Word: beecham
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...rehearsal, the musicians of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra gaped at the unwonted spectacle of their crustaceous conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham, taking advice and instruction. His adviser, standing next to the podium, was a stumpy, balding little old man in a frayed brown suit. Once, when the little man whispered in Beecham's ear, the conductor stopped, said: "We are reminded that by this time in the work Don Quixote is sadder but wiser...
Piccadilly Circus was jammed with Londoners and country folk braving showers in summer frocks and flannels. Red bunting, dripping in the rain, hung from the steel railings, and gramophone records blared London Pride. In a clean white apron and battered hat, wizened old Polly Beecham, who has sold her flowers at the foot of the statue for 50 years, was agog with excitement. "I loike 'im," she exclaimed as the returning hero was hoisted into place. "'E's my companion, see?" A dewy-eyed lass in the crowd confessed her devotion just as shamelessly. "I cyme...
...them. Wild horses won't drag the other name from me. . . . The combination of my wife and myself is one that cannot be duplicated in 24 hours." Quipped the London Star, in a cartoon next day: "I have got tickets for Sir Thomas Beecham's next speech. I hear he will also conduct some music." Impresario Fielding resigned in a huff...
...controversy raised a question: is Lady Beecham that good a pianist or is Sir Thomas just that good a husband? At ten, Betty Humby was the youngest pupil ever to win a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. At 14 she had 30 pupils of her own and at 16 she was a piano professor under Myra Hess. As a concert soloist, however, critics rate her as competent, not great...
...class is the pianist Sir Thomas approached at week's end. He asked Pianist Artur Schnabel, perhaps the top living interpreter of Beethoven and Mozart, to play with the Royal Philharmonic next month. Schnabel, who was once Lady Beecham's teacher, declined. He was, he said, leaving London the next day. But, he added slyly, "if it were possible, I would have liked to have taken a chance on a Mozart concerto...