David Runnion wrote:

>A few years ago I went to the General Manager of the orchestra in
>Barcelona where I was principal cellist to inquire about the possibility
>of the orchestra purchasing instruments for the principal players.  ...
>Anyway, he grudgingly agreed to perhaps think about the idea, and said I
>should look around for an instrument.  So I popped off to London, went to
>one of the fine shops there and said "show me the best you got." I sat in
>a little room and played an extraordinary instrument, I forget now who the
>maker was but it was one of the Italian masters.
>
>...Anyway, I returned to Barcelona ready to negotiate and call the shop and
>order delivery.  Sat down with the manager, a political appointee in Spain
>who in real life was a car salesman who knew less than nothing about music.
>I told him about this miraculous instrument.  He looked at me and said,
>"You know, as I understand it, these old instruments, for a while they're
>pretty good, but after a while they're just OLD.  This instrument sounds
>like it's too OLD.  I don't think we can do this." And that was the end of
>that.

Oh dear.....what a perfectly *horrific* story...being so near to the
beloved, yet she will remain *die ferne Geliebte*...  car salesman eh?
Untergang des Abendlandes.  That's a lot of German for one post ;)
I stopped playing the violin as an amateur long ago but once had the
opportunity to play on an old instrument the pure sound of which bought
tears to my eyes so I can relate....just another piece of wood....totally
incredible.

Philip