Bruno Allodi 2

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Text Box: Bruno was born in Saint Ilario, a small sleepy village not too far from the town of Parma in Italy. He was one of four children raised in the modest Northern Italian home during financially testing times amid Global turmoil. Music clearly ran in the family gene as the youngest sibling Umberto, went on to become a highly acclaimed and successful International accordionist. Sadly, their father passed away when Bruno was just 18 and as the eldest, he assumed the role of head of the family and supported them all from that moment on.
                  At a young age, both brothers showed interest in the accordion, and displayed a great talent for it. In Bruno’s case as well as being musically artistic, he was also manually creative and dexterous which became apparent through his later success as an accordion repairer. Bruno always felt that his brother was superior to him in his accordion playing, and because money was limited, he would pay for Umberto to have extra lessons rather than take them for himself; this said, he still became an extremely accomplished player, though for all his life, he remained modest of his own playing skills
          During their teenage years, Bruno and Umberto worked together as accordionists the length and breadth of Italy, travelling for miles with their accordions on their backs over hills and mountains on bicycles. It is also fair to say that it changed the course of their lives. In the Second World War, as soldiers, the two brothers had been waiting anxiously for the train on Parma station to be sent to fight on the Russian front. Morale amongst the platoon was at rock bottom, for this surely meant certain death. The two brothers were ordered by their Captain to fetch their accordions from the barracks to play to try and raise the company spirits. The General in charge saw the positive effect they had and as a result decided to keep them back and use them not as fighters, but as entertainers for the soldiers of the Italian army. Bruno later learned that of the 9,000 soldiers who left that day, only a handful returned and therefore, always maintained that the accordion saved his life.
          Rina was the great love of Bruno’s life. They had been sweethearts from childhood. They courted for a number of years before marrying but shortly after their marriage, Bruno became very ill for almost 5 years and this completely halted his playing of the accordion. He struggled slowly to regain his health and strength over a period of time, whilst Rina worked in a factory by night to support them financially, and spent all day at the hospital looking after him. In Italy in those days, nurses were not responsible for the general caring of patients in the way that they were in England.
          This was a time of great change in Bruno’s life as with his inability to perform for a living, he began to focus more on the construction side of the accordion; he had gained some knowledge partly from his connection to the Busilacchio Factory in Osimo and Super Salas in Stradella, whose instruments the brothers had promoted as working musicians; these factories turned more and more to Bruno for design and repair advice and over time, he built on his technical ability, but it was his unique innovative flair that set him apart from everybody else. He would not be beaten. He was no longer a strong man physically and whether this had some bearing, we can only surmise, but it seemed to heighten his resourcefulness. He had such an imagination and he would see things in his mind’s eye so vividly. No matter how impossible a task seemed, he knew that there was always a way, and he found it, as can be confirmed by numerous customers over many years with repairs they had otherwise deemed or been told were impossible. He didn’t use expensive gadgets or machines, he just applied himself a hundred percent to the problem and designed the means to achieve what was required This capacity grew further with age and experience.
          Through a contact partly established by Umberto, Bruno got the chance to come to Britain and work as a repairer at the Accordion Development Centre in London, run by Adrian Dante. This was of course a huge gamble, but equally, there was no work at all in Italy at this time, so desperate measures were called for.

Bruno Allodi

July 1915 – 25 July 2006 (aged 91)

Accordions@btinternet.com

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