Music for Easter with Stokowski

I was casting about looking for records to present for Easter, and had hit upon a Robert Shaw set to transfer - forgetting that it is missing one of the records. But I also had this RCA Camden LP of "Music for Easter" at hand, so that's our selection for today.

For some reason, during the first part of the 1950s, RCA used pseudonyms for the orchestras featured on the budget Camden label. Here we have the "Warwick Symphony Orchestra", which actually is the Philadelphia Orchestra in famous old recordings led by Leopold Stokowski.

How does he make his hair do that?

Stoki was a very popular personality when these records were made. He not only appeared in a famous cartoon himself (Fantasia) but was well known enough to have been caricatured in another cartoon by Bugs Bunny. I have to admit that for this and other reasons, I am one of the snobs who have a hard time taking him seriously. Many people do, of course, and I yield to them for purposes of this post. (And, of course, who am I to make judgments, considering some of the silly stuff I have offered here.)

The cover says "Music for Easter" and comes complete with a Gothic cathedral facade, but this is not music you will hear in church. Instead we have the Act I Prelude and "Good Friday Spell" from Act III of Wagner's Parsifal, together with Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture.

The sound here is quite good (although there is a bit of noise on my pressing), especially when you consider that the Rimsky goes back as far as January 1929. The Parsifal excerpts are from November 1936, when Stokowski was beginning his withdrawal from Philadelphia.

More Marterie

I have a thing for some post-war dance bands, Ralph Marterie among them. I recently had a request to reup a Marterie album featured here some years ago, and I enjoyed remastering the LP so much that I decided to transfer this collection, which dates from 1951.

Marterie Moods for Dancing collates the bandleader's recent singles, which cover a range of styles. As I wrote the first time around for the band, Marterie "had a good ensemble that played a variety of music quite well - from ballads to post-Hampton big band r&b."

The cover suggests that you will hear a female vocalist - not so. This is all instrumental, featuring the leader's trumpet. Hopefully he did not attempt to play it while peeking out from under the dancers' armpits, as he does on this cover.

Good sound on this one, even though Mercury at the time was pressing its records on the cheesiest vinyl (or vinyliest cheese) it could find. The download includes personnel.

By the way, if you like Marterie, I recently posted an EP that Vic Damone made with Marterie on my other blog.

Bartok with Lili Kraus

Another in a quick series of recordings from American Decca's 4000 series of 10-inchers from the early 50s.

My first entry (Julius Baker in music by Foote and Griffes) was recorded by Decca for the series itself, but most entries in the 4000 series were reprints of European recordings, mainly from Deutsche Grammophon.

Young Lili Kraus

This present entry, however, comes from Parlophone, and was inscribed as early as 1938. The artist is Lili Kraus, whom I had always typed as a classical-era specialist, probably because he did a Mozart concerto cycle in the 1960s - but here she is playing Bartok, and does very well indeed with these very attractive folk-derived compositions.

It turns out that Kraus studied for a time with the composer, and her playing here is - to my non-Magyar ears - highly idiomatic. The piano tone is truthful, although Decca's transfer to LP was somewhat grainy. My biggest objection is that this is a very short record. I believe the original issue was on two 10-inch 78s. Good listening, though.

Dennis Day - My Wild Irish Rose

I have always liked Dennis Day's singing, but I am sure my tastes have been influenced by watching and listening to him on Jack Benny's television and radio programs for so many years in my youth.

For those of you outside the US, or of a young age, Day played a "boy" tenor - a silly kid, as Benny called him - well into middle age, and played the role perfectly. He was both an excellent singer and a master of comic timing. He was so popular that when this album first came out, he also had his own radio program.

1947 Billboard ad

This set was first issued on 78s in December 1947, and on 10-inch LP and this double-EP set in 1952. It contains songs from the film My Wild Irish Rose, and the cover may give you the impression that this is a soundtrack and Day appeared in the film. Not so. The film's lead role was taken by tenor Dennis Morgan.

It is likely, however, that the movie did occasion the recording of these particular songs, which were issued on singles earlier in 1947. It was common then and now to use songs from the film for promotional purposes.

Day

My Wild Irish Rose was a biopic in honor of the turn-of-the-century Irish American singer-actor-composer Chauncey Olcott, who wrote the title song and was involved in composing "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" and "Mother Machree" as well. In another song, "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," Day assumes his "Dennis Day" character, rather amusingly.

Olcott appeared in minstrel shows, and to recognize that, I suppose, RCA included a blackface minstrel character on the cover. I don't have any desire to use offensive images, so I have removed that for purposes of this post, although the original is also included in the download.

Among the cast of the film, I noted the presence of Sara Allgood, the original Juno from Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock. I am preparing a transfer of the 1955 recording of that play, with Siobhan McKenna as Juno.

Final note: Mark Warnow provides the orchestral backing on "Hush-a-Bye, Sweet Rose of Killarney," "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," "My Nellie's Blue Eyes" and "My Wild Irish Rose". Charles Dant handles "A Little Bit of Heaven," "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" and "Mother Machree," and Russ Case does "Remember When You Sang 'Oh Promise Me'". The sound is very good.

1947 Life Magazine ad

Eleventh Batch of Reups

Another interesting group of reups for you today - all requests. In addition to these, I had a request for Oiltown U.S.A., which I couldn't find, so I'll have to re-record it some fine day.

As before, links to all the reups are in the comments to this item. The links below take you to the original posts, where you can delight in my views on the music at hand.

All of these, with the exception of the Warner Color Fashion Show and the Hershy Kay-Virgil Thomson record, have been remastered, are in lossless format and most should have much better sound than the original posts.

Abbe Lane - Where There's a Man

It's the sultry Cugat vocalist with a fine solo outing. Cugie makes an appearance on an awful novelty. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Carole Simpson - Singin' and Swingin'

Speaking of fine singing, here is the recently deceased Carole Simpson with a program of Steve Allen tunes. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Destination Moon

Leith Stevens' music for George Pal's 1949 fantasy of a moon landing. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

The Wild One

More Leith Stevens, in much different mode for this, the original 10-inch version of the soundtrack to Brando's biker tale. I'll have to record the 12-inch version of this some day. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Kay - Western Symphony; Thomson - Filling Station

Two ballet scores in the Americana style, well done by the New York City Ballet orchestra and Leon Barzin. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Ralph Marterie - Dancing on the Down Beat

1952 recordings from the popular post-war dance band. I enjoyed this so much, I posted a Vic Damone-Marterie EP on my other blog, and will have another LP here soon. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Warner's Color TV Fashion Show

A 1957 record that was sent to department stores to promote a TV show featuring lingerie fashions. And you thought the Victoria's Secret programs were a new idea. Music by Michael Brown. LINK TO ORIGINAL POST

Marc Blitzstein - Theater Songs

Marc Blitzstein is not a well-known name these days, but he did achieve some renown as a composer during his lifetime. His best known work is probably the labor musical The Cradle Will Rock, followed by the opera Regina. The latter has been recorded twice, as has his wartime Airborne symphony (conducted both times by Leonard Bernstein).

Blitzstein

This present record collects songs from his less well-known works, with the composer at the piano and the excellent Muriel Smith singing. The recordings were made in December 1947; this 10-inch LP dates from a few years later.

Smith first became known in the title role of Carmen Jones on Broadway in 1943. She was appearing in a revival of The Cradle Will Rock when this record was made. Smith later spent much time in London, and was a vocal double for several films, notably for Juanita Hall in South Pacific. I have at least one of her LPs, and may share more of her work here.

Smith as Carmen Jones

My copy of this album does not include any notes, although it is possible that they were included in the original issue, which came in an envelope rather than a cardboard cover. Here are a few notes on the songs that may be helpful. The information is mainly derived from Leonard Lehrman's bio-bibliography of the composer:

"Mamasha Goose" - comes from the unfinished 1945 American-Soviet friendship musical Goloopchik. The song is sung by a child in Russia attempting to entertain two American soldiers. Music is from folk sources; words by Blitzstein. I believe "goloopchik" is a term of endearment.

"In the Clear" - is from the 1941 leftist opera No for an Answer, which only achieved a few performances at the time. The words are by the composer.

"Orpheus" - is from the 1937 incidental music for Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Here the piano tone has been altered to give an antique sound to the accompaniment.

"Ode to Reason" - is a solo song from the incidental music from a 1938 production of Georg Büchner's Danton's Death. The piano tone has been altered here as well.

"Song of the D.P." also is from Goloopchik. It is sung by a displaced woman ("D.P." = displaced person) who has been repatriated to Russia by the Nazis. It was drawn from some of Blitzstein's experiences in the US Army.