Bernstein Conducts Gershwin and Copland

I wanted to mark the centenary  of Leonard Bernstein's birth, but it is difficult to find a recording by him that hasn't been reissued, with the possible exception of the obscurities I have uploaded previously.

So I decided to explore some of his earliest LPs, starting with this RCA Victor album.  It presents Bernstein's first thoughts on two composers with whom he is identified - George Gershwin and Aaron Copland. Gershwin died while Bernstein was at Harvard, but Copland was a lifelong friend and influence.

Bernstein and Copland in 1945

Bernstein was still a young man when these records were made in 1947 and 1949, but he clearly has his own ideas about the scores, both of which he puts across convincingly.

His An American in Paris provides a nice contrast to the Paul Whiteman version I uploaded last week. I believe it uses the version of Gershwin's own scoring revised by his publisher after the composer's death. Bernstein handles the Copland's Billy the Kid music beautifully. You can hear a few echoes of the score in Bernstein's own theater music.

These recordings are with the so-called "RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra," apparently composed of New York players assembled for the two sessions.  The performances are generally very fine, although the pick-up orchestra lacks the personality of Whiteman's musicians. The sound is pleasing, if a trifle boomy and with a few odd balances.

Gershwin and Grofé, Plus Dick Haymes

Lately it seems like there has been more action in the comments section of this blog than on the main page, thanks to my wonderful readers.

For those of you who don't pore over the comments, let me bring a few things to your attention, then add a Dick Haymes reup at the end of the post.

First, and available for only a few days yet, old friend David Federman has provided a transfer of Paul Whiteman's wonderful 1931 recording of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite. This is the jazz band version that will surprise you if you are familiar only with the symphonic arrangement.

Then, we have two more contributions from 8H Haggis. One encompasses Whiteman's early 50s renditions of An American in Paris and Rhapsody in Blue, both for Capitol. Leonard Pennario is the pianist. The second set includes the fascinating Arturo Toscanini live recordings of Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris and the Concerto in F, all with the NBC Symphony. Blog favorite Oscar Levant is the pianist. This, too, is a limited-time upload.

You can find the links to these performances in the comments to my last post, Paul Whiteman's 1938 Gershwin recordings.

Finally, let me add a reup.

This excellent Dick Haymes 10-inch LP comes from the early days of the blog. I have refurbished the sound, and it is now quite good. Victor Young and Gordon Jenkins provide the support on most cuts. If you liked the other Haymes records I've shared, I am sure you will enjoy this as well. You can find the link in the comments to the original post.

Paul Whiteman's 1938 Gershwin Recordings

Paul Whiteman will always be linked with George Gershwin's music. He commissioned Rhapsody in Blue, and introduced it during his famous Aeolian Hall concert in February 1924. The composer himself was the pianist.

George Gershwin

But Gershwin's other major concert works - the Concerto in F, An American in Paris, the Cuban Overture and the Second Rhapsody - were not premiered by Whiteman. They all were introduced by - and scored for - symphony orchestras.

The bandleader still retained a strong interest in the composer, however. For example, in 1928 he made the first recording of the Concerto, with Roy Bargy as the soloist. And he often performed Gershwin's works live with his Concert Orchestra, invariably including one work in his annual concerts of modern American music.

This present album shows what those concert performances must have been like. Whiteman puts aside the symphonic orchestrations that Gershwin himself produced for An American in Paris, the Cuban Overture and the Second Rhapsody. Instead, he employs excellent orchestrations from his staff arrangers. These were tailored to the Concert Orchestra's personnel at the time - a large jazz band plus oboe, seven violins, two violas and one cello. The results are irresistible.

Paul Whiteman

Is it a sacrilege to toss out the composer's own scores? Maybe, but consider that most performances and recordings have not used them either. Gershwin's scores were edited after his death by his publisher, and in one instance (the Second Rhapsody) completely re-orchestrated by composer Robert McBride.

The Whiteman recordings date from October 1938. They were first issued in a 78 set, then transcribed into LP form in 1949. Brief notes about each piece follow.

Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin's most famous work was orchestrated three times by Ferde Grofé, who was Whiteman's chief arranger from 1920-32 - the 1924 version, a revision in 1926 for theater orchestra, and a symphonic orchestration in 1942. It is believed that the 1938 recording uses the original arrangement, with some amendments and additional instruments. The piano soloist is Roy Bargy, who was in Whiteman's employ from 1928-40.

Cuban Overture. This composition, dating from 1932, was initially titled Rumba in honor of the Cuban dance that was then becoming popular in New York. In it, Whiteman's orchestra does a creditable imitation of a rhumba band - certainly far better than the symphonic versions that are often heard. The soloist is Rosa Linda, in her early 20s and already a superb pianist. She is more fluid and produces a more beautiful tone than Bargy. The bandleader had premiered this excellent orchestration by Allan Small in that year's Carnegie Hall concert of American music.

An American in Paris

An American in Paris. This piece, dating from 1931, benefits from another terrific arrangement, this time by Nathan Van Cleave, later a well regarded Hollywood orchestrator.

Second Rhapsody. Perhaps Gershwin's least-loved concert work, the Second Rhapsody (née Rhapsody in Rivets), is nonetheless an enjoyable work that benefits from the strong advocacy of Whiteman and Bargy. It dates from 1931. I haven't been able to determine who did the arrangement here, but it might be Small or Van Cleave.

Roy Bargy in Whiteman's 1930 film The King of Jazz

Now a few words about the sound. I used an original pressing of the LP for my first transfer. It has remarkably vivid sonics that show off Whiteman's terrific ensemble to advantage. However, the pressing is a bit noisy and there is some peak distortion in the louder piano passages. This should not be too distracting if you listen via speakers, but it will be noticeable on headphones.

That being the case, I also did a second transfer from a very clean later pressing. However, this pressing is a re-dub with added reverb, which was entirely unnecessary. The echo blunts the impact of the band's performance. Some of you may prefer this cleaner sound, of course, so I'll make the second transfer available for a limited time.

The caricatures of Whiteman and Gershwin above and the illustration of An American in Paris are by the wonderful artist Miguel Covarrubias, who regularly contributed to Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.

The music of George Gershwin has been a constant presence on this blog - and continuously popular with readers. I hope you enjoy this latest addition to the Gershwin collection.

Hanson Conducts MacDowell

This post is in response to a note from our benefactor 8H Haggis, who has left so many splendid records for us to enjoy. (See posts below, but please be aware that these items will only be available for a matter of days now.)

Our friend was looking for a transfer of Edward MacDowell's Second Suite, in the performance by Howard Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester Symphony. I've transferred my copy for him, but now that I have looked into the matter, I am not sure this is the record (or pressing) he is seeking! It seems that Hanson took a whack at this music three different times, per Michael Gray's Classical Discography. He recorded the Dirge in 1939, the full suite in 1953 (represented by the LP at hand), and supposedly the complete suite again in 1961 (which actually may be a reissue of the 1953 effort). Perhaps 8H wanted the later version or pressing?

MacDowell portrait by Chase Emerson

In any case, this is a fine performance of music that is not often heard these days. MacDowell was a contemporary of his fellow American composers Arthur Foote and Charles T. Griffes, whose music has appeared before on this blog. Today, if MacDowell is performed at all, it is usually his Piano Concerto No. 2. This was not always the case: Hanson's is the third recording of the suite in full. The first was from the Columbia Symphony and Howard Barlow in 1939, available via my friend Bryan's excellent Shellackophile blog. Then in 1951, the American Recording Society published a version directed by Dean Dixon.

According to the cover notes, the themes in this composition are derived from Theodor Baker's Music of the North American Wilderness; thus the subtitle "Indian." But there is little that is stereotypically "Indian" about the work, which dates from 1892. (Speaking of stereotypical, check out the cover. It is by George Maas, who provided the art for many Mercury LPs.) The cover notes liken MacDowell's music to that of Grieg, albeit "less lyrically intense as well as more broadly noble in its lyrical expression and more rugged in its dramatic moments."

Hanson's recording was made for Mercury, which was then achieving fame for its "Living Presence" sound. This particular LP sounds a bit harsh and dry, however. I've adjusted the frequency response to address the harshness. And I've added a small amount of convolution reverberation to the mix, and am offering that as an alternative to the "dry" transfer. Links to both can be found in the comments.

The Flying Ice Cream Vendor and Other Big German Hits of 1959

My friend Lee, proprietor of the MYPWHAE blog (click here for full title), specializes in reviving the lower depths of the record market, 1950s budget labels purveying cheap cover versions of the popular hits of the time.

His most recent collection is a good example – for example, you get “Mambo Italiano” and “Come on-a My House,” not by Rosie Clooney but Mimi Martel and Elliott Everett and His Orchestra instead. These are among the 15 songs in this particular collection.

The records are great fun, veering between awful and surprisingly good. Lee always wrings excellent sound from the grooves of these battered relics.

I recently mentioned to Lee that I have a large number of German language cover records from the 50s and 60s. He expressed interest, so I prepared an example of such a collection for him and of course for you, dear reader.

The record is called Das grosse Starparade (Parade of Great Stars, as you probably figured). It was a product of the venerable German label Polydor, a pop music imprint at the time. Polydor put out these collections from time to time; this is the sixth in the series. It dates from 1959, incorporating songs from 1958 and 59.

To be clear, Das grosse Starparade compiled all types of German pop singles, only some of which were covers of American hits. Of the latter, included here are covers of “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” “Blue Hawaii,” “Purple People Eater,” “Tom Dooley,” “Promise Me, Love” and “Haiti Cherie,” along with remakes of Brazilian and Australian songs.

I imagine readers of this blog will find most of the artists involved to be unfamiliar, so here are some comments about them and some of their songs.

Freddy Quinn (usually billed as just Freddy) was a hugely popular singer and film star. He was often cast as a wandering sailor – thus his characteristic hit song, “Die Guitarre und das Meer,” from the film of the same name. I enjoy Freddy and have many of his records.

Melitta Berg had her only big success as a hit singer with “Nur du, du, du allein,” a cover of the Teddy Bears’ “To Know Him Is to Love Him.”

Bob und Eddy were Wolfgang Roloff (aka Bob Hill) and Wolfgang Börner (aka Eddy Börner). To make it even more confusing, Roloff later had a number of hits under the name Ronny. Bob und Eddy have two songs in this group.

Alexander (later Rex) Gildo was a German ballad singer who sold many millions of records and starred in film and television. He was dubbed the “German Cliff Richard.”

The Teddies, founded by Werner Cyprys in 1957, recorded a total of 17 singles for Polydor.

Ted Herold was a German singer who also appeared in several films in the 1960s. “Hula Rock,” a paean to the hula hoop, was originally by the Australian LeGarde Twins. (It is not the Hank Snow tune.)

Kurt Edelhagen led a popular big band and was music director for two large German radio stations. “Blue Hawaii” was not inspired by the Elvis movie, which didn't come out until 1961. This rendition was a cover of a Billy Vaughn instrumental from 1958. Edelhagen’s arrangement parrots Vaughn's dual-alto sound.

                       

Caterina Valente is a French-born Italian singer, guitarist, dancer, and actress. She is well known in the US, spending part of her career here. Valente was a singer in Edelhagen’s band early in her career. “Haiti Cherie” is a traditional song; Valente's single was probably inspired by Harry Belafonte’s version, issued as a 45 and on his 1957 Songs of the Caribbean LP.

The elaborately named “Wumba-Tumba Schokoladeneisverkäufer” is Sheb Wooley’s “Purple People Eater” in disguise. For the German market, the people eater has been transformed into, as far as I can tell, a flying chocolate ice cream vendor. Bill Ramsey, an American, came to Germany as an airman, and stayed. He preferred jazz, but made his name with the likes of the “Wumba-Tumba” song.

Information is scant on Das Tom-Dooley Trio. It apparently included Bernd Golonsky, later a member of the Günter Kallmann Chorus.

“Stern von Montana” (Star of Montana) is by the Das Blauen Jungs (The Blue Boys), an Austrian vocal quartet helmed by Polydor's star composer Werner Scharfenberger.

“Fern (Far Away) in Java” was a cover of “Promise Me, Love,” a 1958 single written for Andy Williams by his mentor, Kay Thompson. It is one of a number of Polydor singles by the Stefano Twins.

"Ave Maria no Morro," composed by the Brazilian Herivelto Martins, dates back to 1942. Helmut Zacharias was a hugely popular violinist and bandleader who led his Verzauberten Geigen (Enchanted Violins) on many records.

A few years after Das grosse Starparade was issued, a number of German artists and songs became popular in the US. First was Lolita’s 1961 hit “Seemann…”, written by Werner Scharfenberger, with its overdubbed English narration. That was followed quickly by Bert Kaempfert’s “Wonderland by Night” and “Calcutta,” the latter in a version by Lawrence Welk. (Kaempfert provides the orchestral support on the Ted Herold and Freddy songs above.)

Finally, Elvis sang an adaptation of the German folk song “Muss i denn” in his movie G.I. Blues, which became a hit in Europe under the title “Wooden Heart.” Elvis’ rendition was never issued stateside, but Joe Dowell had a hit here with a cover version.

The download has many more artist photos and label pics. I enjoy listening to these German compilations – I must, I have about 20 of them. Hope you will like this one as well.