Mailbag: ““Ally Pally” Rally”

August 26, 2009

Dear Michael,

In Pipes at the Proms 2, you referred to the Royal Albert Hall as the "Ally Pally" at one point. It's minor but "Ally Pally" is the Alexandra Palace where, among other things, the BBC's first television broadcast originated on 11/2/1936. When I was last there, the 1875 Willis organ was caseless, in a slow process of restoration.

I'm the guy who talked with you after the RTOS concert, asking about the jazzy arrangement of the Toccata and Fugue in D you told me it was Porter Heaps’.
Thanks. I bought a CD from Gabriel Dessauer. I had hoped you'd have had a recording that I could buy of the Radio City version I’d heard at the 1996 AGO.

Thanks for playing the Proms programmes.

Jim

 

Jim,

Yes, a slip of the tongue and a foggy brain...I should know that the Alley Palley is the Alexandra Palace, and have been fascinated by the story of the organ there since whenever EMI came out with an LP reissue of recordings from the 1920s and 30s...!

I love it when listeners really listen and catch my gaffes. :-)

 

jmb

 

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