Marius Constant Conducts Debussy

Debussy's Le Martyre de Saint-Sébastien is not one of his best known or most popular compositions. It is, nevertheless, exquisitely beautiful.

Here the work is coupled with two Rhapsodies for solo winds and orchestra, both also strikingly good, although less often heard than many of the composer's other works.

These performances come to us from 1972 and composer-conductor Marius Constant (1925-2004), leading the Orchestre Philharmonique de l'ORTF (the present-day Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France).

Marius Constant

The disk is one of a series of LPs produced by Radio France showcasing its two orchestras - the Orchestre National and the Philharmonique. We most recently heard the former ensemble in music of Gabriel Pierné and Maurice Duruflé. Constant was the music director of French radio when he made this present album.

Constant also was a noted composer who is fated to be most remembered in the popular imagination by the theme from the American television program The Twilight Zone. Ironically, this theme was constructed by combining two pieces of library music that Constant had composed for a fixed fee.

Le Martyre de Saint-Sébastien

Ida Rubinstein as Saint Sebastian

Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien dates from 1911. The dancer Ida Rubinstein commissioned the text by Italian author and politician Gabriele D'Annunzio and engaged Debussy for the music, Michel Fokine for the choreography and Léon Bakst for the stage and costume design.

The resulting hybrid work was overlong (five hours!), overheated and controversial - the bishop of Paris condemned the idea of the person playing Saint Sebastian being a woman and a Jew.

Gabriele D'Annunzio, aesthete and future Duce

D'Annunzio was allied with the Decadent movement in the arts, which stressed sensuality and mysticism. Debussy, similarly, was influenced by the Symbolist poets Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Rimbaud and Verlaine. He famously rejected the structural thinking that underlies such forms as the symphony, instead looking to the Russians, Chopin and literature for inspiration.

Claude Debussy in 1909

The complete Martyre is almost never heard today. Instead, it is usually represented by the four Fragments symphoniques that Debussy's pupil and friend André Caplet assembled from the score. 

• La Cour de Lys (The Court of Lilies). Several tableaux depicting Sebastian's life, including his asking for a sign from God as he witnesses two young Christians being tortured to death.

• Danse extatique et Final du 1er Acte (Ecstatic Dance and Finale of the 1st Act). Sebastian dances on hot coals as lilies emerge from the ground.

• La Passion (The Passion). Sebastian experiences ecstasy as he anticipates being put to death.

• Le Bon Pasteur (The Good Shepherd). Set in Apollo's grove, in which Sebastian has a vision of the shepherd and a sacrificial lamb.

The music is unquestionably static, and for that reason it is not considered among Debussy's best. It is, however, strikingly beautiful, and that is perhaps the point.

Constant himself wrote many ballet scores, and his reading of Debussy's music is entirely sympathetic without any indulgences.

A side note about Gabriele D'Annunzio, a remarkable character. He was to distinguish himself as a Royal Italian Army officer during World War I. Postwar, he marched into Fiume and set up the short-lived Italian Regency of Carnaro with himself as Duce, emphasizing concerts and daily poetry readings. Some of his ideas and symbols were to influence Benito Mussolini and eventually Adolf Hitler.

Première rhapsodie, pour clarinette et orchestre

Guy Deplus

Debussy wrote his clarinet rhapsody in 1909-10 as an examination piece for the Conservatoire de Paris. The critic Trevor Harvey wrote in his Gramophone review of this LP, "Debussy himself thought highly enough of it to proceed to its orchestration, and marvelously he did it, too. Marius Constant realises it most poetically." I might add that the distinguished soloist Guy Deplus is faultless, as well.

Deplus was the professor of clarinet at the Conservatoire de Paris at the time.

Rhapsodie pour saxophone et orchestre

Debussy's rhapsody for saxophone has an unusual history. It was commissioned by the American Elise Hall, who was learning the instrument as a way to fend off encroaching deafness. (It didn't work.)  She paid in advance, a mistake because the composer had few compunctions about not completing the piece, even after she showed up on his doorstep more than once.

Elise Hall - dressed like an umbrella?

Debussy somehow acted the aggrieved party in all of this, complaining that Hall was "an old bat who dresses like an umbrella." He eventually finished the short score, selling it to a publisher. Jean Roger-Ducasse finally realized the orchestration in 1919, after Debussy's death, but Hall never heard it.

A shame, because it is quite a good composition. Trevor Harvey's verdict on the performance: "On the whole I just slightly prefer this Erato version to the CBS [Stanley Drucker with the New York Philharmonic] since, while both soloists are splendid, those in the Erato are more integrated into the orchestral texture, yet never failing to speak out loud and clear at the right moments. The general orchestral sound is just right for such music."

Daniel Deffayet

The soloist on this record is Daniel Deffayet, who was professor of saxophone at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he succeeded his teacher Marcel Mule.

The recording of this music is excellent, derived from a flawless pressing. The link below is to a 16-bit, 44.1kHz transfer. A 24-bit, 96kHz version is available upon request.

LINK (16-bit, 44.1kHz)

An Earlier Set of Recordings

My other blog has a new post that presents 1931 recordings by Piero Coppola of some of the music on the Erato LP above. These comprise two of the four Fragments symphoniques from Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien and a performance of the Clarinet Rhapsody with Gaston Hamelin.

Ezio Pinza Sings and Sells

After a career on the opera stage, bass Ezio Pinza (1892-1957) moved on to films, Broadway and the recording studio in the postwar years. Today's post is devoted to that late period in his career. We have five LPs - an expanded version of Ezio Pinza Sings "Enchanted Melodies", a promotional record for Magnavox from about 1956, and remastered versions of Ezio Pinza in Opera, Broadway and Hollywood and the LPs from Pinza's films Mr. Imperium and Tonight We Sing.

Ezio Pinza Sings "Enchanted Melodies"

I first posted this 10-inch record 15 years ago, but decided that it warranted a new transfer. My pithy comments back then were that the LP makes reference to Pinza's big hit "Some Enchanted Evening" in its title without actually including the song. Instead this 1950 album resurrects some items that Pinza had recorded for Columbia at various times in the 1940s.

I wrote, "In truth, it makes an attractive if not enchanted program, and gives the singer ample opportunity to display all his best qualities. The cover is by Alex Steinweiss, who thought that Pinza would look good with green skin and teeth."

Nor were the reviewers back then entirely enchanted by the program. One called the Fleger and Holmès songs "hardy veterans of the women's club recital circuit." But the opera excerpts were met with acclaim: regarding the Rossini aria, one reviewer gushed "at no time that I can remember was he more subtle in conveying the meaning of the words" and "The voice is mellow, round and luscious." The accompanist in the songs is Gibner King, who worked with Pinza for many years.

Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza in South Pacific

In addition to the eight selections on the LP, I have added six additional songs from the same period - including "Just a Kiss Apart" from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and "Bali Ha'i," which Pinza did not sing in South Pacific, but which Columbia had him record anyway. He did of course sing "Some Enchanted Evening," and I have made up for Columbia's oversight in compiling the Enchanted Melodies album by including it in this augmented package.

The LP is from my collection; the extras are courtesy of Internet Archive. The sound is very good in ambient stereo.

LINK to new transfer and bonuses

"I Hear Music . . . " (Magnavox Promo)

In late 1955 or early 1956, the Magnavox high-fidelity people hired Pinza to narrate a record of selections from the RCA Victor catalog while touting the many virtues of the equipment. The excerpts included orchestral works conducted by Toscanini, Reiner, Fiedler and Stokowski, and opera arias with Cellini and Perlea accompanying leading voices of the time. The Stoky selection is his peculiar Beethoven Pastoral Symphony with actual sounds of nature added to the orchestral effects the composer had written.

Florence Henderson and Ezio Pinza - opening night of Fanny

Pinza himself is heard in his solo from the Broadway musical Fanny (music and lyrics by Harold Rome), which ran from late 1954 to late 1956. It certainly is not the best thing Pinza ever sang; the music is unremarkable and the lyrics were perhaps suggested by Goodnight Moon, which was published several years earlier. Well, at least Pinza's last act was a great success.

In addition to the record, which was provided to buyers of Magnavox equipment, Pinza appeared at magazine ads for both the company's hi-fi sets and its televisions. The example below is from late 1955.

About two-thirds of the way through the record, either RCA ran out of excerpts or Pinza ran out of things to say. He then turns things over to George Melachrino and his strings, who play five selections without commentary. 

Back in 1954, RCA had inaugurated its LPM series of 12-inch popular LPs by releasing seven Melachrino albums, all but one with the title beginning "Music for ...", including such gems as "Music for Faith and Inner Calm" and "Music for Courage and Confidence." The series culminated in "Music to Help You Sleep," which sums up the soporific effect of the Melachrino manner. The Magnavox selections are drawn from this series.

Some of the Melachrino LPs were expanded versions of previously released 10-inch albums. I suspect that the Magnavox promo itself was originally intended to be a 10-incher, then was inflated to 12 inches at the last minute, necessitating including the "Music for" excerpts.

This curiosity is from my collection. It was apparently owned by someone who couldn't afford another record after buying the pricey Magnavox console, and so played it so much it became remarkably noisy. I've managed to remove 99 percent of the crackle, so the sound is now reasonably good. This comes from my collection.

LINK to Magnavox promo LP

Ezio Pinza in Opera, Broadway and Hollywood 

RCA Victor took over Pinza's recording contract from Columbia in 1950 or 1951, and this LP is among the first fruits of that new partnership. I posted it in 2011, noting that the bass's career as a Hollywood leading man began with Strictly Dishonorable, where he plays to type as an amorous opera star.

"There is no soundtrack album from Strictly Dishonorable," I wrote, "but this RCA Victor 10-inch LP from 1951 includes an aria from Gounod's Faust that Pinza sings in the film, although this is not the same version. Otherwise, the LP is split down the middle between Pinza's operatic repertoire and pop songs. He is in fine voice for all, but is more comfortable with the operatic material. His phrasing in the pop songs is foursquare, and he sounds under rehearsed. Only in 'The Way You Look Tonight' does he go below the surface, and in that he captures some of the ardor that made him so magnetic in South Pacific."

I've now remastered the LP in ambient stereo, and edited the original article to include a few photos of Pinza in Faust and The Marriage of Figaro.

LINK to original post

Mr. Imperium

Pinza's second film was Mr. Imperium: "Once again playing to type, Pinza is a playboy prince who becomes romantically entangled with singer Lana Turner," I wrote in 2011.

The songs from the film include a few by Harold Arlen and Dorothy Fields - "My Love and My Mule" is not their best work, I'd say. But then there is Augustin Lara's wonderful "You Belong to My Heart," so that helps matters.

On the LP, the Turner numbers are taken by RCA contractee Fran Warren, although Trudy Erwin dubbed them for the film. You can hear Erwin's work in the recent comprehensive post devoted to her, including a song that I strongly suspect was slated for the film but not used.

The original post of Mr. Imperium also has been augmented with new photos, with the sound thoroughly overhauled and now in ambient stereo.

LINK to original post

Tonight We Sing

Pinza's final film was 1952's Tonight We Sing. Here's how I described the proceedings when I first wrote about in in 2010: "The film is a biopic on impresario Sol Hurok. Why anyone would want to watch a movie about a concert promoter is beyond me - I guess it was just a way to string together musical sequences featuring Hurok's attractions such as Ezio Pinza and Roberta Peters. That's them acknowledging the unseen audience on the cover above as Jan Peerce looks on from the prompter's box. (Poor Peerce didn't actually get into the film, although his voice did.)"

Pinza as Chaliapin, mink and all 

This LP does include the songs directly from the soundtrack, which include Gounod and Puccini arias, along with some Mussorgsky, necessary because Pinza was playing his basso predecessor Feodor Chaliapin, who specialized in Boris Godunov. Back in 2010 I commented that the film made the bass look like a blustering fool. Someone wrote in to point out that Chaliapin was, in fact, a blustering fool. 

You don't have to wade through the film, of course, to enjoy the singing on this effective LP. Once again, the sound has been completely updated and is now in ambient stereo.

LINK to original post

Martinon Conducts Pierné

Here is another LP from an excellent series produced by Erato with the Orchestre national de l'ORTF (the French national radio orchestra, the present-day Orchestre national de France). This edition contains colorful music by Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937), conducted by the eminent Jean Martinon (1910-76), the orchestra's music director at the time (1970).

Pierné is not as well remembered as his contemporaries Debussy and Ravel, who influenced him, but his compositions are of high quality and great appeal.

The LP contains music from the ballet Cydalise et le Chèvre-Pied, the orchestral suite Divertissements sur un theme pastoral and a Concertstück for harp and orchestra.

Gabriel Pierné

Cydalise et le Chèvre-Pied is a two-act ballet that Pierné scored in 1914-15, but was not performed until 1923. "Chèvre-pied" is literally translated as "goat-foot," but it actually refers to a satyr. Here, let me quote a helpful summary from Gramophone magazine: "The story, setting the natural world of nymphs and satyrs against the ‘unnatural’ one of court life, gives him [Pierné] plenty of scope for atmospheric strings and pastoral woodwind on the one hand, and pseudo 18th-century pomposity on the other."

The sound world is reminiscent of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé of 1912 and of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune of 1894, both of which Pierné certainly knew and possibly led as the conductor of the Concerts Colonne. His work, however, has its own flavor due to its more formal structure, neoclassical elements and influences of Stravinsky. Pierné conducted the premiere of The Firebird in 1910.

Jean Martinon

The composer drew two orchestral suites from Cydalise et le Chèvre-Pied. The first suite, presented by Martinon in its entirety, is drawn from the first act. The conductor also includes the final scene, which comes from the second act and was in Pierne's second suite from the ballet music.

The best-known excerpt from the score is the so-called "March of the Little Fauns," which opens the suite and sometimes appears on pops programs. It was recorded several times soon after its premiere, including a 1928 version from the Cleveland Orchestra under its founding music director, Nikolai Sokoloff. That disc can be found on my other blog.

Pierné's Concertstück for harp and orchestra comes from 1901 and here has a distinguished soloist, Lily Laskine (1893-1988). It, too, is a delightful work that Laskine and the orchestra perform superbly.

Lily Laskine

The final work on the program is the Divertissements sur un theme pastoral, which dates from 1931. The LP's annotator, Harry Halbreich, contends that it is perhaps the composer's most successful orchestral work. As the title implies, it is a diversion - light music that is designed to beguile and amuse, as do all the works on this record.

Some of Pierné's compositions have enjoyed repeated recordings; others have not been as fortunate. As noted, the "March of the Little Fauns" was recorded many times in the first half of the 20th century, and Pierné himself set down the final scene of the ballet in 1930. André Cluytens recorded selections of the ballet in 1951, but the performance was never issued. Excerpts conducted by Jean-Baptiste Mari came out on a French label in 1961, followed by the Martinon record in 1970. Mari would record both suites for EMI in 1976. A complete account of the ballet later appeared on CD.

The Concertstück has been recorded several times; indeed, this was Laskine's third go at the piece, following versions from 1935 and 1961. The Erato LP seems to be the second release of the orchestral Divertissements; the first was led by Jean Fournet in 1950.

At one time, the composer's most recorded work was the brief Sérénade, an early work. This was back in the days of the 78 when short compositions were easier to record (and sell).

The sound on the Erato record is quite good. My transfer comes from a pristine pressing. The link below is to the 16-bit, 44.1kHz version. A 24-bit, 96kHz transfer also is available upon request.

LINK (16-bit, 44.1kHz)

Pierné the Conductor

My other blog has a new post devoted to two short works with Pierné conducting the Orchestre Colonne: Chabrier's España and Pierné's own orchestration of Franck's Prelude, choral et fugue. These recordings, which date from 1929, can be found here.

More from the Orchestre National de l'ORTF

The series of ORTF recordings of French music appeared both on the Erato and Barclay labels. The following have also been featured on this blog.

• Maurice Duruflé - Messe "Cum jubilo," Quatre motets, Trois danses, conducted by the composer
• Gabriel Fauré - Shylock, Pavane, Madrigal, Caligula, conducted by Antonio de Almeida
• Louis Vierne - Symphonie en la, Spleens et détresses, conducted by Georges Tzipine

Roussel's ballet Aeneas, also conducted by Martinon, is coming up next.

Trudy Erwin

Trudy Erwin (1918-2000) was a talented singer mostly remembered for her movie dubbing assignments and appearances with Bing Crosby. She had a lovely mezzo voice, perfect diction, careful intonation and great warmth. Her career lasted from the mid-1930s into the 1950s. 

This post, a comprehensive overview of her most productive period (1940-52), includes 35 commercial recordings, airchecks and soundtracks.

Early Experience

A native of Los Angles, Erwin was singing in ensembles in her teens. Among her first professional jobs was as period as a member of the Music Maids singing group on Bing Crosby's radio show, starting in 1939. At that time she was known as Virginia (Jinny) Erwin.

The Music Maids, with Jinny Erwin at center

Her first individual professional job, to my knowledge, was doing the singing for Lucille Ball in 1940's Too Many Girls, where she had the dubious honor of introducing the great Rodgers and Hart song "You're Nearer" without a credit. Our collection starts off with her performance from the soundtrack. (The noises you hear in the background are crickets - the scene takes place outside at dusk.)

Also from that film is "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," with a brief concluding vocal by Ball's co-star Richard Carlson.

With Kay Kyser

In 1941, Erwin joined Kay Kyser's band as a replacement for Ginny Simms, making her first recording in November. This was after Simms and Kyser had a personal and professional split, and the bandleader didn't want any more Ginnys (or Jinnys). So Jinny Erwin became Trudy Erwin.

Most of her singing was done as a member of the Kyser vocal ensemble, but she was featured on two records, the first of which was a giant hit -"Who Wouldn't Love You," written by future Frankie Laine music director Carl Fischer with Bill Carey. Trudy shared billing with Kyser mainstay Harry Babbitt. (They were credited as "Trudy and Harry" on the label.)

Like much of Kyser's output, the song veered toward the novelty side of the bandbook, as did her other feature, "There Won't be a Shortage of Love," which traded on the empty market shelves of wartime. Again, "Trudy and Harry" were the singing lovebirds, appropriate considering that the arrangement called for drum effects that sounded like Kyser had hired a woodpecker. (Come to think of it, he would later record the "Woody Woodpecker Song" with Gloria Wood.)

Trudy Erwin in 1942

Trudy's two songs were set down in January and March 1942, respectively. The Musicians Union embarked on a pointless two-year strike in July, and by the time that was over, Erwin had moved back to the Crosby show, as a soloist this time.

With Bing Crosby

This set includes her three commercial recordings with Bing and many high-quality airchecks from his Kraft Music Hall show.

Like other leading artists, Crosby had a big success even during the union ban by recording without union members. He and Trudy had a double-sided hit with songs from the new Rodgers and Hammerstein show Oklahoma! - "People Will Say We're in Love" and "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'."

The recording session managed to evade the union ban by not employing any instrumentalists - vocalists did not belong to the union. So the duo's accompanists were the members of "The Sportsmen Glee Club," an expanded version of the Sportsmen Quartet. The performances are pleasant if lugubrious, with the Sportsmen sounding more mournful than gleeful.

Because Trudy also was a member of the Kraft Music Hall cast, she and Bing also had a chance to perform both Oklahoma! songs with orchestral accompaniment.

The "People Will Say We're in Love" performance comes from a September 1943 broadcast. I wish I could say that John Scott Trotter's arrangement is much of an improvement over the Sportsmen, but it just plods along.

In December, another broadcast included a version of "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'" with accompaniment by Trotter's crew. Here the band chart is perhaps more flossy than the song and setting deserved.

Bing and Trudy

Also from that broadcast, Bing and Trudy sang "One Alone" from Sigmund Romberg's operetta The Desert Song. Bing calls the song new, probably because it was used in a recent film adaptation. The work itself dates from 1926.

Another 1943 broadcast allotted Erwin a solo spot on a Burke-Van Heusen song that Crosby had recorded the year before - "Constantly." I've included the lead-in to the number, which includes an amusing bit with Bing imitating Kyser and his North Carolina drawl.

"Wait for Me Mary" was the flip side of one of Dick Haymes' first big hits - "You'll Never Know." Bing and Trudy handled the piece sensitively during a September broadcast.

The unlikely 1943 hit "I Heard You Cried Last Night" was the subject of an superb Erwin performance. Written for the B-movie Cinderella Swings It, Helen Forrest and Harry James had recorded it in summer 1942, but Columbia delayed its release for a year. After it became a hit, Dick Haymes followed with an a capella version. Trudy's Kraft Music Hall rendition comes from another September show.

Also that month, Bing and Trudy combined for "The Way You Look Tonight," the Kern-Fields song from 1936 and Fred Astaire's Swing Time. This is one of the best songs and performances in the set. Bing had recorded it with his wife Dixie Lee in 1936.

"My Ideal" comes from an early December show. It's a revival of the 1930 Richard Whiting, Newell Chase and Leo Robin song that was introduced by Maurice Chevalier. The version by Bing and Trudy probably was suggested by the Capitol recording by Whiting's daughter, Margaret. Trudy's obbligato in this performance is strikingly effective.

Rodgers and Hart wrote the standard "My Heart Stood Still" for a West End review in 1927, then had to buy the song back so they could use it in A Connecticut Yankee. Bing and Trudy did well with this classic number.

"The Right Kind of Love," a new song by Mabel Wayne and Kermit Goell, was recorded by a number of artists in 1943, not including Bing. He did program it for an August show as a duet with Trudy. The composition is just OK, but the singing is fine.

Erwin left Crosby's show when she and her husband, Crosby's engineer-producer Murdo MacKenzie, were expecting a child in 1944.

Commercial Recordings

In 1945, Trudy was the featured vocalist on bandleader Ray Noble's summer replacement radio program. Noble also brought in Trudy for one of his many Columbia sessions. One side was "The Wish That I Wish Tonight," a lovely song by M.K. Jerome and Jack Scholl from the classic film Christmas in Connecticut. David Rose and Leo Robin came up with the other side, "So-o-o in Love," another film song, this one from the Danny Kaye specialty Wonder Man. On the film's soundtrack, Virginia Mayo's vocals were dubbed not by Erwin but June Hutton, the subject of an upcoming post.

Both Noble songs are attractive numbers in polished performances. Erwin (misspelled "Irwin" on the labels) is in good form. The trumpet soloist on "The Wish That I Wish" is ex-Miller hand Clyde Hurley. "So-o-o in Love" was even nominated for an Academy Award. Its formidable competition included "It Might as Well Be Spring" (the winner), "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive," "Aren’t You Glad You’re You?," "I Fall in Love Too Easily," "I’ll Buy that Dream," "Sleigh Ride in July," "More and More" and "Some Sunday Morning."

Trudy's next record was her only one as the featured performer - songs for the mainly country label 4-Star in 1946. The result is sterling performances of the well-remembered "To Each His Own" and of "Whattya Gonna Do?" These came out on two different 78s, backed by instrumentals from bandleader and sometime actor Opie Cates. 

"To Each His Own" is a Livingston and Evans song from the film of the same name, and is best known these days for its Ink Spots recording, although it was a hit for Eddy Howard among others. This pressing is noisy, unfortunately.

There may be a third Erwin release on 4-Star - "Would You Believe Me?" - but I haven't found a copy.

At about the same time, Bing came through with another task - a commercial recording of "See You in Cuba" from his 1946 film Blue Skies, which had an Irving Berlin score. The composer called the piece "See You in C-U-B-A" when he wrote it as a prohibition song in 1920. Crosby's partner in the film was the charming Olga San Juan, but Erwin was a better singer.

More Movie Dubs

Crosby became a film producer with the 1945 release of The Great John L., based on the life of boxer John L. Sullivan and set in the late 19th century. Bing engaged Trudy to dub the vocals for Sullivan's love interest, played by Linda Darnell. Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke provided two songs for the character. "A Perfect Gentleman" is a brief period piece. The main event was "A Friend of Yours," a high quality ballad that should be better remembered. Erwin is in prime form for both.

Erwin dubbed the singing voice of Lucille Bremer in two films. There were two numbers in the 1945 musical fantasy Yolanda and the Thief, where Bremer was the love interest of Fred Astaire -"Angel" and "Will You Marry Me?" Both were by Harry Warren and Bremer's patron, producer Arthur Freed. The former is a pleasing melody, wonderfully well performed by Trudy, beginning with her excellent vocalese. The second song is lyrically insipid, reflecting the fantasy aspect of the film. 

The 1946 Jerome Kern filmic bio Till the Clouds Roll By was the source of another opportunity to dub Bremer's vocals: a short but sonorous solo from Trudy on "The Land Where Good Songs Go." The song is briefly interrupted by comments from Robert Walker as Kern, the best friend of the father of Bremer's character. (Walker sounds oddly like Ronald Colman in the part.)

More Radio Spots

In 1946 Trudy made one of the "Personal Albums" that the Armed Forces Radio Service produced for several years. She included "The Coffee Song," a hit for Bob Hilliard and Richard Miles that several artists recorded. It's a shame that she was saddled with an awful backing combo. The pianist thinks he is accompanying a dancing class; his rhythm could not be less suggestive of Brazil.

Trudy Erwin in 1947

The next song is quite a contrast. It comes from the Jack Paar Show, a 1947 summer replacement for the Jack Benny Show. Erwin's relaxed singing blends well with the modern sounds of a band led by the young Jerry Fielding, who himself had been associated with Kay Kyser, as an arranger. Trudy and Jerry present "I Believe," a terrific Cahn-Styne song introduced by Frank Sinatra in It Happened in Brooklyn.

Paar, later a television star, was just starting on network radio with the show. He did so well that the network continued the program in the fall. Our second selection comes from a September 1947 program, again with Fielding's band. The number is "Ivy," which Hoagy Carmichael wrote as the title song for a film starring Joan Fontaine. The melody is memorable but awkward to sing. Trudy handles it deftly.

Erwin also starred on other radio shows, and even an early television program that she shared with old friend Harry Babbitt.

More Songs from Films

Erwin appeared on screen in 1947 in a typical Jack Carson comedy, Love and Learn, where she helped to introduce the main song from the film, "Would You Believe Me?", a relatively popular number that attracted several commercial recordings. The song is presented by a montage to show how popular it had become. (Carson was a songwriter in the film.) The sequence leads up to Trudy as a glossy nightclub singer. M.K. Jerome, Ray Heindorf and Charles Tobias wrote the song.

In 1951, Erwin sang for Lana Turner in the Ezio Pinza starrer Mr. Imperium. Three selections were included. Her own solo was the unusual "My Love and My Mule," by none other than Harold Arlen and Dorothy Fields. Trudy shared the lively Arlen-Fields "Andiamo" with Pinza. Finally, the duo performed Augustin Lara's fabulous "Solamente una vez" (You Belong to My Heart). The great bass has most of the vocal line in the latter two songs.

Intended for Mr. Imperium?

The next item is the one that gave me the idea of doing this post devoted to Erwin. It is "Hello, My Lover, Goodbye," written by Johnny Green and Edward Heyman for the 1931 musical flop Here Goes the Bride. Frances Langford introduced the number in her only Broadway appearance. It's a striking composition that Erwin elevates with her soulful performance in this 1951 recording for M-G-M. 

My unproven theory is that this performance was intended for Mr. Imperium. It could have been used as a Turner/Erwin solo as the climax of the parting scene when Pinza (as a crown prince) is called back to his country to take over from his dying father. Johnny Green was the conductor both of the Mr. Imperium soundtrack and this song, and they are from the same year. I will say it's a better number than "My Love and My Mule."

Finally, another soundtrack assignment, also issued on record with Erwin credited. It is Frank Lehár's "Merry Widow Waltz," with the addition of Paul Francis Webster lyrics. For some reason, the studio's leadership thought Fernando Lamas and Lana Turner would make people forget Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald's performances in the earlier Merry Widow film. Oh well, at least they engaged Erwin to double Turner's singing voice again, partnering Lamas in the recording.

This sampling of Erwin's artistry comes primarily from Internet Archive and my collection.

LINK

Lauritz Melchior - 1942-43 Performances

The lighter side of the great tenor Lauritz Melchior (1890-1973) has been featured here on several occasions (see below). Today we hear from him in the métier that made him famous - opera - along with a selection of songs, primarily from his homeland, Denmark.

These materials come from a pristine 1972 LP reissue kindly supplied to the blog by my friend Matthew Tepper and transferred by me.

The material primarily derives from 1942 studio sessions for Columbia, with the addition of a few live recordings from Buenos Aires in 1943. Much of this material has not been otherwise reissued, including most or all of the non-Wagnerian items.

Wagner Arias

Melchior was famed as the greatest Wagnerian tenor of the 20th century. The two selections on this album make it clear why that was so. His entrance in the Prayer from Rienzi is startlingly powerful; not so much for its volume but for the clarity and impact of Melchior's voice. The second piece is just as strong - "Lohengrin's Arrival."

Astrid Varnay and Herbert Janssen

Reviewing this reissue in Stereo Review, George Jellinek wrote, "The Lohengrin scene (released here for the first time) omits the chorus and presents Astrid Varnay below her best form and Herbert Janssen in the uncomfortable low tessitura of the King, but Melchior’s contribution is strong and finely sustained."

1943 ad

Varnay (1918-2006) was a Swedish-born American soprano. Janssen (1895-1962) was a German baritone. Both were distinguished figures, as was the conductor, the young Erich Leinsdorf (1912-93), then at the Metropolitan Opera and soon to become the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Verdi's Otello

Melchior was primarily known for his Wagner performances, but he also was a notable proponent of Verdi's Otello.

The four performances on this disk are from two sources: the 1942 Leinsdorf sessions in New York with a recording orchestra, and live 1943 performances with the Orchestra of the Teatro Colón led by Juan Emilio Martini. Although the cover notes are at pains to manage expectations about the sound from Argentina, it isn't bad at all. (The studio recordings, from New York's Liederkranz Hall, are all excellent.)

Erich Leinsdorf

Jellinek's comments: "The four Otello excerpts document the firm command Melchior had of a role he was prevented from performing by backstage maneuverings at the Met, and Janssen gives a better account of himself as Iago."

Schubert Songs

The LP's second side is devoted to songs recorded in 1942 with accompanist Ignace Strasfogel, a Polish émigré who also was a conductor and composer. 

Ignace Strasfogel

Melchior's selections were Schubert's Dem Unendlichen and Ständchen, K889. Jellinek: "The Melchior sound is ideal for the majestic Schubert hymn Dem Unendlichen; the tempo he chose for Ständchen is curiously fast yet not ineffective."

Danish Songs

The critics dismissed the songs from Melchior's homeland as "not particularly memorable," although "pleasant" and "amiable". (I can't imagine what they thought of Two Sisters from Boston.) The LP's notes apologetically mentioned that the tenor had insisted on recording these numbers. Columbia does not even give the composer's full names.

The first two songs are by Peter Heise (1830-79) - Lille Karen and Vildt Flyver Hog (Hawks Fly over Land and Sea). Columbia identifies the first as a folk song, but I believe this is the Heise setting.

The following two are by composer-critic Sophus Andersen (1859-1923): Der flyver så mange fugle (So many birds are flying) and Nu brister i alle de kløfter (Spring is coming).

Peter Heise, Peter Lange-Müller, Sophus Andersen

Finally, three songs by composer-pianist Peter Lange-Müller (1850-1926): Kornmodsglansen ved Midnatstid (generally translated as Summer Lightning, although the literal translation is "The grain countershines at midnight"); Skin ud, du klare Solskin (Bright Sunshine, literally "Shine on, you good Sunshine"); and the serenade Renaissance.

Columbia provided no texts nor translations, so I have cobbled together the same for the songs that I could find, even resorting to Google Translate for a few. Otherwise, the download includes the usual scans, reviews and photos, plus a 1972 interview with Melchior.

LINK

The Lighter Side of Melchior

The "lighter side of Melchior" recordings I mentioned above have just been remastered, and a new album added.

The new item is an album of songs from Melchior's first film, Thrill of a Romance from 1945, in which the Heldentenor is transformed into a gigantic Danish Cupid bringing together famed aquatic thespian Esther Williams with war-hero Van Johnson. The tenor takes on everything from Schubert to Victor Herbert to a pop song. Thrill of a Romance also starred the Tommy Dorsey band, so as bonus items I've added three commercial recordings of their songs from the film.

Melchior's follow-up was the 1946 film Two Sisters from Boston. I transferred the Victor album of songs from that movie more than a decade ago, and have now improved the sound and processed it in ambient stereo. As I wrote then, the film "plunders Liszt and Mendelssohn to concoct noisy cod arias that Melchior attacks with some enthusiasm." This time, the bonus is Jimmy Durante's songs from the film - no Liszt of Mendelssohn and quite a contrast to Melchior. (Jimmy's arias are offered separately in a recent post on my singles blog.)

Also newly redone is Melchior's recording of Romberg's famous operetta The Student Prince with Jane Wilson and Lee Sweetland. This 10-inch album comes from 1951. The orchestrations are by Victor Young, who also conducted the ensemble.