History and/or Manufacturers:
Steinway & Sons is one of the best and oldest piano manufacturing companies. It was founded in 1853 by German immigrants in a Manhattan loft. The peculiarity of the company is that it takes one year for the masters to create one grand piano. The website contains a list of so called “˜Steinway artists’ — famous artists who play just Steinway pianos.
The famous known French composer — impressionist Claude Debussy made the best advertisement of the pianos made by the company in his statement, “One should only write piano music for Bechstein”. The company manufactures grand and upright pianos since 1853 in Berlin. The website provides information concerning the stars and their concerts performed on Bechstein.
Famous Performers:
Jerry Lee Lewis is one of the rock-n-roll legends. The artist became famous due to his brilliant piano performances. The website contains different stories from his life, for example, concerning his musical education. He attained just a few piano lessons and taught himself to play piano just from the radio programs. You can listen to his music, watch his films and buy some stuff related to Jerry Lee Lewis searching throughout the website.
Modern British composer Sir Elton John is one of the world famous pianists. Despite being a composer, he plays Red Piano by Yamaha as well and has his own band. You can easily buy tickets for Reginald Kenneth Dwight (this was the name of the artist before the change) concerts on the website.
Famous composers:
The website was created under the supervision of the Frederic Chopin Society. Frederic Chopin was one of the best composers and pianists of his time. He is a symbol of contemporary Europe — being both Polish and French artist. The website gives the opportunity to become familiar with his life, work and tradition of Chopin in the world nowadays.
Ludwig van Beethoven was recognized by the majority of contemporary European rulers as the greatest artist. He created a new musical style and wrote many piano pieces. The website consists of his biography, work, pictures and useful links for his admirers.
Repertoire:
This website gives access to nearly 3000 classical pieces, e-books on learning and a forum. This forum contains various discussions concerning different issues related to the piano. In this topic, many piano admirers shared their opinions on the best piano pieces of all times.
The author of this blog from Australia has complied lists of top 10 musical pieces in different spheres. He listed the best ten piano pieces as well. This list contains such famous pieces as Scherzo #2 Op.31 by Frederic Chopin, Piano Sonata in B Minor by Franz Liszt, Piano Concerto #2 Mvt III by Dmitri Shostakovich, Prelude in G Minor Op.23 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Rhapsody in B Minor Op.79 #1 by Johannes Brahms, etc. All of the pieces are commented and supported by videos.
Famous Orchestras:
The London Symphony Orchestra is one of the world’s leaders in recruitment of the most talented players from all over the world. Such policy favored the development of the Orchestra and gave the opportunity to play solo pieces for the best pianists during the Orchestra’s performances. The special feature of the website is big amount of options for listening and studying.
San Francisco Symphony is one of the greatest orchestras in the U.S. It was created after the earthquake in 1906. In 2011, it celebrated 100-year anniversary of its concerts. As most of the orchestras, they have a pianist, but usually there are no individual piano pieces during the concerts. The website has the materials for listening and different opportunities to plan your visit to the Symphony.