VSO Unveils New Steinway" loading="lazy" />
It’s a “once in a generation” event: the unveiling of a new Hamburg Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano.
A gift from the the VSO’s 100th Anniversary Campaign, the VSO team traveled to Germany this past summer to hand-pick the nine-foot, 3,000 lb piano. Renowned pianist Sergei Babayan, who appears this season with the VSO, helped select an instrument with remarkable evenness and clarity, perfect for the 2,700 seat Orpheum Theatre.
VSO Vice-President of Artistic Planning and Production Misha Aster traveled to meet Babayan at the Steinway factory in Hamburg. “[The piano] was selected for its clear and brilliant sound that will have enough impact to be heard clearly through the Orpheum Theatre,” Aster explains. “You need to physically be in the same room with this magnificent instrument in order to hear and feel its true power – there’s really nothing like it.”
To make the transatlantic voyage safely, the Steinway was secured to a pallet, carefully wrapped, packed and boxed. Upon arrival in Canada, the piano was transported to the Tom Lee warehouse in Richmond where it spent a month acclimatizing before making the final journey to its new home at the Orpheum Theatre.
September 27 and 28, the Steinway will complete its journey with a public unveiling at the hands of Russian virtuoso Daniil Trifonov – a pianist who has been described in turns as “astonishing,” and possessing “poetic insight.” The New York Times noted that “few artists have burst onto the classical music scene in recent years with the incandescence of Trifonov.” Trifonov will test the full dynamic range, clarity, and colour of the new Steinway with a rigorous workout: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. “The Rach 3 is the K2 of the piano repertory: a savage, relentless exposure to everything the keyboard can throw at anyone who dares to take it on,” writes The Guardian’s Alex Wade. “Just as K2, despite its death rate of one in three, will always attract the elite in mountaineering circles, so too is Rach 3 the work that every pianist of genuine ability will want to master.” The Rach 3 even stars in a feature film alongside Geoffrey Rush – 1996’s Shine, which netted Rush an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime event – join us September 27th & 28th to see Trifonov, the Steinway, and VSO Music Director Otto Tausk shine in an exhilarating musical experience. See more concert details and buy tickets here.
A special thank you to Concert Artist and longtime VSO collaborator Ian Parker for assistance with sound testing the new piano.
Tom Lee Music facilitated the purchase of the instrument.
For more information:
Biographies
Steinway & Sons Pianos
On the Rach 3
Ready for Rach 3 – The Guardian
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Trifonov Plays Rachmaninoff No.3 is part of the Newmont Goldcorp Masterworks Gold series, sponsored by Newmont Goldcorp.
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