17 November 2022, Friday – A HOMAGE TO THE EARTH’S MOST PRECIOUS WOODS THROUGH CRAFTSMANSHIP
To honour and celebrate the natural beauty of the earth’s most precious woods, Steinway & Sons has created the MASTERPIECE 8X8 collection, a limited edition of eight grand pianos and eight upright pianos in its hand-crafted veneer, designed to showcase the quality and unique personality of each wood and bring it to life.
Limited to just eight grand and upright pianos per precious wood type – American Walnut, Eucalyptus, Figured Macore, Figured Sycamore, Macassar Ebony, Oak, Olive and Santos Rosewood – each veneer presents an individual allure. Handcrafted in the company’s Hamburg factory, the MASTERPIECE 8X8 took more than twelve months to create. Steinway & Sons craftspeople meticulously match the grain from one end of the piano to the other – even across the bevelled edge of the lid. As a finishing touch, each instrument features a precious pearl: depending on the colour of the cast-iron plate and fittings, either a grey Tahitian pearl or a shell-coloured South Sea pearl is used. The number eight was chosen as a symbol of good fortune with each piano in the MASTERPIECE 8X8 collection numbered and signed with the wood type.
Every detail has been considered to compliment the individual finish of the veneer. The rose- gold or silver-coloured cast iron plates used in each MASTERPIECE 8X8 grand and upright piano have been finished with corresponding fittings, depending on the tone and hue of the wood. For example, figured sycamore has a clear, gentle wavy pattern that extends over the surface and a remarkable near-white colour that is paired with a silver-coloured cast-iron plate and chrome fittings, coupled with a grey Tahitian pearl on the key cover.
All Steinway MASTERPIECE 8X8 grand pianos (model B) are equipped with SPIRIO | r, the world’s finest high-resolution player piano capable of live performance capture and playback. SPIRIO | r offers new experiences of playing music in the home, enabling recording, editing of performances, connectivity for sharing music and a playback quality that is precise and nuanced.
“Much of a piano is made of wood – it is a hugely treasured material that our craftsmen and women treat with the utmost respect. Our veneers are the outer luxurious reflection of the inner treasure of a Steinway – each piano has a unique sound and rich quality. By using the world’s most precious woods for this limited collection, we bring the personality of the wood-type to life in a precious and subtle way that honours this natural material and embodies our continuing dedication to quality and skilled craftsmanship” says Guido Zimmermann, President Steinway & Sons Europe.
Included with each MASTERPIECE 8X8 piano is a beautiful pen, handmade in Hamburg by designer Jan Zander, with a polished wood cap and barrel that matches the veneer of the piano it accompanies. The design of the pen clip is a subtle tribute to the screw clam for wood-bending machines patented by Steinway in 1880 and still used today to shape the grand piano rims.
The MASTERPIECE 8X8 is a work of art where every detail is considered, celebrating the passion and expertise of the people who crafted it – a knowledge and experience that comes together to provide an unparalleled playing experience.
