s appreciated as well. A Ferrari isn’t bought for driving at 300km/h all the time.

When I was in conservatories, I practiced much more than now, and on Yamaha grands. But I never think that having a Steinway concert grand now at home is just a waste for both of me and the piano. It’s a kind of achievement.

As a member of the Piano World Forums and having played at conservatories, no one here would say your Steinway Hamburg was bought as a piece of furniture. You bought it as a well deserved achievement. If a Ferrari is bought by someone as a collector car and stored and garaged instead of driven, it’s not for me to judge. As I am of more humble means, I might think to myself “gee whiz what a waste of a beautiful sports car” and snicker because the person that bought it can’t drive stick. But hey, it’s their money and their car, who am I to judge? Whoever buys a new Steinway is probably used to being envied. Better to be envied than envious.

My comment about the green-eyed monster was meant to be proactive, not reactive (i.e. not addressed to or at anyone who's posted so far above). In the past there have been comments posted suggesting that people shouldn't be allowed to buy nice pianos unless they are worthy of them, that those people's pianos should be given to others who are worthy of them, etc. (I'm paraphrasing, and not gonna dig up links.)

Thank the heavens I don’t have deserve my piano. I’d be stuck with a old Cable Nelson spinet. Just the thought of taking piano qualification tests again makes me break out in a sweat.
I can’t remember the exact quote or where I might have read it, but it says musicians have an emotional attachment to their instruments. I’m very sentimental about my piano and my vehicle. I actually want my piano trade in to go to a good home. Yeah, it’s an inanimate object but my piano is part of my family. Heck, there’s even a feature wall along side of it. How many of us name our pianos? Be absolutely truthful here. It’s also too emotional and silly but I think fine concert level hand built pianos that have such a beautiful voice should be played for the owners and their family and friends to enjoy.
It is my hope is that the people who buy the Steinway BD admire the talent and expertise of the artist Lang Lang will appreciate his design touches that allow him to deliver his absolute best on stage. Maybe there’s also the hope of the buyer “if I just had a better piano I could somehow approach Lang Lang’s magic!” Kinda the same logic that keeps the golf industry afloat.
But then I could play Valentina Lisitsa’s Bosendorfer until my hands fell off but my improvement would still be minimal.

I'd like to reserve my right to be critical of anything I want to be critical about. In this case I am critical of buying a new piano just as furniture, on the grounds that it is a shocking waste of the planet's resources.

And while piano's are generally beautiful, and can indeed be beautiful furniture, I don't think this one is. But that's just me.