Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037

Who knew that a film about the epitome of a high-culture artefact, costing around R 700 000, could spawn a story of dedicated, passionate and skilled working people that is both touching and engrossing. A Steinway Concert Grand is the quintessential desire of every professional pianist. And behind each piano is a remarkable story. Working in the Steinway factory in Astoria, New York is a United Nations team of craftsmen and women that are heirs to the nearly-extinct centuries-old piano-making tradition. This team spends one year transforming a hunk of untreated wood into an elaborate and precise handcrafted object of sublime tonal perfection. As we follow each laborious and painstaking process, we meet these delightfully quirky personalities and delve into their infatuation with what they do. Not all pianos make the grade, and from the start you’ll be rooting for Steinway L1037 whose creation we follow. Music lovers will revel in the guest appearance of world-renowned musicians (from jazz pianists Kenny Barron, Bill Charlap and Harry Connick Jr. to concert impresarios Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Lang Lang and Hélène Grimaud) who put the finalists through their paces and discuss the individual, emotional and tonal bond each has with a Steinway.