It’s taken 40 years, but I’ve finally developed a taste for the one type of classical music that I couldn’t stand. And last week I broke the news to the man responsible: Roger Hewland, owner of Gramex, the world’s finest second-hand classical CD and record shop, just behind Waterloo Station.
‘Roger, I’ve suddenly got into Italian opera,’ I said.
He raised an eyebrow in mock concern. ‘Oh dear, now that is serious. It’s an incurable addiction and [rubbing his hands together — he’s a shopkeeper, after all] a most expensive one. May I ask what you were listening to when the symptoms first appeared?’
‘Donizetti. Lucia di Lammermoor with Sutherland and Pavarotti.’
‘All is lost!’ crowed Roger, grinning like a schoolboy who’s just won a game of conkers: with his tousled thick white hair and habit of rearranging the shelves just to tease customers, he reminds me of an octogenarian William Brown.
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