Sondheim's Piano

[Pokeydonut]

Posted: 5/12/17 at 9:58pm

OK, time for some seriously obscure Sondheim trivia:

In Secrest's biography, she writes that he has a Baldwin grand in his apartment that he bought from Leonard Bernstein:

"He also acquired an even more desirable instrument, a Baldwin grand that Leonard Bernstein, who had a promotional deal to play exclusively on Baldwin pianos, has used only a few times for his Young People's concerts. Bernstein wanted a larger model and was prepared to sell this one to Sondheim for the absurdly small price of $5,400, so Sondheim bought it and kept it ever after."

I found a website online that said this sale occurred in 1960, but I can't confirm it. Bernstein held the Young People's Concerts from `58 to `72 so that timing checks out. 

My question is: does anyone know what year or model piano it is?

I just bought a 1959 Baldwin Model R Artist Series which is 5'8". Therefore it's possible that this is the model that Bernstein deemed too small for him - potentially even from around that same year of production. However, Baldwin also made a Model L which is 6'3", an SF10 which is 7' and a SD10 which is 9'. Given that he was playing these concerts with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, it is more likely that it was a Model L or an SF10 that he decided was too small in favor of the 9' SD10, but I thought I'd just ask in case anyone knows. This would fall in the category of extreme superfan trivia since I can't find anything online, but if anyone would know it's you guys.