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I've actually performed Rachmaninoff 2 on an O and it worked surprisingly well. I haven't played the New York O, but I know the Hamburg O is a very good piano. That said, it's a very expensive piano for the size, but all German pianos are expensive.

I rarely take flights, and neither does my family the only times we gone to another country for a week was with family friends and that was like 6 or 7 years ago to Italy (I can't remember the location names of the few places we have been, sorry)

Apple is a corporation I boycott, I hate their products, I have a Samsung phone and it lasts for like 7 years so I don't buy a new phone every year, I am quite frugal with my money, I don't waste it on random junk, so no problem there.

Oh and I don't have a car, public transport has served me well so far and If I need to, I could call Uber or whatever taxi service if I have to.

We will never hear the end of it once a member buys such a Steinway, never been played, at a knock down price

Until Steinway turns away "worthy" buyers, all this haughty hand wringing and angst is really off base.

Quite true, I have played a couple of Hamburg Os and they were pretty fantastic. Most of the Hamburg pianos I've seen over here are from the 1980s, during the low points in the NY production quality. Maybe a handful from the 1970s. And then some new ones.

Some of those 80s Hamburgs were beautiful, the 70s ones less so, although that could be more to do with them being beaten up rather than their original quality

Consider the cost of an O. Then, consider what other pianos you could buy for that money.

Another thing to consider, Steinway doesn't ship to Malta, the only big names I've seen on the 2 well known instrument websites from my country are Yamaha and Bosendorfer, there is no Steinway.

One of Malta's music store's website states 2 Zimmerman baby grands, one is a Zimmerman Z 160 and a smaller one and a ritmuller baby grand, I haven't heard of any of those manufacturers personally, while another site features several Yamaha's of several different sizes (both upright and baby/normal grand) and a few Bosendorfers that come in baby/normal grands.

As far as I am aware my country's options are limited on getting an actual grand, thankfully upright pianos are quite plentiful here but those who want a Steinway or another model besides those aforementioned has to pay for shipping fees for buying it from a far away country, which also means the Piano would need major tuning as soon as it gets home compared as to buy it from a store in your own home country, I assume the storekeepers keep their products well tuned, when you order by shipping from a far distance I think that you will take a gamble, it might not be worth it.

This sounds like the green eyed monster eating sour grapes to me. Do you think Steinway is obligated to seek out everyone who can play "better" than Tiffany Poon and offer them a piano? Or special access? Who decides who's "better"? Or more "deserving"?[/quote]

I have to agree with the above! It also seems to be about guilt or not being a good enough pianist or owning a piano purely as furniture.( nothing wrong with that of course! 🙄 ) Just glad no one is picking on people who own expensive uprights.( should I make myself sick over owning one?)

I agree.(My eyes skipped over the "performance per dollar" part when I read your post).

And a Steinway S does even worse on that basis. The O is around 95K and the S around 75K and one can buy 7'+ models of many great pianos for that price or even far less.

I think one should really be in love with the Steinway sound to spend that much on their less than 6' models.

I agree.(My eyes skipped over the "performance per dollar" part when I read your post).

And a Steinway S does even worse on that basis. The O is around 95K and the S around 75K and one can buy 7'+ models of many great pianos for that price or even far less.

I think one should really be in love with the Steinway sound to spend that much on their less than 6' models.
But if the person who bought the expensive grand for furniture didn't buy it, no one would that grand because it would go unsold or never have been manufactured. The person who bought it as furniture is not taking the piano away from someone who might play it.

It's also possible that the expensive piano has a player system so one can hear it even though the buyer doesn't play.

I agree.(My eyes skipped over the "performance per dollar" part when I read your post).

And a Steinway S does even worse on that basis. The O is around 95K and the S around 75K and one can buy 7'+ models of many great pianos for that price or even far less.

I think one should really be in love with the Steinway sound to spend that much on their less than 6' models.

It all depends on the society/country whether it's elitist or not.

Personally I think the S is the worst value in the world of pianos. It really doesn't sound that great due to its length, and $75k can buy a lot of piano when considering other manufacturers.

Here in the UK, uninformed newspaper articles keep pushing the old canard that classical music is "elitist". Orchestras are trying desperately hard to get new audiences, but this "elitism" nonsense does not help.

I read my own post and I realized it looks rushed and stupid, to make things clear and short what I wanted to say here is that outside of the USA and major EU countries big name products (not just Steinway or pianos in general) might not be available or have no stores in such locations, Malta has population is estimated at 441,543 people in 2020 which is why major sellers may not open stores here or locations with a small population, hopefully this clears what I want to say.

RE the S, my piano tech says "S" stands for "stupid".

I recently played two Ms and they were so average; I just can't imagine spending that much money on such an instrument.

Your post was fine! No problem at all. Welcome to PW by the way.

OK, thanks for the welcome David-G, I'm enjoying this community so far.

Regarding possible Steinway "elite-ism"...

During my piano search I traveled fairly extensively and played many different makes of pianos at many different piano shops, visiting new and used piano dealers along the east coast of the U.S.

Which to buy?

It finally came down to the fact that tonal quality is what is most important to me, and I loved the Steinway sound most of all. After more than a year of searching, I bought a wonderful vintage rebuilt Steinway.***

I did not appreciate the comments I heard at the shops selling new Steinways, such things as 'it's the best piano in the world." I found those types of comments ridiculous and irritating, considering the number of truly great pianos made by other piano makers.

I hope it's all right to add another comment, an aside, regarding the comments made here earlier about Steinway O's. I played a number of vintage Steinway O's during my piano search. They seem to me to have a special "throaty" tonal quality with the ability to "growl". I found them very appealing.

Jeanne W

***I bought a Steinway but might have bought the dynamite Baldwin I had the opportunity to play at Cunningham's in Philly - if it had not been too big for my house. It sounded great and the action was a dream! ...And I'll never forget years later, when I played the most fantastical Steingraeber at a PianoWorld Gathering in Lowell, Massachusetts. I'd played a few Steingrabers during my piano search - they were great, but this particular Steingraeber, unlike the others, at first tinkling of the keys, resulted in a stunned pause and plastered a giant smile on my face.