There’s a story told of the late Sir Thomas Beecham, who was a top British orchestra conductor and impresario in the first half of the 20th century.
Apparently he was conducting at a rehearsal for an opera that called for a splendid royal procession on stage. Beecham, being Beecham, decided what the parade needed was a live elephant.
At one point during rehearsals the orchestra was struggling to meet Beechams demands and just as he signalled them to stop the elephant did an enormous cr*p in the middle of the stage.
Beechan looked up at it, turned to the orchestra and said “What a thoroughly disgusting beast. But, gentlemen, what a critic”.