Selling a 300-Year-Old Cello

New York Times ^ | January 13, 2012 | Daniel J. Wakin

[billorites]

I heard Peter Frampton interviewed on NPR this past week talking about his long-lost guitar. Great story.

[billorites]

"maybe I wasn’t ready for Bruckner at that point..."

I know the feeling. I always consider Bruckner to be sort of Philip Glass for the 'thinking man'.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

I sent the story to a friend that I’ve recorded with. He has played with Frampton many times, so he twittered him. Here’s Peter’s answer;

“Thanks Neil. I’ll date myself by saying it’s pretty trippy! Surreal is another word that comes to mind. Who’d a thunk?!”

[midnightcat]

Agree re: fascinating article. And you have a good story too. I just finished having a semi-grand harp fixed that I got from an elderly woman in Florida. I plan to learn to play it, which hopefully shouldn’t be too impossible given that I already play the piano.

[JenB]

It’s more likely that he used the replica cello as a practice instrument. I could see not wanting to use something so precious every day! And that might be what his daughter meant about why it was so sad he couldn’t tell the difference. Not that they were trying to set him up to look stupid.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Oh, be still my heart! I love the harp, and I always wished that my daughter would learn to play that instrument. (She is a music teacher with 2 degrees and already plays many instruments.) I once lived in a town where the high school owned 2 harps (willed to them) and would loan one to any student willing to learn to play it. The other harp remained at school for the student to use at school. Unfortunately, we moved away before my daghter got to HS, or she would have been on track to apply for the privilege.

[midnightcat]

I always loved the harp and never imagined I would ever own one. But my aunt met an elderly lady who had to get rid of hers and was willing to give it to someone who would otherwise never get a chance. So I bought it and had it moved to NJ, saved to get the money to fix the neck, and now need to move on to the next phase to see if I can learn to play it. The elderly woman has since passed away....but I promised her I would learn to play it and I intend to keep my promise :)

What a lucky school district that was that had the instrument! You don’t hear of that too often.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Lucky you! My daughter has some association with the Harp Society (no their exact name) in Richmond, VA and my granddaughter wanter to learn to play. But, then my granddaughter changed her mind and it never happened. She’s now playing the flute and the piano. I don’t remember how my daughter knew all those harpists — I think she was teaching music theory to them. She’s now teaching full time at a Catholic school — music from K-8. She loves it, but scheduling is really hard. She has all the vocal ensembles, as well as the regular classes. Every child in the school is her student, but she’s see them only once a week. Throw in Holidays and snow days and and sick days and sometimes she meets with them only 3-4 times during a semester, and then they move on.

[afraidfortherepublic]

What a lucky school district that was that had the instrument! You don’t hear of that too often.

No. This was a school district in a wealthy enclave in CA -- Piedmont. Somebody had willed the harps to the school with instructions on how they were to be used. I found out about it because I went to a tea in somebody's home and whe had a large living room with TWO harps in it, and she told me that one of them was a loaner from the school. Her daughter was the lucky harpist that year and she told me about the program. That was 40 years ago, so I don't know how those instruments have fared over the years. I certainly hope that they are still being played.

[musicsnob]

Some time ago, Mr. Greenhouse had had an extensive restoration of his cello done to correct and stabilize some old repairs and problems. This was a very difficult and complicated restoration that took two years. The copy was made around that time, if I recall correctly, so that he would have something to play during this process.

So, I don’t think the children were trying to trick him with a fake to steal the original. Also, his insurance might not have covered having or playing the cello in certain situations, like at a vacation house or at a medical facility.