Posted Jul 9, 2013, 12:47 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 52,769
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Quote:
Originally Posted by McSky
On SSC, I posted the Landmark designation for Steinway Hall. It makes no mention of the landmark status only pertaining to the bottom 4 floors. The key page of the designation also states that "the upper twelve stories also have an illustrious history".
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Yeah, it's been stated before that the designation was for the lower floors. I think a lot has to do with the interior.
http://www.luxq.com/2012/12/17/steinway-hall/
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The breathtaking two-story rotunda is the dramatic centerpiece of Steinway Hall. The spectacular 35-foot domed ceiling was hand painted by Paul Arndt, with allegorical scenes of lions, elephants, goddesses and nymphs depicting the influence of music on human relations. The walls are adorned with fluted white Italian marble columns alternating with green pilasters of highly polished Greek marble. Descending from the ceiling is a magnificent, glittering 19th century Viennese crystal chandelier.
Steinway & Sons commissioned esteemed American artists to create paintings that would create a rich visual landscape throughout Steinway Hall. Original oil paintings depict great composers, such as Berlioz, Chopin, Handel, Mozart, Wagner, and legendary pianists, such as Franz Liszt, Ignaz Paderewski, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Anton Rubinstein. Many distinguished artists are represented, including Rockwell Kent, N.C. Wyeth, and Charles Chambers, creating the effect of an opulent art museum where grand pianos are on display.
Beyond the rotunda, a gallery displays memorabilia collected by five generations of Steinways, giving life to the history of Steinway & Sons as well as a glimpse into America’s rich musical history. Included in the display cases are awards and medals presented to Steinway & Sons during more than 155 years of piano making, insignias noting the firm’s appointment as official supplier of pianos to the world’s great concert halls, scale models of historic Steinway pianos, and displays of meticulously crafted parts and materials used in all Steinway pianos, whether for the home or for the concert stage. Many unique performances have taken place in this building.
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Quote:
Below street level is the famous Steinway basement. Here, all Steinway pianos to be delivered in the New York area are scrutinized by a team of specially trained technicians. In addition to inspecting every detail of cabinetry, they tune, regulate, and make certain that the fine tolerances in each instrument’s action mechanism meet the uncompromising Steinway standard.
At the 58th Street side of the basement is the renowned Steinway “piano bank” where piano professionals come to select instruments they will use in concerts, in recordings, and on tour. As one accomplished concert pianist put it, “There isn’t a first class piano player in the world who does not expect to visit the Steinway Hall concert basement before a New York performance. It’s a piano mecca – sort of the center of the piano universe.”
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