FAMOUS CONDUCTOR

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21200, 24 August 1940, Page 13 (Supplement)

FAMOUS CONDUCTOR

FUN IN RAILWAY CARRIAGE YOUNG WOMAN FRIGHTENED At the Musical Association’s recepj tion for Sir Thomas Beecham in Syd- ; ney, the famous conductor told how J in a Sydney-Brisbane train he had ; given an audition to a train-guard j who wants to be a singer. ; That reminded him of another j travel incident which occurred in i England just before he left. ! He had arranged a carriage for j himself on a long distance journey, ; as he had some important work to do, i and he arrived at the train just before it left the station. He jumped I in to find that there were no ,lights. That meant that he could not do the work he had planned, so he decided to pass away the time until he reached the first station by conducting a Brahms symphony, providing all the sounds himself with imitations of violins, ’cellos, flute, piccolo, and so on. For half an hour he thoroughly enjoyed himself with the strange j noises of the “ Beecham ” orchestra,

j but when the train drew into the i station, he discovered that there was 1 a young woman, petrified with fright, huddled in the corner!