The unexpected death in December, 2012, of Charles Paine Fisher made a huge impact in the shop that continues today. Charlie was an early partner of Frank Hubbard and Bill Dowd, but better known for running Cambridge Records and developing the ribbon microphone. As an engineer and scholar with New England ancestry dating to the Declaration of Independence, his 17th-century house near Boston was filled with valuable antiques from silver to furniture. He also collected musical instruments, most significantly the 1730 Blanchet harpsichord made famous by Bill Dowd’s hundreds of copies.
The Fishers were longtime friends, and Charlie was much involved as we began making reproductions of his Schantz fortepiano. When he died, only the Boston lawyers remained to dispose of his estate. A nephew employed at a fine arts auction house could deal with the house and its contents – except for the instruments. In addition to many keyboards, the collection ranged from historic winds to Stroh violins. There was a plethora of tools, materials, notes, drawings. The estate asked us to take it all on consignment: per the will, everything had to be sold, nothing donated. Thus began several years of upheaval: making room for everything in our building, managing the sales, handling the extensive paperwork. The 18th-century Dutch house organ lived in the front hall for years.
Simultaneously, recording and concert obligations ate weeks of time. World premiere recordings proliferated: Opera Lafayette’s 19th-century Lalla Roukh, and Jory Vinikour’s program of modern harpsichord music with more than half a dozen. Incredibly, Jory’s “Toccatas” won a second GRAMMY nomination for Best Solo Instrumental (with the same harpsichord as his Rameau).
Our pianos were busy in New York (Albert Fuller’s Helicon series) and Toronto. Tafelmusik appreciated Barbara spending her 65th birthday tuning for Kris Bezuidenhout!
When Chris Hogwood came for a long weekend in the fall, our driving club took a big carriage drive at a legendary estate. He was both terrified and thrilled, but our great horse Sheba crossed a deep creek – twice!
