Spirio Spotlight

Happy Birthday, Sergei Rachmaninov!

This month, Steinway & Sons Spirio, the world’s finest high resolution player piano, celebrates the greatest composer–pianist of the 20th century, Sergei Rachmaninov.

Rachmaninov’s music boldly and unapologetically carried the Romantic tradition forward amidst a revolution in the world of musical style. As a performer, Rachmaninov was a virtuoso in great demand. He bequeathed a remarkable recorded legacy, enabling us to recreate his own performances on Spirio — a musical experience that brings you as close as possible to actually hearing one of the greatest pianists of any era in your own home.

We are able to present some exceptional artists of today performing Rachmaninov’s music. These include pianists of Russian heritage: Olga Kern, a musical descendant of Rachmaninov himself; and Natasha Paremski, featured in our Spirio-Sync video this month performing the E-flat minor Etude-tableau. Other highlights include the virtuosic Yuja Wang playing a Rachmaninov Polka; the Moments Musicaux from Stanislav Khristenko; Rachmaninov’s song transcriptions played by Sandro Russo; and more from Jenny Lin, Spencer Myer, Shen Lu and Antonio Pompa-Baldi.

what’s new

New offerings on Spirio this month also highlight Rachmaninov, including a substantial program from the Taiwanese pianist Ching-Yun Hu that features the Second Sonata as well as a taste of Rachmaninov’s re-arrangements of music by other composers, namely the Prelude from Bach’s E Major Violin Partita. Ching-Yun’s Spirio debut also includes Chopin’s Variations on Mozart’s famous aria from Don Giovanni, “Là ci darem.” The refined pianism of Canadian Jane Coop debuts on Spirio this month with two Rachmaninov tracks, in addition to the compete Beethoven Bagatelles, Op. 33.

The intriguing world of Chilly Gonzales debuts on Spirio this month with a short set that displays his pop sensibility as well as his classical background. There are more pop essentials this month with Joe Augustine’s signature rendition of Van Morrison’s “Moondance,” and Sunny Choi brings us up-to-date with “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Alan Walker’s “Faded.”

We complete a cycle of new works by Robert Piana, elaborations of beloved Neapolitan Songs, performed by Antonio Pompa-Baldi which includes a version of “Come Back to Sorrento” with a taste of Domenico Scarlatti. Zhenni Li returns to Spirio, fresh from her Carnegie Hall debut, with works by Arthur Vincent Lourié and Béla Bartók.

explore the MUSIC

Each month we features highlights from the Spirio catalog. Learn more about the artists, the history and the music found exclusively on Spirio.

The new Steinway & Sons Spirio is the world’s finest high resolution player piano. A masterpiece of artistry and engineering in your home, Spirio enables you to enjoy performances captured by great pianists — played with such nuance, power and passion that they are utterly indistinguishable from live performance. Learn more about Spirio.

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