2 mins and 32 secs into the video I saw my Dad, Geoffrey Gilbert, playing the flute and sitting in front of Gwydion Brook, the bassoon player. What a thrill. Daddy loved "Tommy" and remained with the orchestra until Beecham died. Thanks P A for finding this clip.
My favorite Beecham joke. A reporter asked him--did you rehearse the Stockhausen this evening? Beecham replies--no, but I stepped in some this morning.
"As far as the British public are concerned, the only important thing is that the orchestra begins together and ends together. In between it doesn't matter much." Sir Thomas Beecham.
During a rehearsal, conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, who died 40 years ago, thought that his female soloist was playing less than adequately on her fine Italian cello. He stopped the orchestra and declared: "Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands, and all you can do is scratch it!"
ty! those rehearsals were probably fun as hell. there is no division of conductor and orchestra here. he is one of them. if you can get a musician to verbally communicate to you then i think they will open up musically. i have never heard a conductor interact with his orchestra this way. i love this clip.
I can't resist telling a Beehcam anecdote I heard about twenty years ago. Beecham, when asked what he thought of Herbert von Karajan said " oh, he's a sort of musical version of Malcolm Sargent. This still makes me laugh. I doubt that the stern von Karajan would have been amused.
@chrizosthemis Well, Nigel & I are 1/2 brother & 1/2 sister. We had the same dad, but different mother's. Nigel's mum (our dad's 1st wife) was Pricilla Stoner (pianist), my mum (our dad's 2nd wife) was Joan Dargavel (opera Singer). My dad & mum also had my older sister, Laurien who is also a very good 'cellist. Then our dad got together with another woman (he didn't have any other hobbies LOL!!!), her name is Francis & they had a daughter, Erica - an excellent violinist. Happy New year! :)
i agree billy. his conducting had something magical. i've always felt a musician's personality comes out in their playing(conducting too). he respected his orchestra and i feel he learned as much from his orchestra as they did him. he made them laugh too. as you can see here he was funny as hell! check out his autobiography if you get a chance. hilarious. as i type this i am thinking he was sort of a conducting rubinstein. rubinsteins memoirs are awesome and similar i think. Best Wishes, brian
LOVE his routine for rehearsing. If only my choir director would rehearse pieces like that. It would save a lot of time - as opposed to stopping every time we made a mistake.
This is the best description of a good rehearsal I've ever heard. Wish every young conductor would learn from him! Menuhini and Gardiner are talking nonsense as usual...
I was never a devotee of Beecham, but I had no particular aversion to him, until I read how he treated his loyal and long-suffering secretary, Dr Berta Geissmar, after she had retired from his service. He wasn't very nice, I'm afraid.
Varakarajan what does the guy say when sir thomas asks, "what the devil is that?". i have this documentary too yet i still can't make it out. thank you for this gem. best wishes, brian
@chrizosthemis Well, Nigel & I are 1/2 brother & 1/2 sister. We had the same dad, but different mother's. Nigel's mum (our dad's 1st wife) was Pricilla Stoner (pianist), my mum (our dad's 2nd wife) was Joan Dargavel (opera Singer). My dad & mum also had my older sister, Laurien who is also a very good 'cellist. Then our dad got together with another woman (he didn't have any other hobbies LOL!!!), her name is Francis & they had a daughter, Erica - an excellent violinist. Happy New year! :)
2 mins and 32 secs into the video I saw my Dad, Geoffrey Gilbert, playing the flute and sitting in front of Gwydion Brook, the bassoon player. What a thrill. Daddy loved
"Tommy" and remained with the orchestra until Beecham died. Thanks P A for finding this clip.
My favorite Beecham joke. A reporter asked him--did you rehearse the Stockhausen this evening? Beecham replies--no, but I stepped in some this morning.
The inimitable Sir Thomas-a one of a kind man and conductor. I treasure every recording I have of his.
+Doug Rea he was something else!! this is delightful--witty and got everything out of the orchestra--
Wow! That's my dad playing Principal cello (John Kennedy). Brings a tear to my eye
Thank you :)
The principal cellist in this clip is in fact Anthony Pini, but perhaps that is your father sitting with him at the first desk.
"As far as the British public are concerned, the only important thing is that the orchestra begins together and ends together. In between it doesn't matter much."
Sir Thomas Beecham.
During a rehearsal, conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, who died 40 years ago, thought that his female soloist was playing less than adequately on her fine Italian cello. He stopped the orchestra and declared: "Madam, you have between your legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands, and all you can do is scratch it!"
I was going to quote this too, but you beat me to it. I remember Timothy West as Beecham quoting this in the tv production of the stage play.
ty! those rehearsals were probably fun as hell. there is no division of conductor and orchestra here. he is one of them. if you can get a musician to verbally communicate to you then i think they will open up musically. i have never heard a conductor interact with his orchestra this way. i love this clip.
I can't resist telling a Beehcam anecdote I heard about twenty years ago.
Beecham, when asked what he thought of Herbert von Karajan said " oh, he's a sort of musical version of Malcolm Sargent.
This still makes me laugh. I doubt that the stern von Karajan would have been amused.
My introduction to his wit was via the BBC play with Timothy West as Beecham, highly recommended if you missed it. On you tube but in parts.
@chrizosthemis Well, Nigel & I are 1/2 brother & 1/2 sister. We had the same dad, but different mother's. Nigel's mum (our dad's 1st wife) was Pricilla Stoner (pianist), my mum (our dad's 2nd wife) was Joan Dargavel (opera Singer). My dad & mum also had my older sister, Laurien who is also a very good 'cellist. Then our dad got together with another woman (he didn't have any other hobbies LOL!!!), her name is Francis & they had a daughter, Erica - an excellent violinist. Happy New year! :)
i agree billy. his conducting had something magical. i've always felt a musician's personality comes out in their playing(conducting too). he respected his orchestra and i feel he learned as much from his orchestra as they did him. he made them laugh too. as you can see here he was funny as hell! check out his autobiography if you get a chance. hilarious. as i type this i am thinking he was sort of a conducting rubinstein. rubinsteins memoirs are awesome and similar i think. Best Wishes, brian
BLISS ... thank you for this.
LOVE his routine for rehearsing. If only my choir director would rehearse pieces like that. It would save a lot of time - as opposed to stopping every time we made a mistake.
He loved Delius. Enough said.
This is the best description of a good rehearsal I've ever heard. Wish every young conductor would learn from him! Menuhini and Gardiner are talking nonsense as usual...
I love the guy's facial expression at 3:23
I was never a devotee of Beecham, but I had no particular aversion to him, until I read how he treated his loyal and long-suffering secretary, Dr Berta Geissmar, after she had retired from his service. He wasn't very nice, I'm afraid.
how come his recordings such as La Boehm are so great?
Anyone know where I can find a clip of Sir Thomas rehearsing Il Seraglio? I've been looking for this one for years!
Eleven years after your question, but: Search "Beecham in Rehearsal (originally on EMI LP ALP 1874)"
Varakarajan what does the guy say when sir thomas asks, "what the devil is that?". i have this documentary too yet i still can't make it out. thank you for this gem. best wishes, brian
He’s the inspiration for Olenna Tyrell
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
really hard to top Sir Thomas--sort of an English version of Toscanini--and wittier too--
Beecham was largely a fraud -- he had no baton technique and was an embarrassment.
Lots of great conductors weren't very good baton technicians, but they still managed to achieve musical magic . Beecham was one of them .
What does having a baton or no to do with being a good conductor? Stokowski didn't use one, neither did Masur, nor does Currentzis.
@@robertberger4203 Furtwaengler, of course! Can't make any sense of his baton work, but the sound he got out of the orchestra speaks for itself!
@@WinrichNaujoks the point is... he does have a baton... just no technique in using it.
I enjoy Beecham's work though.
@@bardo316 that's not what baton technique is.
@chrizosthemis Well, Nigel & I are 1/2 brother & 1/2 sister. We had the same dad, but different mother's. Nigel's mum (our dad's 1st wife) was Pricilla Stoner (pianist), my mum (our dad's 2nd wife) was Joan Dargavel (opera Singer). My dad & mum also had my older sister, Laurien who is also a very good 'cellist. Then our dad got together with another woman (he didn't have any other hobbies LOL!!!), her name is Francis & they had a daughter, Erica - an excellent violinist. Happy New year! :)