“Through years of love, thinking, and hard work, Steinway invented a sound which is universal and made the player and the listener closer to each other. So when you play a Steinway, you're not playing it only for yourself, but for all the creative and devoted people who wanted this universal language to be a family.”
Michel Petrucciani (1962-1999) was a French jazz pianist. From birth he had osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and, in his case, short stature. He became one of the most accomplished jazz pianists of his generation despite having arms that caused him pain.
Petrucciani made a priority of recording solo piano also. He said: "I really believe a pianist is not complete until he's capable of playing by himself. I started doing solo concerts in February 1993, when I asked my agent to cancel my trio dates for a year in order to play nothing but solo recitals… I had a wonderful time playing alone, and discovering the piano and really studying every night. I felt like I was learning so much about the instrument and about communicating directly with an audience. So it was an incredible experience. I really loved doing that, and afterwards getting on stage with a group again and playing with other people was a piece of cake!"
