Yeah, I'm afraid that Sir Thomas Beecham actually said that. One of his more famous bon mots. Along with such remarks as "A harpsichord sounds like two skeletons copulating on a tin roof!"

Sir Tommy was a real piece of work. During World War II, he ducked and ran for cover from the war by moving to Seattle, where he became the conductor of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra for a couple of years. He earned the animosity of a lot of Brits for alleged cowardice as Londoners were enduring nightly air raids while he sat with his feet up, eating baked salmon and picking his teeth in relatively placid Seattle, a potential target for Japanese bombers that never got this far. The Pacific Ocean is a bit wider than the English Channel.

But his come-uppance was that he had to endure living in Seattle, which he declared "The cultural dustbin of the world!" And a number of other derogatory remarks, endearing himself to his host city.

Far from "the cultural dustbin of the world," Seattle has a world-class symphony orchestra (Milton Katims was essentially responsible for that), world-class opera company, world-class ballet company, and drama companies and repertory theaters all over the place.

Poor Sir Tommy didn't know where to look.

I think had I been the lady cellist he addressed in such a mannerr, Sir Tommy would suddenly be wearing his baton in a very painful location.

Don Firth