Stephen Kovacevich Plays Mozart

Stephen Kovacevich, one of the finest pianists of the recent past, died a few days ago at the age of 86.

A native of Los Angeles, he spent most of his career in England. As you will note from the cover above, Kovacevich was known as Stephen Bishop in the early part of his career, Bishop being the name of his mother's second husband. But people began confusing him with a pop musician of the same name, so he added his birth name and became billed as Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich. Later, he shortened it to Stephen Kovacevich.

Stephen Kovacevich

The pianist did not record a great deal of Mozart in his career, but among the discs he did complete is today's coupling of the Piano Concerto No. 21, K. 467, and the Concerto No. 25, K. 503, two of the composer's greatest works. The Mozart sessions were in 1972, when the soloist was 31. The conductor was Colin Davis (pre-knighthood), with whom Kovacevich also recorded sets of the Beethoven, Brahms and Bartók concertos. The orchestra was the London Symphony, which Davis would later lead for many years. At the time of the Mozart sessions, he was the principal conductor of the Royal Opera.

Colin Davis and Stephen Kovacevich

This disc was well received by at least some reviewers. Richard Freed wrote in Stereo Review, "Stephen Bishop has not, I believe, been represented on discs in any previous Mozart performances, although, of course, Colin Davis, his conductor in Nos. 21 and 25, is justly renowned for his. They make an ideal team, combining a strength, brilliance, effervescent wit, stylistic understanding, and give-and-take that make this particular recording one of the most enjoyable Mozart concerto interpretations I have heard in many years."

That's a good summation of the performances' strengths, although other reviewers felt something was lacking. Here's Paul Henry Lang in High Fidelity: "Both [concertos] are large-scale works, festive, proud. and virtuosic, and both have exceptionally pensive, affecting, and profound slow movements ... In the heavenly slow movement of K. 467, clearly echoing southern Italian church music with its garlands of bittersweet suspensions, every measure seems to carry the superscription 'cantabile,' but Bishop does not sing ..."

There is something to what Lang writes. In 1967, the Andante of K. 467 was used in the film Elvira Madigan, leading to the music becoming very popular for the reasons Lang cited. But Kovacevich does not see the music that way, being more interested in the qualities that Freed cited in his review.

On balance, this is quite a good record. Kovacevich was a fluid pianist with a lovely tone, well caught in this recording from London's Watford Town Hall. Freed summed up: "I consider the present disc something quite special. The orchestral contribution is marvelously precise and tonally clear, one of the best balanced performances to be heard; the recorded sound is exceptionally good."

Actually, the recording is a little light in the bass and close to the strings, but is otherwise pleasing. Kovacevich's piano is well caught.

I typically link to the New York Times obituary for prominent musicians, but it has not yet commemorated Kovacevich's death. Earlier this week, however, it did find space for a long obituary for the inventor of a wah-wah pedal.

LINK

A Late Addition to Buster's Haunted Playlist

My friend Mel sent me a new (well ... 67 years old) addition to the Haunted Playlist I posted a few days ago. It's in the form of "The Witch Song," as performed on a 1959 LP by the John La Salle Quartet, a vocal group who made a few records and whose most notable member was Marlene Ver Planck, who went on to record many good LPs. The La Salle group have a lot of fun with "The Witch Song."

The tune is by the venerable songwriter J. Fred Coots, who otherwise confined himself to another holiday as the author of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." 

Here a link to the song itself, for those who downloaded the original playlist. I've updated the original post to include the tune as well.

LINK to "The Witch Song"

Buster's Haunted Playlist

I am not a fan of Halloween. I haven't been in a costume since I was 10 and there are no animatronic skeletons on my front lawn. I don't try to scare the neighborhood children (other than with my looks).

Accordingly, my record collection does not include any Halloween records, except for a copy of "The Monster Mash," and I don't even know where that is.

So when I decided to do a Halloween post, I had to turn to another source for records - and the collection of the Internet Archive, depleted though it may be, was the likeliest place to look. And it did come through with a varied group of 18 items, which I am introducing in this post.

There is nothing here as popular as Bobby (Boris) Pickett and His Crypt-Kicker Five, but we do have Orville Newby and His Saddle Serenaders plus Ina Rae Hutton and Her Melodears (not on the same record). Also Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, someone called Freddie Wolf - "Popular Swing Organist," several production music records from England that are supposed to be scary but are mostly bland, and "Witch Doctor" not by Ross Bagdasarian but by the Four Freshmen (well, one of them anyway).

As usual with these collections, the items are presented in chronological order.

The New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, with Ray Noble in the suit

We start off in Old Blighty with a characteristically goofy record called "The Haunted House" by the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, which I believe was under the direction of Ray Noble at this time (1931). The record begins with a bonkers and nearly incomprehensible scene between an Oblivious Englishman type (probably Noble) playing the host of the haunted house warning a squeaky-voiced guest that his room has a ghost. It then proceeds to the lively tune.

We move ahead to 1934 and another big band of the time, Ina Rae Hutton and Her Melodears, who give us "Witch Doctor." I probably don't need to add that this is not the same song as the Ross Bagdasarian item of the 50s.

Ten years later, clarinetist Hank D'Amico assembled a starry sextet to record "Shy Little Witch from Greenwich." In the band were luminaries Frankie Newton (who wrote the tune), Don Byas and Cozy Cole.

Neither of these instrumentals have much to do with Halloween, but in the great tradition of my friend Ernie and his Christmas records, I cast a big net.

In 1946, the Majestic label came out with a children's album that presented familiar classical themes as kiddie songs. From this set we have Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt transformed into "On October 31," helpfully subtitled "Halloween Song" so there is no confusion. Bob Hannon is the vocalist.

In 1947 bassist Chubby Jackson assembled a band to record "The Happy Monster" for M-G-M. This particular monster must have developed an affinity for bop, 'cause that's what Chubby and crew offer us. The star soloists are Conte Candoli and Billy Bauer. 

Luis Russell

Veteran big band leader Luis Russell issued "Luke the Spook" that same year. The label notes that this one is "Dedicated to Luke the Spook" with no indication of who that might be. No one in the band was named Luke.

"Eerie Night" from about 1948 is the first of our production music selections, and it is appropriately eerie without overdoing it. This is from the "London Promenade Orchestra," a recording unit.

Wayne Raney

Country singer/harmonica player/bandleader Wayne Raney made many recordings for the King label. His splendid "Jole Blon's Ghost" was a 1948 issue. It's a play on "Jole Blon" ("Pretty Blonde" in Cajun), a traditional tune that had been a hit for fiddler Harry Choates in 1946.

Freddie Wolf - "Popular Swing Organist" is next. I have no information on him, although there are three "Freddie Wolfs" in Discogs - a Danish drummer, another drummer (probably the same cat, er, wolf), and a heavy metal artist, if there is such a thing. No "Popular Swing Organists," so Freddie could not have been that popular. He is pretty good, though, and his "Witch Doctors Swing" (is there an apostrophe missing?) is fun. It's from 1950.

From about the same time, we have "Atomic Monster" from Major, an American production label. It's well recorded, but the monster sounds more anemic than atomic.

Orville Newby

Another fun item is "Ghost Town Boogie," which Orville Newby and His Saddle Serenaders put out in 1950. It's a obscure Western Swing gem.

Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey recorded "My Friend the Ghost" for Bell Records in 1954, but it also was issued on the kiddie label Golden Records. This is the Bell version - the kiddie pressing left out the bridge where vocalist Gordon Polk sings about drinking with the ghost. He (Gordon, not the ghost) was the brother of the better-known Lucy Ann Polk.

"Hallowe'en Hop" (I like the archaic spelling of the holiday) comes to us from the publishers Boosey & Hawkes and their production music label. The New Concert Orchestra and conductor Paul Hamilton are the listed artists, but those were probably pseudonyms. 

The prolific writer/comic/TV host/actor/musician Steve Allen worked with Ira Lee to come up with "The Rockin' Ghost" in 1956. The title picks up on the new fad of rock 'n' roll, but with Archie Bleyer, his chorus and orchestra responsible for the recording, there is no rockin' to be heard on this Cadence release. It is nicely done, however.

The Four Freshmen: Ken Albers, Ross Barbour,
Bob Flanigan, Don Barbour

I was surprised to come across Ross Barbour of the Four Freshmen moonlighting for the budget Tops label. He does quite a good job with "Witch Doctor," the Ross Bagdasarian opus issued under the name of David Seville in 1958. Discogs has this as the only title Barbour did for Tops.

We end with three numbers from another English production house: the Theme Music label from publishers Josef Weinberger Ltd. The 1960 selections are "Footsteps in the Night," "The Terror Strikes" and "The Creatures."

This may not be the best collection ever offered here, but it is fun. Hope you enjoy it.

Addendum: My friend Mel sent me a new (well ... 67 years old) addition to the Haunted Playlist I posted a few days ago. It's in the form of "The Witch Song," as performed on a 1959 LP by the John La Salle Quartet, a vocal group who made a few records and whose most notable member was Marlene Ver Planck, who went on to record many good LPs. The La Salle group have a lot of fun with "The Witch Song."

The tune is by the venerable songwriter J. Fred Coots, who otherwise confined himself to another holiday, writing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."

The link below takes you to a new file that includes "The Witch Song."

NEW LINK

The Music of 'Picnic'

William Holden and his torn shirt were the image by which Columbia Pictures promoted its 1955 drama Picnic, its adaptation of a William Inge play. Our interest today is less with ripped apparel and more with the music that accompanied this tale of a drifter (Holden) who manages to disrupt a small Kansas town in the space of a day.

The stranger who comes to town and changes things is a common plot device that in 1950s musicals alone can be found in The Pajama Game, which was on Broadway when this film came out, and in The Music Man, a few years in the future.

The ads seem to associate Kim Novak with the torn shirt but it actually was a jealous Rosalind Russell who did the deed. She was the second woman instantly besotted with Holden; the third was Novak's sister Susan Strasberg, who is peeking around the picnic basket in the poster above.

It must have been moonglow ...

This action took place at a town picnic and dance, which is where the film's most famous music cue is heard. The band plays "Moonglow," the beautiful Hudson-DeLange song from the 1930s, and as Holden and Novak dance, the soundtrack segues into George Duning's memorable theme from the film.

It's a bit of genius that was a chart hit in three different versions in 1956. First is the soundtrack version conducted by Morris Stoloff, which of course is on the LP. I actually prefer the George Cates record that came out on Decca's sister label Coral, because I enjoy Stan Wrightsman's piano playing and his interplay with the group's superb guitarist, who I suspect is George Van Eps. This version is included as a bonus track.

A second bonus is a vocal version of the theme, with words by Steve Allen. Performing are the McGuire Sisters, who are quite good. (Oddly, Allen himself issued a version of the song with wordless vocals.)

Addendum: reader Stephen mentioned the excellent Gisele MacKenzie record of "Moonglow - Theme from Picnic". It turns out that I posted that version years ago, on her RCA Victor LP Giselle. I've now refreshed the sound and reposted the album here.

George Duning

George Duning doesn't get the attention of contemporary innovators like Alex North or Elmer Bernstein, or such masters as Bernard Herrmann or Dimitri Tiomkin. But he produced good scores and has been featured on this blog many times.

Rosalind Russell and Arthur O'Connell

As for the story, Holden ends up with Novak, and Rosalind Russell ends up with Arthur O'Connell, a talented actor who made a career out of these supporting roles. He also was in the Broadway production.

The soundtrack's early stereo sound was dry and harsh, which I've adjusted.

LINK

Hanson's Romantic Symphony

I never do this, but my recent post of Howard Hanson's Columbia recordings has, as they say in the movie business, failed to find an audience.

So let me draw attention to the fact that the post includes Hanson's little-known 1952 recording of his popular Romantic Symphony (the Symphony No. 2). It's a thrilling performance in very good sound that I'm sure many of you would enjoy. It comes with Edward MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 2, with soloist Jesús María Sanromá.

Here's the download:

LINK

Howard Hanson's Columbia Recordings

The American composer-conductor Howard Hanson is strongly associated with the Mercury recordings he made in the 1950s and 60s, but they were not his first.

For those acquainted with his Mercury discs, it will not surprise you to learn that the records he made for Victor in 1939-42 and for Columbia in 1950-52 were almost exclusively of American composers, including his own works. This is except for a fantasie from Oscar Straus's operetta Mariette and Grieg's Holberg Suite, the latter of which is included in this post.

Hanson made only two and a half LPs for Columbia - the two we discuss today, and a recording of Wallingford Riegger's Third Symphony, coupled by the label with Mitropoulos' reading of Peter Mennin's Third. That disc can be found here in a transfer by my friend the Shellackophile.

For us, we have a pairing of Hanson's Piano Concerto in G with the Grieg Holberg Suite, and of his Symphony No. 2 with Edward MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 2. The two discs date from 1950 and 1952 respectively. All recordings are with the Eastman-Rochester Symphony.

Hanson Concerto in G, Grieg Holberg Suite

This first recording appeared on the blog many years ago, but has been redone with much better sound and complete scans this time around.

For the concerto, Hanson had the good fortune of collaborating with the superb Czech pianist Rudolf Firkušný, then 38 years old, who had the demands of the work well in hand.

Rudolf Firkušný

The critic Irving Kolodin was an admirer of composer and pianist, writing this in Saturday Review:

Were Howard Hanson a Welshman, an Australian, or a Rooshian (to borrow W. S. Gilbert's spelling), one imagines he would have a wider vogue and a higher standing than is presently his in America. For his kind of frankly personal, unvarnished emotionalism is a little out of fashion in contemporary musical circles, where to be contemporary is often more highly valued than to be musical. However, in following without deviation his own inclination Hanson has shown a consistent artistic growth not at all common among native writers.

This concerto, for example, is what few creations in that genre (at any time) are - a piece of honestly felt, truly meant music, which conveys a mood and states a point of view as well as filling a form. The form, in fact, is decidedly amorphous; but the mood and the point of view are crystal clear. With the gifted Firkušný as his whole-hearted collaborator, Hanson has put into circulation a testament of his artistic faith which will be widely heard and, I think, as widely admired.

In truth, the concerto does reflect the artistic currents of the time - the scherzo is motoric, for example. And it also displays Hanson's penchant for belaboring a simple motif beyond the bounds of patience - in the slow movement, for example.

But here's another critic who was an admirer - Donald Ritchie of the American Record Guide: "Written for the Koussevitzky Music Foundation in 1948, this piano concerto contains some of the most interesting Hanson I've heard. There are not too many atmospherics, no programmatic allusions and a minimum of Sibelius' effects. He uses jazz very well and constructs some highly interesting interplay between soloist and massed orchestra. The concerto is tightly written and is both spare and clean. Firkušný, who first performed the work, is completely competent and lends it an excitement all of his own."

The familiar Grieg suite is well done, but even back then it hardly needed another recording.

Rudolf Firkušný has been heard here before in Samuel Barber's Four Excursions, which is coupled with Eleanor Steber's first recording of Knoxville: Summer of 1915. I renovated the sound of the LP a few years ago.

LINK to Hanson concerto and Grieg Holberg Suite

MacDowell - Piano Concerto No. 2; Hanson - Symphony No. 2

This 1952 disc represents the second recording of both works - MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 2 of 1890, and Hanson's Symphony No. 2 of 1930.

The concerto soloist here is Jesús María Sanromá, who also was the pianist in the first recording, with Fiedler and the Boston Pops - which has appeared on the blog here.

Jesús María Sanromá

The popularity of the concerto has waxed and waned over the years. It is a Lisztian exercise that also more or less quotes the Grieg piano concerto in the first movement.

However, others see much more merit in the work that I. Irving Kolodin had this to say (while admitting that the work is derivative): "The manifest quality in the music, its power and musicality, would certainly seem to merit more consideration from pianists (especially those of his own land) than has been the case. Indeed, if it were labeled a 'Concerto No. 2 by Edward Grieg,' I suspect it would be regular occurrence on our symphony programs."

Edward MacDowell

Ray Ericson in the American Record Guide was similarly enthusiastic: "MacDowell's two piano concertos, produced toward the end of the nineteenth century, were instrumental in gaining status for American music both here and abroad at a time when it had practically none. In them MacDowell succeeded in combining European style with individualistic, flavorsome harmonic and melodic devices thought to be authentically American."

Hanson's symphony is undoubtedly his most popular, and for good reason - it is quite beautiful and has many memorable passages. Some of its themes have been widely used by musical institutions and classical radio stations. Some critics do hone in on its weaknesses, however. Ericson: "The symphony, written in 1930 for the Boston Symphony's 50th anniversary, has pretty, somewhat banal, tunes, formal simplicity; and lush orchestration. The performance, presumably authentic, and the recordings are unexceptionable."

Kolodin was an admirer: "Hanson's second recorded version of his 'Romantic' Symphony is even better than his first (for RCA in the late Thirties), and, without the problem of balance with a piano to fret over, the engineers have done very handsomely by him - as Hanson has by himself."

Jesús María Sanromá has also appeared on the blog in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F, which can be found here. Howard Hanson has been featured many times, most recently in works by Piston, Riegger, Hovhaness and Cowell.

LINK to MacDowell concerto and Hanson symphony

On Holiday with Kermit Leslie

Back in 2017, good friend and fellow blogger Ernie sent along a 10-inch LP I had never seen - "Middlebrow" Music for the Hi-Fi Fan by the Kermit Leslie Orchestra.

It turned out to be a delightful collection of light music, consisting of songs written by Leslie and his brother Walt, presented in Kermit's imaginative arrangements.

The 10-inch LP cover

Now Ernie has come up with an expanded, 12-inch version of the same material, and sent it along for us to enjoy. The title (A Holiday in Hi-Fi) and the cover are new, and the LP has four additional songs - "Night Flight to Madrid," "Jungle Flower," "Montana Round-Up" and "Bermuda Holiday."

Now let me liberally quote from my earlier post, since it provided a good introduction to Kermit and his music. 

As many musicians of the era did, Leslie had big band experience. The earliest mention of him (at least as found by me) was as an alto saxophonist in Alvino Rey's big band in 1940, under his birth name of Kermit Levinsky. The 20-year-old was already a composer, having produced Rey's opening theme "Blue Rey."

The liner notes for the LP say he stayed with Rey until joining the Army in 1941, spending the war arranging and conducting for broadcasts and shows. Postwar, he studied music formally and became a free-lance arranger, then joined the Tommy Dorsey staff in 1952.

Anne Phillips and Kermit Leslie

Apparently Leslie was often an uncredited "ghost" arranger, similar to other musicians who have appeared on this blog, such as George Siravo and Heinie Beau. In 1959 Leslie did the charts for a fine LP by singer Anne Phillips, who tells the story: "At the end of the song's first run-through, a beautiful thing happened. Every musician in the room put his instrument down and applauded - not for me but for Kermit. Some years later I learned that Kermit had been 'ghosting' for many arrangers for some time. I think this was his first session with his name on the work, and the musicians were overjoyed for him."

In the early 1960s, Time Records engaged Leslie for three LPs. He also did arrangements for albums by both Les and Larry Elgart, and for two of the once-ubiquitous Christmas records sponsored by Firestone. He also did much commercial work, and arranged Marvin Hamlisch's score for Woody Allen's second film, 1969's Take the Money and Run. Leslie's brother Walt, who generally used the family name Levinsky, himself worked on several of Woody's films, in addition to becoming a well-known reed player in big bands and studio orchestras. Kermit died in 1973, Walt in 1999.

Once again thanks to Ernie for bringing this enjoyable record to our attention for a second time and in expanded form. Please enjoy his excellent transfer!

LINK