On another occasion I went to a rehearsal in the morning for a concert he [Beecham] was giving that same evening, and after he had been through a work by Berlioz in which the viola section had an important melody to play, I complained to him that the violas in this solo part had sounded particularly dull. He said nothing but I think this remark must have piqued him, for at night it was astonishing how he revolutionized their playing of the passage. The melody was really expressive. Afterwards in the artists’ room I blurted out to him – ‘What a metamorphosis you accomplished in the viola section’s anaemic playing this morning! I believe you could draw blood from stone.’ Like lightning he replied: ‘Well, that’s better than drawing stone from blood!’ << less