Nostalgia

Beethoven and Khastegari

It was around 1970, I was a child visiting my grandparents, youngest aunt(age 22-23) and uncle(19) who lived in Tehran, Amir-abad, Shiraze Sharghi.

One day phone rang and I heard that the owner of Beethoven(we called him Mr.Beethoven) is calling to come for "Khastegari" of my aunt. So he came. In the first glance he looked a bit too old for my aunt, he looked 40-45 and he was balding, he seemed nice but he smoked and his hands shook. Even though he was very rich my aunt said no, mostly because of age-difference and apparent health issues. Later we heard that he married someone and they moved overseas.

I think he was Mohsen-Chaman Ara.

The Good Old Days

In the good old days of Tehran in the late 70s, it was a treat for me to take a taxi to Beethoven (by myself, a female at the age of 13) to purchase the LPs that had just came on the billboard.  Many times, I had to order the LPs since the had not reached the stores yet - The Chaman Aras were great.  They 4 brothers started their business 20+ years before the revolution on Manouchehri.  And now, Abbas khan, one of the brothers, owns 'The Music Box' in Los Angeles.  He is such pleasant soul and knowledged in his field.  Although his store is nice, the original Beethoven in Tehran had a much better ambiance.  yadesh neek

...

Nazy khanoom that school and your nice heartedly gesture is appreciated I could recall their faces but not the names; that shop and cafe glace' they use to call it  (pesh melba?) was our hang out too.

I also attended that kharazmi in summers for taghviyati it was co-ed and Mr. Ghavam was our nazem real nice man.           Maziar

Mohsen Chaman Ara

I went to Kharazmi High School for Girls in Tehran. The shop on Pahlavi Avenue, across from Bozorgmehr junction and only steps away from my school, used to be the hangout of my teen years and "Mohsen Agha" Chaman Ara was my friend (see him at 3:37 on the feature). Almost everyday after school I stopped by there to joke around with him, to listen to music with those state-of-the-art audio receivers, and only occasionally buy an LP to take home.

After decades of life outside Iran, I went to the shop to buy concert tickets and to see him a few years ago, but once I got to the shop's address on Vali-e-Asr Avenue, for some reason I couldn't find the shop. I went around and around with my cab several times but couldn't find the shop. I was so surprised because I kept thinking "how could you miss that huge shop?" On the third or fourth time around I saw it. The shop was half-closed, that's why I couldn't see it. Mohsen Agha had died that day and they had their roll-up, "kerkereh" door only half open to receive only the most persistent people who had to go to Beethooven's that day, like me.

I stood there and cried my heart out for the memories of my youth and for the man who loved music, Mohsen Chaman Ara.

Rest in peace Mohsen Agha.

Nostalgia

I remember the end of its glory time. I wasn't a classical buyer myself and maybe it was best for Beethoven to be exclusively classical. But obviously it wasn't large enough market to pay the rent (or tax or whatever) of such prime location.

I recall buying records of Farhad over there. I also remember Kodachrome of Paul Simon. I got it there, along other Simon & Garfunkel stuff. The reputation of Beethoven was such, that the common understanding was that if you can't find the song you are looking for, go to Beethoven!

A funny thing I remember. I heard a song from David Essex on the radio for the first time and I rushed to Beethoven to buy it. He didn't have it and as if he felt insulted, he complained that 'now any kid is becoming a music savvy for me'!.. I don't think I did anything to 'show off'. I just wanted to have this song:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVaLE4TTbwI