November 30, 2000
EAST ORANGE, NJ

    Piano-making history was made tonight as Frank Pollaro unveiled his recently completed Steinway Art Case piano, a shimmering grand piano veneered entirely in satinwood parquetry. Pollaro, the principal of Pollaro Custom Furniture and Flamingo Veneers, hosted a party for a couple hundred of his closest friends at his studio in East Orange, NJ, to announce this latest accomplishment, his third design for Steinway.
    After opening remarks by Pollaro's shop foreman, the rest of the crew lifted the veil from the piano, to a chorus of exclamations from the audience. The piano was stunning. The case was encircled by a series of diamond motifs that seemed to go through dramatic figure-ground reversals depending on the viewing angle. The diamonds were repeated on the inside and outside of the top, on the legs, the strut...even thematching piano bench. The finish was an impeccably rubbed high-gloss lacquer, which made the wildly figured satinwood veneer glimmer like gold.
    We soon found that the piano sounded as good as it looked, as we were treated to several compositions by New York-based jazz pianist John Regen. I'm not sure the acoustics of a cluttered woodshop are the best for evaluating a piano's tone, but it sounded great to me--smooth, clear and subtle, with a very round tonality, bright but not brassy--a treat for all the senses.
    Pollaro, who gained his reputation by making reproductions and custom furniture in the style of Jacques Emile Ruhlmann, the famous French "ebeniste" of the Art Deco period, is in good company with other late 20th Century woodworking luminaries who have designed and crafted pianos in the Art Case series, including Wendell Castle and Silas Kopf.
    One of Pollaro's earlier designs, the midnight-blue, silver inlaid "Rhapsody" piano, designed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin's birth, was featured in this year's Academy Awards production. Pollaro and Steinway are in the process of building a limited edition of 12 more Rhapsody models to satisfy the demand from collectors and aficionados.

    Steinway & Sons, founded in 1852, first began making one-off and limited-edition "Art Case" pianos around 1870, in conjunction with noted artists and craftsmen. According to Pollaro, fewer than 20 outside firms have ever participated in Steinway's Art Case program. Several more are in construction now, including a limited edition "Tricentennial" model, designed by artist Dakota Jackson.

    The commissioning and making of one of these extreme pianos is a collaborative process. Generally, the artist designs the outward aspect of the piano and, depending on his skills and abilities, may cut and match the veneers, make the legs, etc., but much of the actual cabinetmaking and layup is done by Steinway itself. The basic shape of the case, along with the plate (the cast-iron framework that holds the strings), the keys, the pedals and the soundboard, of course are all pure Steinway.
    I'd estimate there were 200 people at the gala, including several Steinway representatives, Pollaro's entire staff of cabinetmakers, and my old friends Frank and Edith Klausz, Ian Kirby, Tim and Barbara Snyder, Vinnie Lawrence (formerly of Fine Woodworking magazine), Al Stirt and others--a night that Candy and I will long remember.
     Nice work, Frank!