The thread above had been extended beyond the original issues of Mad Organist into extraneous directions derogatory to the late Maestro Questa which were felt by a member to extend the thread unnecessarily and, on account of this, the posting raising the extraneous issue and subsequent responses have been removed.
Members tempted to make derogatory comments might find http://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,819.0.html of interest.
This thread continues from http://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,476.0.html inspired by stories of him:
Members tempted to make derogatory comments might find http://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,819.0.html of interest.
This thread continues from http://www.organmatters.com/index.php/topic,476.0.html inspired by stories of him:
QuoteApocryphally he took his organ to a redundant church in the middle of a wood by a lake to do a recording session. He was as obsessively perfectionist about everything and he took great care in everything, the quality of the equipment, the microphones etc . . .
The recording session had a problem: the lake adjacent was home to frogs. They croaked and croaked loudly. Of course this not only annoyed him but ruined the recording. Apparently they croak particularly in spring to attract mates. Accordingly, Giorgio went to the local chemist and ordered a particularly large quantity of Potassium Bromide (reputedly used in tea for similar purposes by the British Army). Reputedly he put it in the lake . . . and the frogs stopped croaking.
The recording went well after that. Very well apparently . . . until the very last note. Working late into the silence of the night he had not banked on the final hazard - an owl hooted. Sadly on account of this he destroyed the whole recording.
On another occasion, there is a monastery near Genova where concerts are held in the summer, but it's only accessible by boat . . . Giorgio was booked to play there and the audience turned up . . . but there was a problem. Realising that his precious organ would have to go on the boat, and that there was no other way, he refused to allow the organ to be loaded onto the boat . . . in case the boat was sunk by sharks.