![Buying tickets for a Charles Dickens reading at Steinway Hall, New York, New York, 1867](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Buying_tickets_for_a_Charles_Dickens_reading_at_Steinway_Hall%2C_New_York%2C_New_York%2C_1867.jpg)
Steinway Hall (German: ) is the name of
building
A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
s housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to ...
pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and are located in cities such as New York City, London, Berlin, and Vienna.
A related concept by Steinway is "Steinway Piano Galleries". The Steinway Piano Galleries have all the same features as Steinway Halls, but are smaller.
New York City
14th Street (1864–1925)
In 1864,
William Steinway
William Steinway, also known as Wilhelm Steinway (born Wilhelm Steinweg; March 5, 1835 – November 30, 1896), son of Steinway & Sons founder Henry E. Steinway, was a businessman and civic leader who was influential in the development of Astoria, ...
built elegant
showroom
A plumbing fixture showroom, Canada, 1921
A showroom, also referred to as a gallery, is a large space used to display products, entertainment or visual arts.
Marketing location
A showroom is a large space used to display products for sale, suc ...
s housing over 100 Steinway & Sons pianos at 109
East 14th Street, at the corner of Fourth Ave. (now Park Ave South) in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
During the next two years, demand for Steinway pianos had increased dramatically. Construction of the first Steinway Hall was pushed by the need for expansion, increased promotion, and better presentation of pianos and music culture through regular live performances.
William Steinway carried planning and construction of the first Steinway Hall with the full support and cooperation from the City of New York. The concert hall was designed with 2,000 seats, and had a concert stage for a full 100-piece symphony orchestra. The concert hall was built in 1866 behind the showrooms on 14th Street in Manhattan and was one of the first concert halls for wider audiences in New York City.
Four days after the
Academy of Music on 14th Street a few blocks away burned down to the ground, on May 22, 1866, William Steinway laid the first stone of the Steinway Hall building.
The hall opened on October 31, 1866.
Its four floors had enough space to fit in a showroom for more than 100 pianos, the concert hall and rooms for piano lessons. The hall and the other rooms were illuminated with over 700
gaslight
Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either direct ...
s. The ground floor was occupied by the showroom and the office. The first floor there was taken by the concert hall. With 2,500 seats at that time, it was one of the biggest halls in the city of New York, becoming soon one of the cultural centers of the United States. One critic wrote, "no larger auditorium—before or since—has ever been built by a musical instrument manufacturer."
Another observer,
Moses King
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
, called Steinway Hall "the cradle of classical music in this country".
The first Steinway Hall was also the home for the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
for 25 years, from 1866 to 1891, when
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
opened in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
. William Steinway recognized that it would be good for piano sales, if famous piano artists have a place to play on Steinway pianos, and also take a Steinway piano on a concert tour. In 1872, Steinway & Sons organised an unprecedented concert tour of 215 performances in 239 days for the Russian virtuoso pianist
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sai ...
. Rubinstein's legendary concert at the Steinway Hall was sold out with 3000 guests, many of them standing. Cultural highlights included performances of such artists as
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, and regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, he was known ...
,
Walter Damrosch
Walter Johannes Damrosch (January 30, 1862December 22, 1950) was a German-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Geo ...
,
Jenny Lind, readings of
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
and performances of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
.
Steinway Hall, as the center of New York's cultural life, attracted more customers to Steinway showrooms. The marketing idea was so successful for Steinway & Sons, that competition forced other piano manufacturers, such as the
Aeolian Company The Aeolian Company was a musical-instrument making firm whose products included player organs, pianos, sheet music, records and phonographs. Founded in 1887, it was at one point the world's largest such firm. During the mid 20th century, it surpas ...
and
Chickering & Sons
Chickering & Sons was an American piano manufacturer located in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1823 by Jonas Chickering and James Stewart, but the partnership dissolved four years later. By 1830 Jonas Chickering became partners ...
to build their own concert halls, the
Aeolian Hall and
Chickering Hall in New York. Other piano companies also invested in renowned stars tours in the United States, such as
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
, who was invited on a two-month US tour in 1891, by piano maker
Wm. Knabe & Co. Around the same time, concert halls were also built in Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
After Carnegie Hall's opening, the piano industry moved uptown to
57th Street, where Carnegie Hall was located. Accordingly, the main auditorium of Steinway Hall on 14th Street was closed, although performances continued to take place in the smaller recital halls. The
S. Klein
S. Klein On The Square, or simply S. Klein, was a popular-priced department store chain based in New York City. The flagship stores (a main building and a women's fashion building) were located along Union Square East in Manhattan; this lo ...
Union Square Realty Corporation bought the Steinway Hall on 14th Street in 1923 and closed it two years later. While the section on 14th Street was immediately demolished, the rear section housing the concert hall remained through the 1980s.
57th Street (1925–2014)
![Rotunda interior steinway hall nyc mia laberge art case piano](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Rotunda_interior_steinway_hall_nyc_mia_laberge_art_case_piano.jpg)
After the closure of the auditorium at 14th Street, Steinway & Sons began looking for new sites near Carnegie Hall.
In 1916, the firm found a site at 109–113 West
57th Street, between
Sixth and
Seventh Avenues, with a lot reaching back to 58th Street.
William K. Benedict and Marvin & Davis designed a 10-story building for the site, but because of legal disputes and the recently enacted
1916 Zoning Resolution, plans were delayed for several years. A 16-story building was ultimately designed by
Warren and Wetmore
Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City which was a partnership between Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles Delevan Wetmore (June 10, 1866 – May 8, 1941), that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and w ...
and built from June 1924 to April 1925.
A grand opening was held on October 27, 1925.
Among the notable performances at the 57th Street building was the 1928 duo piano recital by
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz; yi, וולאַדימיר סאַמוילאָוויטש האָראָוויץ, group=n (November 5, 1989)Schonberg, 1992 was a Russian-born American classical pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all ...
and
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
.
The lowest stories of the 57th Street
facade are clad with
Indiana Limestone
Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...
above a pink-granite
water table
The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.
T ...
, with a central arch flanked by a set of outer portals. Above the central doorway is a
lunette
A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void.
A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...
with a cement sculptural group by
Leo Lentelli
Leo Lentelli (20 October 1879 – 31 December 1961) was an Italian sculptor who immigrated to the United States. During his 52 years in the United States he created works throughout the country, notably in New York and San Francisco. He also taugh ...
.
Above the third story is a frieze with portraits of classical composers and pianists. The northern elevation on 58th Street is clad with brick, limestone, and
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
. The upper stories on both sides are clad with brick and contain various decorative elements.
The interior entrance vestibules, still extant, contain pink-granite floors and coffered domed ceilings.
There is an octagonal
rotunda with a domed ceiling, marble decoration, and a chandelier.
The ceiling has four paintings by
Paul Arndt
Paul Julius Arndt (14 October 1865 – 17 July 1937) was a German classical archaeologist born in Dresden.
He studied classical art under Johannes Overbeck (1826-1895) at the University of Leipzig, and classical archeology with Heinrich Brunn ( ...
, surrounded by
grotesque
Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...
s and images painted by Cooper and Gentiluomo.
The rotunda sat up to 300 guests and a small symphony orchestra.
The lobby level also contained Steinway Hall's showrooms,
covered with wood panels for better acoustics.
Originally Steinway & Sons used the five lowest floors and rented out the upper floors. The basement housed storage, shipping, and a grand-piano testing area; the first story, a reception room and salesroom; the second story, salesrooms; the third floor, executive offices; and the fourth and fifth stories, music studios.
Steinway Hall was intended as a
speculative development
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. ...
for Steinway & Sons, but it was not particularly successful, with a
rate of return
In finance, return is a profit on an investment. It comprises any change in value of the investment, and/or cash flows (or securities, or other investments) which the investor receives from that investment, such as interest payments, coupons, ca ...
of only 2%.
Steinway Hall and its land were sold to the
Manhattan Life Insurance Company
ManhattanLife began as The Manhattan Life Insurance Company, a life insurance company domiciled in New York. It operates as a subsidiary of Manhattan Life Group in Houston, Texas. ManhattanLife is the brand name for plans, products, and services ...
in 1958. Throughout the years, Steinway Hall's tenants also included publications such as ''
Musical America
''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey.
History 1898–19 ...
'', ''
Architectural Forum
''Architectural Forum'' was an American magazine that covered the homebuilding industry and architecture. Started in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1892 as ''The Brickbuilder'', it absorbed the magazine ''Architect's World'' in October 1938. Ownership ...
'', and ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'', as well as
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
broadcasting studios.
Steinway Hall was acquired by 111 West 57th Street Associates in 1980.
Steinway bought back the building in 1999 and leased the land for 99 years from the former owner. The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
(LPC) designated Steinway Hall's facade as a New York City landmark in November 2001. The leasehold interest was sold to developers in 2013,
and the LPC designated the rotunda as an interior landmark the same year.
The Steinway Hall on 57th Street was incorporated into a residential development at
111 West 57th Street, which started construction in 2014.
Sixth Avenue (2016–present)
Steinway & Sons were allowed to stay in the 57th Street building for eighteen months after it had been sold.
Steinway moved out of that building in the end of 2014. In 2016, a new Steinway Hall opened at 1133
Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
and 43rd Street, next to
The Town Hall, a Steinway venue.
London
![Steinway Hall - London](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Steinway_Hall_-_London.jpg)
The Steinway Hall in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
was opened in 1875 and became the first Steinway Hall in Europe. It has showrooms as well as several practice rooms available for musicians of all ages. The "piano bank" at London's Steinway Hall consists mostly of Hamburg Steinways, and also has a few New York Steinways
D-274, in order to satisfy a greater range of performing artists.
Berlin
The in Berlin is one of boutique centers of music and entertainment, it has its own place in the cultural life of the German capital. Since its opening in 1909, the in Berlin has been through many dramatic events of history, it was re-opened in 1948 in the ex-house of the pianist
Josef Hofmann
Josef Casimir Hofmann (originally Józef Kazimierz Hofmann; January 20, 1876February 16, 1957) was a Polish-American pianist, composer, music teacher, and inventor.
Biography
Josef Hofmann was born in Podgórze (a district of Kraków), in A ...
in the Hardenbergstraße No. 9. Today in Berlin has a miniature concert hall, several showrooms, and practice rooms available for children as well as adults to study music. Over 80 Steinway, Boston and Essex pianos are housed in the 3-story building. The Steinway-Haus has a "piano bank" of Hamburg Steinway pianos maintained and available for use in concerts and studio recordings by guests as well as by local entertainers.
Hamburg
In 1953, the was opened on the
Colonnaden
The Colonnaden (the colonnades, pl. also in German lang.) is a shopping street in Neustadt quarter, Hamburg, Germany. The street, now largely a pedestrian zone, forms a diagonal junction from Jungfernstieg boulevard to Esplanade/ Stephansplatz. I ...
street in Hamburg. In 2003, the 50th anniversary of Hamburg was marked by a series of concerts of classical and popular music performed by numerous guest stars as well as by local musicians. Today in Hamburg has a concert hall, several showrooms, and practice rooms available for children as well as adults to study music. Over 100 Steinway, Boston and Essex pianos are housed in the 5-story building. The has a "piano bank" of Hamburg Steinway pianos maintained and available for use in concerts and studio recordings by guests as well as by local entertainers. The 125th anniversary of the Hamburg Steinway factory was marked by a large-scale festival of music, held on April 17, 2005.
Munich
The in Munich was acquired in 2000, it was formerly named , which was an old Steinway dealership partner. It is located in the historic part of the city and plays a role in the cultural life of Bavaria and its capital. It has a miniature concert hall, showrooms and practice rooms for students of all ages to study music. The "piano bank" has mainly Hamburg Steinway pianos maintained and available for local entertainers and touring performers.
Vienna
![Steinway Hall building (Chicago)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Steinway_Hall_building_%28Chicago%29.jpg)
The in Vienna on the
Ringstraße
The Vienna Ring Road (german: Ringstraße, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt (Inner Town) district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located on sites where ...
is one of the boutique Steinway showrooms that caters to entertainers in Austria and Central Europe. Besides the showrooms, the Steinway Haus in Vienna has several practice rooms and music classes open for students of all ages to polish their performing skills. The Steinway concert department has a "piano bank" of Hamburg Steinways. The of Vienna has been the main supplier of concert grand pianos to classical venues, as well as other entertainment centers in the capital of Austria.
Chicago
Steinway Hall
Steinway Hall (German: ) is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and are located in cities such ...
in Chicago (1896–1970) was a theater, and later cinema, located at 64 E. Van Buren Street, Chicago.
It had at least 14 different name changes over the years, opening in 1896 as the Steinway Hall, and closing in the late 1960s as Capri Cinema.
Newer Steinway Halls
Steinway Hall and showrooms opened in Seoul, catering to performers and musicians of the
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) is a South Korean orchestra based in Seoul. Founded in 1948, it is one of the oldest orchestras in South Korea. Its first foreign tour came on a 1965 trip to Japan, followed by performances in Southeast Asia ...
and the
Kangnam University
Kangnam University is a private university in Yongin, South Korea.
Founded July 1, 1946 by Reverend Yi Ho-bin as the Choong-ang Theology Institute, the school initially met at a lecture hall in the local YMCA in Seoul, South Korea. The universit ...
, which is also an
All-Steinway School. Steinway & Sons' main showroom recently opened in Beijing, where UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
Lang Lang
Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...
introduced his own branded line of pianos, designed by Steinway & Sons, to the audience of Beijing society and media. The 65th Steinway Children and Youth Competition was recently held in Beijing. Today, additional forms of Steinway & Sons sales venues are located in Shanghai and Tokyo.
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
External links
Steinway Hall Manhattan New York City(obsolete)
Steinway Hall New York history
Steinway Hall DallasSteinway Hall Fort WorthSteinway Hall LondonSteinway Hall PlanoSteinway Hall Suisse RomandeSteinway-Haus BerlinSteinway-Haus DüsseldorfSteinway-Haus FrankfurtSteinway-Haus HamburgSteinway-Haus MünchenSteinway-Haus Wien
{{Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons
Concert halls in New York City
Music venues in Manhattan
Concert halls in England
Music venues in London
Concert halls in Austria
Buildings and structures in Vienna
Concert halls in Germany
Buildings and structures in Hamburg-Mitte
Buildings and structures in Munich
Tourist attractions in Berlin