Vladimir Horowitz’s debut concert in Berlin is not a success: there’s almost no audience. However, the piano manufacturers, including Bechstein, Blüthner, Bösendorfer and Weber, aware of the great potential of the 22-year-old pianist, begin to besiege Horowitz, trying to persuade him to endorse their pianos. Paul Schmidt, the grandson of Albert Steinway, and Frederick Steinway’s nephew and assistant at Hamburg Steinway Pianofabrik, together with the charismatic Steinway & Sons Concert and Artists manager in Berlin Rudolf Vetter, have approached Horowitz, and “proved persuasive in demonstrating the unique qualities of the Steinway grand – the clarity and brilliance of its treble and the sonorous virile bass” (as maestro himself would recount later). Horowitz commits to playing Steinway & Sons pianos, and will never play any other piano anywhere. In recognition of such loyalty, Steinway & Sons will provide Vladimir Horowitz, wherever and whenever he plays, with the best piano and the best tuner.