Steinway & Sons is a legendary American and German piano manufacturer that makes arguably some of the best, if not the best, pianos in the entire world. The company got started back in 1853 in New York when a German immigrant named Heinrich Steinweg and his sons started building pianos. The quickly grew to prominence and are probably the most respected piano brand. The Queen of England has a royal warrant with the company, that’s how great they are. They make a variety of different pianos, but their “D” series is their flagship grand piano, and their most expensive. Limited numbers of their pianos are produced every year, as they are built entirely by hand and that holds true with their D series. A new Model D Steinway will set you back anywhere between $150,000 to $200,000 dollars. Hearing music played on of these pianos is life changing. These pianos are so well liked that in 2003 an estimate indicated that upwards of 90% of concert grand pianos used in a professional orchestras were Steinway Model D’s.
The eight foot long Model D has been in Steinway’s lineup pretty much since the company was founded back in the day. Steinway has also produced a variety of limited edition Model D’s that are even more expensive as they are extremely rare and exclusive. In fact their is a custom built Steinway Model D located in the White House that features bald eagles for legs. The most expensive Steinway, and the most expensive grand piano ever sold in an auction, was a particular Model D. This Model D was specially designed by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, a prominent dutch artist who lived from 1835 – 1912. Dubbed the “Steinway Alma Tadema”, this particular Model D is one of a kind and was built in 1883-1887. Given the nature of the piano and how old it is, it was sold at a Christies auction in London back in 1997 for $1.2 million dollars. This piano was so famous that Steinway even made a replica series dedicated to this piano.
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