Steinway & Sons

Rating:
Summary: See below
Review: Richard K. Lieberman's "Steinway & Sons" delighted me. As a writer doing research into late nineteenth-century New York, I found Lieberman's saga of this German family bringing its craftsmen's tradition to New York and making out very well indeed fascinating. The members of the family come alive in all their shrewdness and occasional peccadilloes. Lieberman does a fine job of tracing how the public's regard for the piano changed overtime. He also brings to life the internal contradiction within the company. On the one hand they wanted recognition as the makers of the finest concert grands, on the other hand the money was in selling to the mass market which wanted cheap pianos for home entertainment. This is a great read, even if the only instrument you play is a tape deck.

Rating:
Summary: A captivating saga of an important New York immigrant family
Review: Richard K. Lieberman's "Steinway & Sons" delighted me. As a writer doing research into late nineteenth-century New York, I found Lieberman's saga of this German family bringing its craftsmen's tradition to New York and making out very well indeed fascinating. The members of the family come alive in all their shrewdness and occasional peccadilloes. Lieberman does a fine job of tracing how the public's regard for the piano changed overtime. He also brings to life the internal contradiction within the company. On the one hand they wanted recognition as the makers of the finest concert grands, on the other hand the money was in selling to the mass market which wanted cheap pianos for home entertainment. This is a great read, even if the only instrument you play is a tape deck.

Rating:
Summary: Steinwway & Sons is a superb family and social history.
Review: Steinway & Sons is a rich, absorbing history of a business dynasty that stayed vital over six generations. Lieberman astutely analyzes the twin forces of creativity and hard-nosed business sense that made and sustained Steinway's preeminence as the concert piano of choice. This richly anecdotal book does not shy away from the dark side of the family's history-- its contempt for the piano workers, its unthinking patriarchy, even its active cultivation of the Nazis in Germany during World War II. (In America Steinway emphasized its patriotism by draping its conert hall with American flags and publicizing the Steinway sons who were serving in the American armed forces.) In this balanced account, Lieberman takes pains to catalogue the family's numerous contributions to the conert piano's evolution, as well as its unceasing promotion of the finest artists. The Steinways' mixture of creative technical innovation, fine musical taste and ruthless business practices makes them a family of particular fascination. Lieberman brings the various figures, strong and weak and flawed, to vibrant life.

Rating:
Summary: Steinwway & Sons is a superb family and social history.
Review: Steinway & Sons is a rich, absorbing history of a business dynasty that stayed vital over six generations. Lieberman astutely analyzes the twin forces of creativity and hard-nosed business sense that made and sustained Steinway's preeminence as the concert piano of choice. This richly anecdotal book does not shy away from the dark side of the family's history-- its contempt for the piano workers, its unthinking patriarchy, even its active cultivation of the Nazis in Germany during World War II. (In America Steinway emphasized its patriotism by draping its conert hall with American flags and publicizing the Steinway sons who were serving in the American armed forces.) In this balanced account, Lieberman takes pains to catalogue the family's numerous contributions to the conert piano's evolution, as well as its unceasing promotion of the finest artists. The Steinways' mixture of creative technical innovation, fine musical taste and ruthless business practices makes them a family of particular fascination. Lieberman brings the various figures, strong and weak and flawed, to vibrant life.

Rating:
Summary: This is a fabulous book.
Review: Steinway & Sons is one of the best books of its kind I have ever read. It's carefully researched, informative, entertaining, and clearly written. It's an exceptional example of scholarship that brings to life times gone by, looking through the lens of the Steinway saga. Read this book! You won't be sorry!