It would be naive to state that only size makes a superyacht. Though technically correct, ‘superyacht’ is a title best suited to luxury vessels with heavy doses of just that—luxury. This extravagant quality is what immortalizes yachts; it’s what gets enthusiasts talking and billionaires beaming with pride. One such talking point was the gigantic Steinway piano spotted on the 453 ft. megayacht of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison.
Even Alisher Usmanov’s mammoth Dibar megayacht featured one such piano, but it wasn’t the largest ever installed on a pleasure craft. This $590 million Lürssen beauty was outfitted with what is dubbed a Concert Grand piano, the largest Steinway model, in the main salon. The grand piano costs nothing less than $220,000 and isn’t exactly something one would find on a yacht. However, the Silicon Valley tycoon had his heart set on it.
“Normally, we have a tripod fastening system that’s visible underneath the piano, but Larry Ellison didn’t want to see the fixings,” shared Steinway consultant Heinz-Heinrich Schalkowsk. “Instead, we developed a special fastening that went through the three piano feet to root it to the floor.” Rising Sun’s musical masterpiece is one of only five pianos made in the past two decades with chrome fittings instead of brass. It comprises 20 solid hardwood layers bent into shape by hand, and the piano is placed in a controlled conditioning room for three months to let the wood and glue cure. The Italian furniture polish is hand-applied and then polished by computer control to produce a flat, even, and high-sheen finish.
The soundboard and keyboard are typically made of Alaskan spruce, which is sourced from one particular island, per Yachtsinternational. A Steinway demands a lot of care, tuning three times a year, placing it in the right atmospheric conditions, not close to windows, radiators, or heating outlets. The Steinway on the Rising Sun had issues in less than a year owing to the atmospheric conditions. “Six months after we installed Rising Sun’s Steinway, I received a call from the captain to say the strings had rusted,” Schalkowsk stated. “The strings need to be checked daily for moisture, and I guess they’d forgotten to do so.” Being on sea corrosion and salty air moisture did the expected.
It takes 200 artisans to craft one Steinway, and if the piano needs to be carried, it takes six men to maneuver the 1,300-pound (600-kilogram) beast. The best way to take care of a Steinway aboard a superyacht is by installing a hygrometer to safeguard against humidity fluctuations and a dehumidifier or air conditioner to control the overall environment. The co-founder of Oracle Corporation sold this gigantic floating palace with a movie theater, spa, wine cellar, and helicopter landing pad to billionaire David Geffen in 2010.
Ellison considered the yacht too big and purchased the smaller $130 million Musashi yacht. The Rising Sun superyacht has been a temporary home for several Hollywood A-listers, music royalty, and tycoons like Barack and Michelle Obama, Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos, Oprah, Ivanka Trump, Jerry Jones, and Larry Page.
