Linkmeister

Save that, it's got cultural value

It's always nice to find a story that combines two of my major interests, music and conservation. Michael Feinstein has a vibrant onstage career as a pianist/vocalist, but he's also an avid musicologist. He's trying very hard to find and save artifacts like scores and sheet music from the dustbins.

Feinstein has uncovered a treasure trove during 30 years of collecting, including more than 30,000 recordings, plus posters, photos, sheet music and 16-inch lacquer radio discs from the 1930s. Stacks of boxes hold composer Henry Mancini's record collection and orchestrations by entertainer Peter Allen. He has hours of rare, taped radio performances by Bing Crosby.

These items fill the walls, halls, bookshelves, basement and garage of his three-story gated home in the Los Feliz hills. Feinstein delights in showing off the collection: "Look at this — this is genius," he tells a visitor with barely concealed excitement, thumbing through a faded, autographed copy of the score for Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

I have only one of his CDs, but I'm tempted to buy more if it supports this kind of work. It's important.