But Bluthner pianos, first built in 1853, were the driver of their world.

Kyril Kasimoff shuddered at the thought of the Beverly Crest Bluthner being hauled away like so much debris, as if its elegant frame was just another piece of soddened, shattered wood.

It was clear its sound would never be true again — even hundreds of hours of work and thousands of dollars couldn't turn back that clock. But Kasimoff was intent on securing it a second life.

"These pianos are treasures, and I couldn't see it just thrown away," Kasimoff said.

With the help of a neighbor, Kasimoff got in touch with the piano's owner and arranged to put it on display. He's since partnered with Dirk Braun, owner of an art gallery in Malibu, to display the muddied and battered instrument there.

In doing so, they said, they hope the piano's story might continue.

"It's survived all this time," Braun said. "Its final fate is not going to be that it was ejected from this house and salvaged. It's an irreplaceable work of art."

Until April, the piano that the two men have dubbed "Storm Bluthner" will be on display at the Dirk Braun Gallery. It sits now on its side, filled with hardened dry mud.

"There's no need to clean it; it is what it is," Braun said. "It has its own beauty from what it went through, and it's still there."

Despite being violently ejected from a sliding home, the instrument remained surprisingly intact, Braun said. All the ivory keys remain in place, and none of the strings were broken.

...continued

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.