Article
A Grand Entrance
"Ag...Ang... boy, what was her
name?" "Aglika," Robert replied. "Man, how do you
remember it when you make love to her???" "I just call her
'Baby'." This was Drex - the most incredible piano 
mover I have ever
met! He came to our house after having given me several phone calls days
before to give me the exact arrival date of my piano, and to keep me
posted whether he was on time, and finally, to ask me for directions from
O'Hare airport, when he was close to Chicago. Quite a guy.
It didn't take him long to see that there
was no chance for the seven foot black beast to go through the main
staircase of the 1885 house. The back staircase was also not an option. He
sat down in our living room and started moving energy - making phone
calls, and advising us what to do. There was a moment when he even offered
to take the piano back with him to St. Louis and store it there. He had
traveled all the way from California, and he clearly loved his job. He
also loved talking on the phone. However he had some trouble doing it from
our place since, he said, he was only used to dialing while
driving.
I called the company with the biggest ad in the Yellow Pages (good use for
their advertising dollar, after all!) and Drex and Robert went to Chicago
Movers to deposit the piano for storage. Ali (the main man at Chicago
Movers) came early next morning to assess the possibility of the piano
coming through the window. Third floor, narrow windows, but it would work, he said. We would need
permission from our landlady to take the entire window out, we would need
someone to actually take out the window, and...oh, would the floors
support the piano? One issue after another, and I was supposed to feel
like a happy piano owner!
After the collapse of a balcony in Chicago last summer, which caused
fatalities, everybody was aware of similar problems - to a fault. Yes, I
contacted 3 different people - architects and a structural engineer and
they all assured me that everything would be fine. The landlady was fine
with it too - no problem about the window. However, an acquaintance came
up with a design idea which would allow the window to stay in during the
move.
A DePaul University carpenter, J.C., came
to help. He was awesome, and once more confirmed my love for handymen who
can find a solution to any such problem.
At this point, the black baby was sitting in a warehouse. I had seen it
just once - when bought it. I
found it over the Internet, advertised by a Swiss piano technician, (for
Artur Rubinstein at some point,) and veteran Elvis impersonator. He picked
me up at the airport in a black BMW 7 series, with all the gold chains,
rings, sun glasses...over the phone he had just said, "Look for
Elvis." (http://www.pianoexpert.com)
As for the piano, it was love at first sight. Built in 1924 in Hamburg, it
looked different from other pianos. Rebuilt and not played much since,
everything was new: sound board, hammers, strings, with a dark red velvet
lining, around the rim on the inside, even the original ivory keys - what
a sexy thing!!! The
Steinway & Sons nameplate was brass, engraved in the wood, NOT
STICKERS like modern pianos. The music desk hadn’t a single scratch.
I played it. and it responded. I was
definitely in love. Elvis would pay for the move to Chicago; what a deal!
I was very happy and overwhelmed, for this was my first grand piano! That
was back in mid-August, and I was eager to meet my new love again..
We needed a crane, a "boom-machine" they call it. We needed a city permit.
We needed to close the street for the crane. Incredibly, everything went
smoothly. By this point I had engaged DePaul's PR person, Robin Florzak to
write a press release on the event. Being newcomers on the Chicago scene,
and having a seven foot piano hanging in the air was surely a good story?
The morning of the move my first thought
was, "I can’t watch this," but...how could I miss it???? The
weather was beautiful, and the crane was coming at 9.30am. My first task
was to overwrite, with a black marker the City's signs on the parking
meters - they had mistakenly closed the street to parking between 12 noon
and 5 PM, INSTEAD of 9am-12pm. Robin was there with a photographer who
took the amazing pictures, and they both kept everything very light. The crew of six
lively guys laughed and posed for the
camera, while we all eagerly awaited the crane. A reporter from the
Tribune came too, and then finally - THE BIG RED CRANE.
The actual move took about five minutes.
The crane guy talked to Ali, they made their decision, and up it went, my
baby-beast, all wrapped up in blankets and Saran wrap. I
barely had time to take pictures with my own camera. It was easy,
it was smooth, it was amazing how this HUGE crane was so gentle. The
window construction worked perfectly, the piano was in and unwrapped, then
came the legs, and there it stood, in the middle of this enormous living
room. My piano.
Someone said I should play it. I had heard that pianos need to rest after
a move, like refrigerators. But I went, and I played it, and the sound was
the sweetest, deepest, clearest, velvety sound...and the piano is like no
other piano. It has a true soul. ###
Aglika Angelova
P. S.
Channel 2 showed up with a van and a film crew, after the crane was
gone. Well after all, our beloved President was in town and making the
news. The Tribune ran two pictures and a short text the next day. The title was
"A Grand Entrance."
Aglika
Angelova, pianist is with the Jupiter Trio and
Callisto Ensemble, and
teaches at DePaul University
Photographs
are by Bob Kusel
To read the DePaul University press release about the forgoing event click
on the link below:
http://sherman.depaul.edu/media/webapp/mrNews2.asp?NID=1058&ln=true