A pianist I've been friends with for decades has suffered from multiple issues over his life - huge weight issues, alcoholism (resolved long ago at this point) and another I wasn't that aware of until recently - he's been a serious hoarder. His landlord got on his case because his little one bedroom apartment had become a serious fire hazard and gave him a choice - clear out the accumulation or be evicted.
I'd not been in his place when it was at its worst, but the state it must have been in staggers me. In this tiny place he at one point had a Steinway Model A grand piano (buried under a pile), a big upright (I took it on awhile ago) a dozen fine gramophones (with a couple of thousand 78s to go with them) and a thousand or more LPs. In between was just junk and detritus as there was no way he could have cleaned even if he had wanted to.
So, to cut to the chase - my friend is quite insistent that these are now my records in entirety. He is letting go of his past and making a better new future (we hope!) less burdened by his past. He has also informed me that I will be the recipient in his will of his lovely Model A Steinway grand should I outlive him, this basically as insurance that the piano gets proper treatment should the situation arise. I am five years his senior, but who knows...
As to the LPs - I wish they'd been packed in LCBO boxes as I've always done as they are then reasonably manageable. Square moving boxes end up just a bit heavy, I moved a lot of them yesterday and have a few left in the car overnight out of respect for my back and giving it a little rest and recovery time. They'll all be in by end of day.
So what's in the boxes and what am I going to do about their having arrived? I've had a look through three boxes so far and while there is clearly some donation fodder there are also an incredible collection of very fine Classical vinyl, some of it fairly rare and valuable. Being the sort of person he is, if my friend bought a recording of a specific work he bought six different performances for comparison. Who has three complete box sets of the Bach Cantatas? Seven (so far) of the Khachaturian violin concerto?
I can take on perhaps a few hundred more LPs, especially if I do a bit of winnowing of what I already own, but still will need to re-home quite a few albums. Wish me luck...
One interesting LP that jumped out at me. Sounds like it has dandy party potential.
I'd not been in his place when it was at its worst, but the state it must have been in staggers me. In this tiny place he at one point had a Steinway Model A grand piano (buried under a pile), a big upright (I took it on awhile ago) a dozen fine gramophones (with a couple of thousand 78s to go with them) and a thousand or more LPs. In between was just junk and detritus as there was no way he could have cleaned even if he had wanted to.
So, to cut to the chase - my friend is quite insistent that these are now my records in entirety. He is letting go of his past and making a better new future (we hope!) less burdened by his past. He has also informed me that I will be the recipient in his will of his lovely Model A Steinway grand should I outlive him, this basically as insurance that the piano gets proper treatment should the situation arise. I am five years his senior, but who knows...
As to the LPs - I wish they'd been packed in LCBO boxes as I've always done as they are then reasonably manageable. Square moving boxes end up just a bit heavy, I moved a lot of them yesterday and have a few left in the car overnight out of respect for my back and giving it a little rest and recovery time. They'll all be in by end of day.
So what's in the boxes and what am I going to do about their having arrived? I've had a look through three boxes so far and while there is clearly some donation fodder there are also an incredible collection of very fine Classical vinyl, some of it fairly rare and valuable. Being the sort of person he is, if my friend bought a recording of a specific work he bought six different performances for comparison. Who has three complete box sets of the Bach Cantatas? Seven (so far) of the Khachaturian violin concerto?
I can take on perhaps a few hundred more LPs, especially if I do a bit of winnowing of what I already own, but still will need to re-home quite a few albums. Wish me luck...
One interesting LP that jumped out at me. Sounds like it has dandy party potential.