For those who may not have heard a Piano Melodico, it is a high quality
reiterating automatic piano made around 100 years ago in Bologna, Italy.
It plays sturdy cardboard books.  The music it produces covers a wide
range and is very enjoyable.

Recently I needed help repairing our 73-note Piano Melodico.  In the
MMD Archives, I found an entry by Giovanni Vitiello of Bologna, a very
knowledgeable and enthusiastic collector of these instruments.

I sent an e-mail message to him describing the problem with our
instrument.  He replied immediately with an explanation of what needed
to be done.  I did not feel qualified to do the repair, so he offered
to do it.  I sent him the part that needed repair, and he returned it
within about ten days with an explanation of exactly what he had done.
It now works perfectly and probably is good for another 100 years.

I wholeheartedly recommend Giovanni Vitiello should you need advice
or information about these marvelous instruments.  Dealing with him 
is a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

A museum in Cesena, Italy, has a collection of the various types of
Piano Melodico.  The museum's English language web site contains an
interesting account of the history of the Piano Melodico, visit
http://www.pianomelodico.com/english/museum.htm 

Don Day
San Francisco
dbdaysf@aol.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]