Any room for me?

“Arthur Rubinstein was standing in the lobby of a concert hall proudly watching the audience filing in to hear one of his recitals.  Finally, when the last one had gone in, Rubinstein made a move to enter.  An usher blocked his way.  ‘Sold out, mister’, he said, and to reinforce his words he pointed to a sign beside the box office announcing just that.  Rubinstein smiled, ‘Sold out, I know,’ he said, and made another move.  ‘You don’t understand,’ said the usher. ‘There ain’t no seats left.  We can’t seat you.’ And Rubinstein replied: ‘May I be seated at the piano?’

Cited in Kelly, Henry & Foley, John (1998) Classic FM Musical Anecdotes.  London: Hodder & Stoughton, p. 98.

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