Alphabet associations - I

[Angle]

[Angle]

Teacher returns to classroom and finds that no-one has done any work, but it has been a lovely mixed afternoon with warm sunshine broken only by the occasional spring shower.

The pictures is of the St Andrew's Halls in Glasgow. The building was almost totally destroyed by fire in 1962 and was not rebuilt as a concert hall.

Want any more clues?

[Angle]

Glad you like the avatar. It is, as Caliban rightly noted, Glorious John himself, grabbed from a documentary programme on tv a few years back. He conducted the very first concert I went to solo as a teenager and from the re-opening of the Free Trade Hall conducted most of the concerts I attended. George Weldon was his assistant. I often reflect on how lucky I was that my family was living quite close to Manchester in those days. Concerts were quite affordable - 2/6d for a seat in the a steeply raked balcony with wonderful sound. Heaven knows what would have happened if we had lived in the Lake District or the Fens. I would probably have had to have run away from home - I should have done that anyway, I suppose.

[Nick Armstrong]

Oh your pool ol'dad - do send him my best regards, us sufferers must stick together, I say. As my mum used to say about her mother "She enjoyed poor health"

I thought I was developing Parkinson's a year or so back, trembling/wobbling hand. I was sent to a charming French specialist who asked me to describe my symptoms. I mentioned that it made eating and drinking difficult sometimes.

"Difficult?" she said "How is it difficult?"

"Well" I said " Sometimes the food falls off my fork and on to the floor as a result"

She shrugged. Did I mention that she was French?

"And" I said "sometimes when I take a drink, I may spill my wine"

" You spill your wine?!" she said, suddenly interested

Did I mention that she was French?!

Anyways up, the MRI scan showed no brain lesions and Parkinson's was not diagnosed

Hurrah!

Cheers!

and

at your exotic specialist

and

Phew! at the outcome

[Angle]

Which now almost-forgotten R

might get on one’s nerves?
assisted a celebrated Otto from 1928 to 1931
worked in the St Andrew’s Halls during the 1950s?

Just a reminder of what R was.

[Anna]

By concentrating on the first part and trying to find a word which would describe annoyance I came up with rankle. Playing around this this gave Karl Rankl who did assist Otto Klemperer at Kroll Opera and then was with the SNO at St. Andrews.

[Angle]

That's it, Anna.
What a relief!
Now an S is all yours.

Let the day begin.

[Anna]

That's it, Anna.
What a relief!
Now an S is all yours.

Let the day begin.

Angle, that was (for me anyway) a difficult one as I've never heard of Rankl. Did you ever see him at Glasgow? Haven't had time to think of an 'S' so I'll be back in a while

[Angle]

He was Rankl without an e, Anna.

Yes, I went to quite a lot of SNO/Rankl concerts in 1955 when I lived in Glasgow. He was not one of the charismatic conductors but he served Scotland well. I remember one concert in particular in which Malcunzynski was the soloist in Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, All went well until the third movement when the orchestra quite suddenly quickened the pace, leaving the pianist floundering. Changing his pace too, he caught up and then tried to slow the whole thing down again, without much success. This happened two or three times and the result was a very unsettling experience. Both Malcuzynski and Rankl took their bows very quickly and the conductor was not seen again that evening. It emerged via the grape-vine, that he had to be at Renfrew Airport to fly off to somewhere or other and was afraid he would miss his flight!

Yesterday was an odd day in AA. Few of the other regulars turned up at all.

It looks as though it might be quiet again. We shall see.

[Anna]

That's an interesting story about the concert, I came across Malcuzynski when I was following your first, unamended, set of clues. You must be spoiled for choice with the RLPO and Petrenko, I expect you go to a lot of them.

It was quiet yesterday, but there again it was a sunny Sunday and going for a walk or a bike ride is very inviting! Glad you enjoyed your lunch and afternoon

Here is a very quick and easy S

Be careful how you obey his commands
I could be revolutionary and suggest we go to the Proms
but we could also find him in the Opera House

Edit: If anyone would like a small clue please shout!

[amateur51]

He was Rankl without an e, Anna.

Yes, I went to quite a lot of SNO/Rankl concerts in 1955 when I lived in Glasgow. He was not one of the charismatic conductors but he served Scotland well. I remember one concert in particular in which Malcunzynski was the soloist in Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, All went well until the third movement when the orchestra quite suddenly quickened the pace, leaving the pianist floundering. Changing his pace too, he caught up and then tried to slow the whole thing down again, without much success. This happened two or three times and the result was a very unsettling experience. Both Malcuzynski and Rankl took their bows very quickly and the conductor was not seen again that evening. It emerged via the grape-vine, that he had to be at Renfrew Airport to fly off to somewhere or other and was afraid he would miss his flight!

Yesterday was an odd day in AA. Few of the other regulars turned up at all.

It looks as though it might be quiet again. We shall see.

Great story, Angle!

What a good pianist Malcuzynski was - on record only, in my experience

Do you know the 'live' Rachmaninov piano concerto no 3 in which Cherkassky and Rudolf Schwarz parted company several times in the final movement?

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/BBC%2BLegends/BBCL40922

[Angle]

Hi Am, great to see you back.

No, I don't know the Cherkassky but I shall check the link in a minute.

I suppose you remember the Hough/RSNO Proms performance of Rachmaninov's Second a couple of years ago. Another battle for pace, which neither won and certainly upset both parties as well as the audience.

[Anna]

I've just seen, looking at who is online, the Google Slurp Spider on Alphabet Associations! Will he have the answer? Or will we be spread all over the Web?

[Angle]

Don't wrry, Anna. I don't know who the Google Slurp Monster is but I have my bogling fork and something horrific in my gander bag - that will frighten him away.

Not getting anywhere with S, I am afraid.

Everyone else has vanished.

[vinteuil]

That's an interesting story about the concert, I came across Malcuzynski when I was following your first, unamended, set of clues. You must be spoiled for choice with the RLPO and Petrenko, I expect you go to a lot of them.

It was quiet yesterday, but there again it was a sunny Sunday and going for a walk or a bike ride is very inviting! Glad you enjoyed your lunch and afternoon

Here is a very quick and easy S

Be careful how you obey his commands
I could be revolutionary and suggest we go to the Proms
but we could also find him in the Opera House

Edit: If anyone would like a small clue please shout!

i think i've got one and three - two is evading me at the moment...