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Long before a key is ready to be touched, every Steinway concert grand is subjected to the high art of old-school craftsmanship.
From the factory floor in Queens to Steinway Hall in Manhattan, each piano's journey requires 12,000 parts, 450 craftsmen, and more than a year of finely tuned labour by specialists like the ‘belly maker' and ‘grand finisher'. The rarity and fine craftsmanship of these grand beauties mean Steinway & Sons can command a starting price of US$25,000 for each. This meticulous documentary looks at the creation of Steinway piano number L1037, note by note, profiling the artisans who craft them and the musicians who play them. It reveals the patience, craft and personality built into each Steinway and asks what we - and the music - might be losing as mass production displaces craft. --- D/P Ben Niles WS Films Transit TD digibeta/2006/80mins