History and Lore

The Steinway Model D was first built by Steinway in 1884. It is produced at both the Steinway factory in New York and the Steinway factory in Hamburg, Germany. Although the finish and exterior of the piano have changed over the years, the internal workings themselves retain the original design from the 19th Century with only slight modifications.

Famous pianists like Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould and Sergei Rachmanioff forged special relationships with certain Steinway Model Ds and these pianos continue to have a mystique about them as the pianos used to create some of the most revered performances and recordings the world has ever known. Contemporary artists like Harry Connick Jr., Diana Krall and many, many others [http://steinway.com/artists] continue to perform and record on Steinway Model D pianos.

Steinway maintains several piano banks around the world stocked with Steinway Model Ds. These pianos are given the official designation of “CD” to indicate they are piano bank pianos. Performing artists come to the piano bank nearest to their performance venue and select a Steinway Model D that Steinway then ships at the artist’s request.

The most expensive Steinway Model D piano ever sold was the Steinway Alma Tadema, an ornately designed 19th century Steinway Model D, sold for $1.2 million in 1997 by the Christie’s Auction House [http://www.christies.com]. It is on display at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

The Steinway Model D is in essence the big brother of all Steinway baby grand pianos and the history and lore of the Steinway Model D trickles down to its outstanding siblings, giving these “Princes” a touch of majesty as well.