Quartet Page #7

And then Sir Thomas Beecham

did the same in Britain.

- Hence Beecham House.

- Ladies?

Lady Mayor. Sorry. Thank you.

Thank you so much for coming.

Ah. Hello there.

Nice. Thank you. Yeah, one more.

Lady Mayoress,

will you come this way, please?

Well, I don't think that's...

Is that going to be

too late in the day for that?

I'd say something like

'Verdi's Rigoletto is a masterpiece

and the quartet is one of the great

milestones in the history of opera. '

Now, look at that. Perfect.

And then I'll introduce

each of us in turn.

No, wait a minute, Reggie.

- What?

- I'll go on last.

I'm sure we can live with that.

We certainly can, yes.

- I remember.

- What?

I've got to do Anne

Langley's make-up.

It's not make-up she needs.

It's a paper-hanging job.

- That's very naughty, Jean.

- And very true.

Make it nice and tight. Make sure the

middle bit's tight so it stays that way.

'Cause it ends up listing to starboard.

No, no, no. I promise you...

This too much, Reg?

Do you think it's too much?

No, no. Lovely.

Well, I don't think it'll work.

I do.

Hello, good afternoon.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to Beecham House

and our annual gala in honour

of Giuseppe Verdi's birthday.

First of all, I would like

to express our debt of gratitude

to the amazing Mr Cedric Livingstone

for organising the event.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, thank you,

ladies and gentlemen.

Let me just say, in all modesty,

that all great artists

need a great director, you know.

And I... Here I am.

Well said!

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

This year,

in aid of our rebuilding program,

you have all given so generously,

and we thank you for that

with all our hearts.

And, because of that,

the quartet and you have done it.

Beecham House lives on!

I'd also like to thank all those

taking part in the gala itself.

The preparations and rehearsals

have kept everybody busy

and very excited

for the past few months.

I and all my staff here

feel highly privileged

to have in our care

such talented performers,

gifted musicians

who seem to find renewed energy

when they anticipate

performing before an audience.

It keeps them young.

And, actually, let me

just say something else, if I may,

before we start.

I, and all my staff here

at Beecham House,

we owe those in our charge

an enormous debt.

They inspire us.

Their love of life, as you well know,

is infectious,

and gives us all faith in the future.

I mean that.

Thank you so much.

Whoops!

Libiamo Ne' Lieti Calici

# Godiamo, la tazza,

la tazza e il cantico

# La notte abbella e il riso

# In questo, in questo paradiso

# Ne scopra il nuovo di

# Ah! Ah! Ne scopra il di

# Ah! Ah! Ne scopra il di

# Ahhhh

# Ne scopra il di, ne scopra il nuovo

# Diiii! #

# Siiii! #

Thank you.

Oh, my darling!

It's so exciting!

- They loved the Brindisi.

- Oh, good.

Tadek, quick! Come

and do my dress.

OK. OK.

Make sure there's no

black showing, yeah?

- OK.

- OK.

Dress is done.

Reggie likes this one, but I think...

- I think I'll wear this.

- Yes.

# Vissi d'arle

# Vissi d'amore

# Non feci mai male

ad anima viva

# Con man furtiva

# Quante miserie conobbi aiutai... #

Hey, Reg, remember

the Barber of Seville

in the '60s in Covent Garden?

Yeah?

Who was that big, fat, mezzo-soprano

who was doing it with a little tenor

in the bathtub?

She got suctioned in.

What was her name?

I can't remember.

London. Remember.

The wee guy couldn't get out!

She was Italian.

The tenor had to dial

the emergency services.

What was her name?

Oh, uh... uh...

Elizabeta Botticelli.

That's it. Elizabeta Botticelli.

They say her high notes

were never the same again.

True.

#... sincera

# Diedi fiori... #

I always think you take

the last bit too quick.

- No, we don't take it too quick.

- No, it's the last four bars.

Listen to Tony on the trumpet.

What about the trumpet?

Doesn't matter about the trumpet.

Sometimes he'd slow

down at the end.

We'll just take two steps after the end,

the way we always do.

#... rimuneri cosi? #

Brava!

Three Little Maids From School

# Three little maids

from school are we

# Perl as a schoolgirl well can be

# Filled to the brim with girlish glee

# Three little maids from school

# Everything is a source of fun... #

Jean, is that too much?

No.

I'm so happy to be

here doing this.

And you and Reggie

are friends again.

- How long were the two of

you married? - Nine hours.

- Nine hours?

- Yes.

Ha! Nine hours!

We were together for

about a year,

and he finally got down on his knees

and asked me to marry him

and I said yes,

he's very old-fashioned.

- He still is.

- I know.

And we were gonna get married

in the January

and then I got that offer

from La Scala.

I remember that. I remember.

But when I was at La Scala, I had...

...I had a fling with a tenor.

Why on earth would you do that?

Because I'd had too much

champagne. I was pissed.

Shh, shh, shh, shh.

Where's Harry?

What's his name, that tenor?

I know who you mean.

Roberto di Angelis.

- But he was so persuasive.

- I know.

Anyway, we came back.

We had this wonderful

wedding breakfast,

champagne and scrambled eggs.

And I told him about Roberto.

Why on earth did you do that?

I wanted to be honest.

Anyway, he was very angry.

- So he walked out?

- He ran.

He was heartbroken, Jean.

So was I.

So was I.

It was the biggest

mistake of my life.

Darling girl,

you still have your future.

There's not a lot of it.

Most of it's been.

No, it hasn't.

# Underneath the arches

# We'll dream our dreams away. #

Amen!

Wonderful!

- Are you having any fun?

- Yes!

# Are you havin' any fun

# What y'gettin' out of livin'

# What good is what you've got

# If you're not havin' any fun... #

Do you know, darling,

I last wore this in 1983?

Arts Council tour of India.

And I fell in love with

the maharajah.

I'll help you with it.

Ooh, thanks. Yeah.

Oh, this isn't...

God, this is tight, Cissy.

- What's... what's the matter?

- I can't fasten it.

Oh. Come on.

Well, I altered it. I altered it.

Yeah, well, I'm...

I'm trying, I'm try...

- I can't do it.

- Well, try. Just try...

I cannot fasten it, Cissy!

I can't fasten it.

Oh, alright. Well, I'll...

I'll let it out a bit more.

Alright. Well, I've got

some safety pins somewhere.

- My scissors.

- Cissy?

Cissy?

Cissy, where are you going?

I... I have to go home.

What are you talking about?

Mother and Father

are waiting for me.

Cissy's gone walkabout! Reg, Wilf!

Cissy!

Oh!

I nearly forgot to

say goodbye to you.

Goodbye, Wilfred. Goodbye, Reginald.

Wish me bon voyage.

- Cissy?!

- I'm late!

Cissy.

- Don't let them see her like this.

- Cissy.

I have to go.

Cissy.

You mustn't leave.

We're doing the quartet, Cissy.

- The quartet from Rigoletto.

- No. I want to go home.

Jean?

Is that Jean Horton?

I thought she wouldn't sing anymore.

Cissy. Come with me

and we'll get your luggage.

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