A Beethoven Program with Furtwängler and Menuhin

Here is a program devoted to Beethoven featuring recordings by one of the most famous 20th century conductors - Wilhelm Furtwängler. The soloist is violinist Yehudi Menuhin.

These recordings were made late in the conductor's career - from 1952 to 1954. Furtwängler died in late 1954 at age 68.

The program begins with Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 2, followed by the Violin Concerto and the Symphony No. 3.

Furtwängler was often contrasted with the other preeminent conductor of his time - Arturo Toscanini. Here is the critic Neville Cardus in a tribute published following Furtwängler's death: "[He] conducted in a manner exactly opposed to the Toscanini objectivity: in plainer words, he did not regard the printed notes of the score as a final statement, but rather as so many symbols of an imaginative conception, ever changing and always to be felt and realized subjectively. His variations and tempo often irritated musicians who, in increasing numbers during a period of anti-romanticism, persuaded themselves to believe in music as an arrangement of patterns conveying no emotion or meaning reducible to terms or language related to merely human or egoistical significance."

Furtwängler paradoxically conducted in a manner than appeared improvisational, while also seeming to penetrate to the work's essence - at least to his admirers, of whom there are still many. He was a remarkable figure.

Leonore Overture No. 2, Op. 72a

Beethoven wrote no fewer than four overtures for his only opera, which eventually was called Fidelio. The original title was Leonore, after one of the leading characters, and three of the overtures carry her name. Furtwängler programmed the Leonore Overture No. 2, Op. 72a, which, to add to the confusion, was actually the first Beethoven composed. It is quite long (this performance lasts almost 16 minutes); the others were more succinct.

Here is Timothy Judd's precis of the opera: "The plot centers on a heroic struggle for liberty: Leonore, disguised as a male prison guard named Fidelio, rescues her husband Florestan from political imprisonment and death by gradual starvation."

Judd then discusses Op. 72a: "The Overture opens with a titanic unison G which gives way to a searching, descending, modal scale - a musical descent into the darkness of Florestan’s prison cell ... A few moments later, the theme from Florestan’s soliloquy offers a glimmer of light amid mystery and lonely solitude. This music is filled with a sense of heroic struggle, an intense longing for freedom, and Florestan’s thoughts of Leonore ... Just as Leonore Overture No. 2 reaches a climax of ferocity,  a sudden, distant trumpet call is heard, signaling Florestan’s impending freedom. At first, there is numb shock and disbelief. Then, the Overture’s final bars erupt into a joyful, unabashed celebration of freedom."

The recording, with the Berlin Philharmonic, is from 1954.

Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61

Yehudi Menuhin recorded several concertos with Furtwängler, with whom he had a great affinity. On a broadcast following the conductor's death, he stated, "Furtwängler was perhaps the last exponent of a tradition carrying us as far back as the Indians and the Greeks, a tradition of music as a hallowed link with divinity, with the Gods. As we all too tritely say, nothing is sacred today, but I believe something should be and some music should be. Furtwängler accomplished a sacred rite each time he conducted a Beethoven or a Brahms or a Bach work."

Wilhelm Furtwängler and Yehudi Menuhin

Their recording of the Violin Concerto is a classic. The Gramophone's verdict: "This [is] an exhibition of superb fiddling, but there is in the performance also a poise, a spaciousness and depth of musical feeling for which it would be less than just not to suggest that Furtwängler was equally responsible ... Menuhin gives a magnificent reading of the work (not without deviations from the printed notes in a couple of places) which will stand the test of the most searching analysis and more than satisfy those whom the perfect recording has long eluded."

Furtwängler and Menuhin recorded the work in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1953.

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 (Eroica)

Beethoven first wanted to name his third symphony "Bonaparte" in honor of Napoleon. But after Napoleon declared himself emperor - to the composer's dismay - Beethoven changed the title to "Eroica," or the "Heroic Symphony, Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man."

The cover of this original Electrola LP may lead you to think that the "hero" was the conductor, but in actuality this is a famous performance that is true to Beethoven's intentions. The critic Michael Marcus wrote: "The performance is a great one. Here Furtwängler shows incomparably how to extract the utmost meaning from any phrase while never losing sight of the over-all design. The lead into the coda of the first movement is a masterpiece of sustained and controlled tension, and in the coda itself the giant stride of the composer's imagination is unforgettably unleashed. The Finale, too, is welded together with supreme force and vigour, and the Vienna Philharmonic horns are superb."

Furtwängler attempted to penetrate to the core of the work; and in that aim he was not different from that of Roger Norrington in the recording of the Ninth Symphony recently heard here. Their methods, however, were opposed, with the younger maestro seeking insight from Beethoven's markings and the evidence as to the instruments and sound of the orchestra in the early 19th century, while Furtwängler, as Menuhin put it, was an exponent of "a tradition of music as a hallowed link with divinity." In contrast, Norrington remarked that conducting is "not about consecrating a sacred object. It’s about exploring and being curious and having fun."

The Furtwängler Eroica recording was made in late 1952 in Vienna.

The sound on all these discs is quite good.

LINK

TV Jazz with Marterie, Rugolo and Martin

Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn being menaced by a projected shadow 

Big band jazz had an unlikely renaissance on American television in the late 1950s. Jazz scores seemed to go well with the "private eye" detectives then in vogue, whether they were busy being crime fighters, swinging bachelors or just being cool.

Similar to the way those private eyes drew their lineage from the Raymond Chandler - Dashiell Hammett hard-boiled school of the 1930s and 40s (much watered down and more upscale), so the musicians took their cues from certain film noir scores, along with the work of such composers as Elmer Bernstein on several movies, Leith Stevens and Shorty Rogers on The Wild One, and Kenyon Hopkins on The Strange One.

The catalyst for much of the interest, though, was the work of Henry Mancini on Peter Gunn, a huge television hit in 1958. Thereafter, big band jazz and detectives became inseparable. And the music filled any number of LPs.

Today we have three of those albums, all of which involve one or both of the famed arrangers Pete Rugolo and Skip Martin.

• Music for a Private Eye by Ralph Marterie and band, scored by Rugolo and Martin

• The Music from Richard Diamond, written and arranged by Rugolo

• TV Jazz Themes performed by the so-called "Video All-Stars," led by Martin

These are well worth hearing, each featuring the finest West Coast studio musicians, several of whom appear on more than one of the LPs.

Music for a Private Eye (Ralph Marterie)

I believe that Ralph was still leading a band at the time this LP was made in 1959, but here his "Marlboro Men" (presumably named for a sponsor) were some of Hollywood's finest (Don Fagerquist, Frank Rosolino, George Roberts, Bud Shank, Paul Horn, Bob Cooper, Jimmy Rowles, Al Viola and so on), all conducted by Pete Rugolo. The arrangements are by Pete, Skip Martin (another big band vet who went Hollywood) and reportedly Heinie Beau, a noted "ghost" orchestrator. 

Pete rose to prominence with Stan Kenton's band, but had branched out into the film and television field by the time this LP came about.

Pete Rugolo

For this album, despite the "private eye" branding, much of the music is not from detective shows. The contents include Pete's Richard Diamond and The Thin Man themes; Count Basie's music from M Squad, Lee Marvin's police show; Fred Steiner's catchy Perry Mason signature music; the theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, listed as by Stanley Wilson but based on a Gounod piece; Frank Comstock's music from The D.A.'s Man; and two ringers - Melvyn Leonard's Riff Blues and Private Eyeball by Peter Hanson and Marterie.

I transferred this from the Mercury Wing stereo budget reissue of the LP, which cut costs by chopping off Jay Livingston's 77 Sunset Strip music, which was on the full-price original. I have reinstated the track from a mono version of the full-price album.

By the way, it's not clear what Marterie does on the LP. He's not listed among the trumpet players and he didn't handle the arrangements or conducting. He does look good on the cover, however, lighting a Marlboro, accompanied by two streetwalkers.

LINK to Music for a Private Eye

Music from Richard Diamond (Pete Rugolo)

Richard Diamond is not the best remembered private eye show - those would be Peter Gunn and 77 Sunset Strip - but Pete Rugolo's music did merit a complete LP, which is less well known than such specimens as the Peter Gunn and 77 Sunset Strip albums.

The Richard Diamond theme is memorable big band swagger. This version is more or less the same arrangement as appears on the album above. The one on the LP below is somewhat different.

David Janssen as Richard Diamond, with his cool car phone and giant hat ribbon

The music on the album represents both recurring themes and music that Rugolo wrote specifically for certain shows.

The musicians are quite similar to those on the album above - Frank Rosolino, Bud Shank, Paul Horn, Bob Cooper, Al Viola and Jimmy Rowles among them.

The executive producer of the Richard Diamond TV show was Dick Powell, a Hollywood musical star who morphed into a hard-boiled detective type, including playing Diamond on the radio. He contributed to the sleeve notes on this LP.

LINK to Music from Richard Diamond

TV Jazz Themes (Skip Martin)

The clumsy cover above might lead you to think this is a budget LP. You would be correct, but it is quite a good one.

Leading the band is Skip Martin, a well-known Hollywood orchestrator. The musicians once again include Paul Horn, Bob Cooper, Jimmy Rowles, Frank Rosolino and others mentioned above.

Skip Martin

Martin programmed an entire side of music from Peter Gunn, and did well by Mancini's famed score. He includes its two best known melodies - the opening theme and "Dreamsville," which also had an afterlife as a ballad with lyrics by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston.

Otherwise, Martin programmed Rugolo's themes from Richard Diamond and The Thin Man, and Livingston's 77 Sunset Strip. These are all very well done and the sound is excellent - as it is on the other LPs. (Although it doesn't say so on the cover above, this LP is in stereo.)

LINK to TV Jazz Themes

Jazz on the Big Screen

Up top I mentioned several examples of jazz on the big screen. Here are several LPs that have appeared on this blog that might be of interest. Links to the original posts are in the subheads.

Elmer Bernstein - Movie and TV Themes. Bernstein was a giant in the field. This LP provides a good overview of some of his scores. If you want a complete LP of his famed Sweet Smell of Success music, it's also available via the link above. His Themes from the General Electric Theater album is here.

Leith Stevens and Shorty Rogers - The Wild One. A complete set of Leith Stevens and Shorty Rogers' recordings of the music from The Wild One (the one being Marlon Brando). This includes the 10-inch and 12-inch Stevens LPs and the Shorty Rogers EP. There are also links to two other Leith Stevens scores.

Kenyon Hopkins - The Strange One. Here's what I wrote back in 2009: "The title music is one of the best jazz-influenced tunes of the time, with a sinister edge that suits the film's theme very well." The "strange one" is Ben Gazzara. This score, which has not be re-released, is one of my favorites.

Heinie Beau - Moviesville Jazz. I mentioned the famed "ghost" arranger Heinie Beau above, who apparently contributed to the charts for the Ralph Marterie album. Beau recorded a set of his own compositions for Coral called "Moviesville Jazz" that made light of some of the conventions of film scoring, bearing such titles as "The Man with the Golden Embouchure."

Norrington's 'Uniquely Important' Beethoven 9

Nearly 40 years ago, when Roger Norrington's recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony first appeared on the market, it was considered "uniquely important" by critic Richard Osborne of The Gramophone.

Sir Roger has now died at age 91, so today let's reassess this performance and the reasons why it was so well received.

The first thing to mention is that it is what today we would call a "historically informed performance." The instruments are similar to those used back in 1824, when the symphony was first heard. The performance practices are of the time. And the tempos follow the composer's guidance - unusual in 1987.

Roger Norrington

The 1980s witnessed a flowering of such performances. Norrington's was, I believe, the first Beethoven symphony cycle of its type, but others were in process and many more were to come. On the Norrington recording, Osborne writes that it displays "glimmering, vibrato-free strings, plaintive woodwinds, keen toned and at times strangely keening horns and trumpets, and those wonderful small, hard, sonically explosive drums."

Norrington views the Ninth "looking, Januslike, both backwards and forwards from its historical vantage-point in 1824 ... [T]here is no doubt that by using period instruments and a smallish choir, all admirably caught on LP by EMI in this lively Abbey Road Studio No. 1 recording, Norrington has given us an account of the Ninth that is both uniquely persuasive and uniquely important."

[An aside - unless the LP sound has somehow deteriorated over the past 40 years, the recording quality was not all that good to begin with - dim and boomy, which I have addressed.]

As for the tempos that I mentioned above, both Osborne and Richard Freed in Stereo Review were generally if not universally convinced. Freed: "[T]he start of the vast final movement is refreshingly free of the expected monumentalism: When the great 'Joy' theme makes its first appearance, it does not lumber, it flows. The bass recitative, still in tempo, may strike some listeners as being too nervously agitated when what is wanted is a reassuring gesture of peace, but that is probably the only conceivable objection one might have to the entire performance..."

Of course there are other ways to interpret Beethoven than historically informed performances. As Osborne wrote, "[I]t is not Norrington's aim to give us a transcendental Ninth in the Furtwängler style. This is a Ninth which owes nothing to Wagner but quite a lot to Bach and Haydn."

Norrington - genial and relaxed

That is not to say that Norrington was inflexible or stern: he was famously genial and generally relaxed on the podium. He wanted the audience to enjoy themselves and encouraged applause between movements of a symphony. 

In Norrington's New York Times obituary (gift link) he is quoted as remarking that he didn't conduct the great orchestras of America and Europe until relatively late in his life, meaning that "I actually knew what I wanted. And this meant I could relax and treat music-making as something that is full of love and laughter. It’s not about consecrating a sacred object. It’s about exploring and being curious and having fun.”

Allan Kozinn in the New York Times: "He rebelled against the notion that one could recreate historical performance styles by merely playing what was written on the page. And he inveighed against those who treated performances as museum pieces.

"'A performance is for now, and one instinctively tailors it for today,' he said in a 1989 interview, adding, 'To say that you don’t put your personality into it is rubbish.'"

Coincidentally, I am working on a post that will feature several Beethoven compositions led by the famed conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, he of the "transcendental style" mentioned above. These performances are indeed a contrast to Norrington's. Neither is wrong or right; just different. One aspect of enjoying such music is in relishing the difference in performance styles.

Norrington has appeared on this blog twice in recent years, with fine recordings of Schütz's Christmas Story and of baroque Christmas music.

One final note: while I transferred the Beethoven Ninth performance from my LP copy and have included the related scans, I have added the booklet from the corresponding CD issue because it includes an additional essay missing from the LP and much more information about the performers, etc. Also in the package are the two reviews cited above, along with a contemporary article on Norrington.

LINK to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

Connie Francis Rocks Out

Connie Francis, who has just died, was a powerful hitmaker in the 1950s and 60s - versatile, technically secure and possessed of a strong sense of rhythm.

All of those qualities shine through on this, her rock 'n' roll album from 1959, which literally has as its centerpiece her hit recording of "Lipstick on Your Collar."

It's easy to dismiss the single as a kiddie record. After all, it starts out with a girls chorus singing a "nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah" refrain. But that's the worst part of the record - perhaps producer-arranger Ray Ellis' weakest moment on the record.

The best parts are the performances of Francis and guitarist George Barnes, whose career dated back to the NBC Orchestra in 1938, when he was 17.

Connie is a compelling narrator of this tale of teenage betrayal. She never plays the victim; instead she is outraged by her boyfriend's infidelity, proclaiming, "Bet your bottom dollar / you are I are through / 'cause lipstick on your collar / told a tale on you!" She is in command of the situation.

George Barnes, guitar idol

Commanding is also the word for guitarist Barnes, who rips off what is in my estimation one of the greatest pop guitar solos ever. He breaks in just as Francis is finishing her chorus with a rip-snorting run that is technically secure, rhythmically compelling, and that seems to amplify the tale that Connie has been telling.

The rest of the album is good, too, but of course it's a set of covers, so it has to suffer comparisons with the iconic originals. Here are the songs and the artists who are covered:

• "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Don't Be Cruel" - Elvis Presley. It's a shame that Barnes didn't get a chance to outgun Scotty Moore on the first song. Moore's solo plays the same role on the Elvis record as Barnes' does on "Lipstick on Your Collar." Francis pushes the beat on the second song; she's much better on "Heartbreak Hotel."

Ray Ellis

• "Tweedlee Dee" - La Vern Baker. This was Baker's breakout hit, and is driven by her confident, emphatic singing, but is otherwise a novelty. The cover was by George Gibbs. This has a good Ellis arrangement and Connie is very adept.

• "I Almost Lost My Mind" - A blues by Ivory Joe Hunter that has a sing-song quality. The cover version was by Pat Boone. Francis and Ellis take it very slowly - it works nicely.

• "I Hear You Knockin'," "Ain't That a Shame" and "I'm Walkin'" - The former was by Smiley Lewis, the latter two by Fats Domino; Dave Bartholomew was the driving force behind the New Orleans sound. The covers were by Gale Storm, Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson. Connie handles these remarkably well, but the band doesn't quite have the New Orleans sound down.

Connie Francis

• "Just a Dream" - Jimmy Clanton's first hit, and another one from the Louisiana scene. Francis does it ably, but there isn't much to work with.

• "Sincerely" - This was a hit for the Moonglows first, but Connie's version is based on the McGuire Sisters' cover, with Francis triple-tracked at points.

• "Silhouettes" - The Rays' big hit, which actually did better than the cover version by the Diamonds. Francis does a professional job, but the interplay among the Rays is better than between Connie and her backing group. Also her head note at the end isn't her best idea.

• "It's Only Make Believe" - Connie's version rivals Conway Twitty's original in intensity. I like Glen Campbell's later cover the best.

The record is a fine tribute to a talented and multifaceted singer.

LINK

Neville Dilkes Conducts English Music, Vol. 3

In 1971-72, EMI had Neville Dilkes and his English Sinfonia record two volumes of mostly short English works, which recently appeared here. For their third LP, Dilkes and ensemble made the first stereo recording of E.J. Moeran's impressive Symphony in G minor. (The very first recording of the symphony, dating from 1942, is included at the end of this post.)

The symphony was not Dilkes' first Moeran recording. The composer's Two Pieces for Small Orchestra were featured in the 1972 set. The symphony, which dates from the 1930s, is a much more ambitious work.

E.J. Moeran

The contemporary reviews stressed the composer's influences, principally Walton and Sibelius. But the symphony holds its own quite well and is a substantial achievement.

Edward Greenfield's review in The Gramophone (included in the download) is an example of such criticism. He does, however, add this disclaimer: "I have indicated, maybe with too great an emphasis, some of the obvious influences, not with the thought of disparaging the music but of leading new listeners to a gloriously rich experience. Paradoxically in this work with its obvious eclecticism Moeran seems to be more fully himself than anywhere else. Beautiful as much of Moeran's other music is, I do not detect the same life-thrust."

Neville Dilkes

Greenfield was enthusiastic about the recording itself: "This performance by Neville Dilkes and the English Sinfonia sets the seal on the two previous records of British music which they have made for EMI. The violin tone may not be quite so resonant as with some metropolitan orchestras, but against a richly recorded texture one quickly adjusts to it. The brass and woodwind are superb, enunciating Moeran's sharp rhythms with the finest precision. Dilkes shows himself an expressive conductor, treating Moeran as one would expect Sir John Barbirolli to have done, and the whole orchestra, not least the string section, responds wholeheartedly."

The Hallé/Leslie Heward Recording

Leslie Heward

It is idle to speculate about what Barbirolli's recording might have been like, considering he never made one. The only previous release of the symphony was in 1942 by the Hallé Orchestra under Leslie Heward, a fine conductor who died young. The critical response to the Heward disc was just as enthusiastic as the reaction to Dilkes' performance. From an unsigned review, possibly by Compton MacKenzie, in The Gramophone: "[H]ere is a work strong in tensions, with lyrical episodes, most imaginatively scored; informal drama, tragic rather than humanely-comedic (though not for long doom-darkened): a work to spend a lot of time on." Not entirely sure what all that means, but perhaps you get a general idea. It's an impressive performance that does full justice to the work. The sound is good.

LINK to the English Sinfonia/Dilkes recording

LINK to the Halle Orchestra/Heward recording

Teddi King's Complete 'Out of the Blue' Recordings

Here's a real treat for fans of the great vocalist Teddi King. It's a complete set of her 1958 Out of the Blue programs for US Air Force Recruiting. There are 32 songs in all, many of which she did not record otherwise.

All this is courtesy of blog follower George of California, who was kind enough to send me the eight discs, which I have transferred for this post. Thanks so much, George for your generosity!

A few words of explanation about the programs: At this time, the Air Force was issuing its shows to radio stations on EP. Each side contained a single program lasting five minutes. This was enough time for an intro, a song, a recruiting pitch, another song, and an outro. The latter featured Teddi singing the "US Air Force Blue" song.

Don Morrow

The intro and outro are the same for each show. The recruiting spots differ. They sometimes include King, sometimes sonorous announcer Don Morrow goes it alone.

I am sure that most of you will only want the songs from the show, while others may want the total package. They are available separately at the end of this post.

Let me mention that the songs are all quite brief, each lasting about one and a half minutes to squeeze two into the five-minute programs. This actually played to a few of King's strengths - her professionalism and excellent diction. However, it also did not allow for much in the way of slower songs.

Wade Denning

Two musicians were at the helm of the programs. Wade Denning, who worked in films and commercials, handled the basic arrangements. Leading the small combo accompanying King is the amazingly facile keyboard artist Dick Hyman, who plays piano, organ and celesta at various times, no doubt to vary the musical texture. You also will hear contributions by unidentified clarinet, guitar and trumpet players.

Dick Hyman

Here is a discussion of the selections in the set. In general, the programs tended to include one newer song with a classic.

Program #1. The first program paired the superb Burke-Van Heusen song "It Could Happen to You" with the then-new Bacharach-David tune "In Times Like These." As far as I can tell, the first commercial recording of the latter number was Gene McDaniels' version in 1959, making this a very early rendition.

Program #2. Next, the Irving Berlin classic "Let's Face the Music" is followed by "Chances Are," the Al Stillman-Robert Allen song that was a huge hit for Johnny Mathis at the time. As always, King sings it with a great deal of charm.

Program #3. Cole Porter's "It's All Right with Me" came from the 1953 show Can-Can. Dimitri Tiomkin's wonderful "Friendly Persuasion," with words by Paul Francis Webster, is from the 1956 film of the same name.

Program #4. Marvin Moore and Charles Grean's "I Dreamed" was a hit for Betty Johnson in 1956. Teddi handles this novelty exceptionally well. The J. Fred Coots-Sam Lewis classic "For All We Know" comes from 1934. It gets a sincere reading from Teddi.

Program #5. Even older than "For All We Know" is 1931's "Them There Eyes" by Tauber, Pickard and Tracey. That song is paired with the new "Magic Moments," one of the first Bacharach-David hits. It was a success on disc for Teddi's RCA Victor labelmate Perry Como. He did it well, but King is in no way inferior.

Program #6. "(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know" by Phil Springer and Carolyn Leigh was a memorable 1956 release by Frank Sinatra. (It had the great advantage of a superior Nelson Riddle arrangement.) Also in this program is Burke and Van Heusen's "Imagination" from 1940, also the beneficiary of a stellar Sinatra outing. Teddi is appropriately wistful here.

Program #7. Speaking of Frank, while "The Lady Is a Tramp" may be identified with him, it comes from Rodgers and Hart's 1937 show Babes in Arms. "Catch a Falling Star" was another Como success. The Lee Pockriss-Paul Vance song was on the flip side of Perry's "Magic Moments" single.

Program #8. The Fields and McHugh "On the Sunny Side of the Street" dates from 1930, while Fain and Webster's "April Love" was a new item that had become a hit for Pat Boone, who also had scored with "Friendly Persuasion" and had starred in both films of the same names. Here, the arrangement for Teddi seems a bit rushed.

Program #9. "Taking a Chance on Love" was a feature for Ethel Waters in 1940's Cabin in the Sky. The song is by Vernon Duke, John Latouche and Ted Fetter. King captures its exhilaration. It is coupled with "Little Things Mean a Lot" by Edith Lindeman and Carl Stutz, a soupy but sincere song that was a hit for Kitty Kallen in 1954.

Program #10. The 1936 film King of Burlesque gave us the fine Jimmy McHugh-Ted Koehler item "I'm Shooting High." Teddi excels in the kind of material. It's paired with the grandiose "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" by Fain and Webster, written for the 1955 film of that name. The reading here is good, but the song does call for a more sweeping arrangement.

Program #11. The Gershwins composed "'S Wonderful" for the 1927 show Funny Face. For this one, I am not crazy about Dick Hyman's electric organ, which sounds cheesy. The coupling is another oldie, "I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)" from 1931. It's by Fred Ahlert and Roy Turk. This is a torch song that needs a slower tempo.

Program #12. Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is from the 1929 show Wake Up and Dream. Its mate on this program is the much different ballad "Tammy," by Livingston and Evans. Debbie Reynolds sang it in the film Tammy and the Bachelor and made a hit as well. (Music from the film is available here, newly remastered, with Reynolds' solo on "Tammy" now available as a separate track.) King is a little sophisticated for this material, but does pull it off.

Program #13. "The Gypsy in My Soul" dates back to the 1930s. Moe Jaffe and Clay Boland wrote it for a University of Pennsylvania Mask & Wig Show. Teddi excels in this rhythm number. "An Affair to Remember" was a new item - it was the title song of a Cary Grant-Deborah Kerr film. The writers were Harry Warren, Harold Adamson and Leo McCarey. Again, a grandiose number that is taken too fast.

Program #14. Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh's "Witchcraft," from 1957, is closely associated with Sinatra, but certainly suits King. "Who's Sorry Now?" is the oldie on the program - the Ted Snyder-Bert Kalmar-Harry Ruby tune dates back to 1923. Even so, it had been revived by Connie Francis at the time this program was recorded - and became a runaway hit. The trumpet obbligato gets in the way of Teddi's singing.

Program #15. "Sugartime," by the country singer Charlie Phillips and Odis Echols was a smash for the McGuire Sisters in 1958. King has fun with it. "If I Could Be with You" by pianist James P. Johnson and Henry Creamer goes all the way back to 1927.

Program #16. Cole Porter's "Ça, c'est l'amour" is one of the few songs in this set that was neither a hit nor a standard. Porter wrote it for the 1957 film Les Girls. It's quite a good song that should be better known. Milton De Lugg and Willie Stein's "Orange Colored Sky" is not well remembered today, but it was a winner in 1950 for Nat Cole. I like the way King sings it - which I could also say about most all of the songs in this program.

Thanks again to George for providing these rarities!

LINK to the complete Out of the Blue programs

LINK to the Out of the Blue songs only

Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky: Three Early LPs

Igor Stravinsky made quite a number of LPs conducting his own music, almost all for the US Columbia label. In the early years of this blog, I posted three albums of the composer leading his compositions released on other labels:

• The ballet Jeu de cartes (Card Game), recorded for Telefunken with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1938

• Mass, recorded for RCA Victor in 1949

• Another ballet, Apollon musagète, and the Concerto in D, also recorded for RCA Victor, in 1950

These recordings are all newly remastered in ambient stereo. Details and links are below.

Igor Stravinsky

Jeu de cartes

Jeu de cartes was premiered by with George Balanchine with the old American Ballet in 1937, and first recorded by its composer the next year for Telefunken. As I wrote years ago, "Jeu de cartes, a ballet score, was among Stravinsky's neoclassical works. Neither the Berlin orchestra nor the resonant acoustic are what we associate with this style, but the musicians put the unfamiliar music across with aplomb."

Critical reaction to the ballet has been mixed. The New York Times' Anna Kisselgoff has written that the piece is not often attempted because "the score, which, although specifically written for Balanchine, is virtually undanceable."

Todd Bolender in Jeu de cartes, New York City Ballet 1951

On the other hand (sorry!), C.J. Luten of the American Record Guide stated, "Though it does not represent one of the high points of the Russian-born master’s career, the work nevertheless contains many of Stravinsky's typically magical flights of imagination. Much of this magic is apparent in the consecutive and cumulative surprises that hold the listener’s attention from point to point."

Luten was reviewing the Capitol LP transfer of the Telefunken originals.

LINK

Mass

Years ago I wrote, "Stravinsky's avowed purpose in this Mass was to provide music that avoids operatic gestures and speaks to the spirit. The performance, however, is a bit anonymous and stylistically typical of its time. The recording is indifferent."

In fairness, it is difficult music for a chorus of men and boys, and according to C.J. Luten, the recorded performance is much better than the live premiere.

Arthur Berger of The Saturday Review: "For those who meet halfway a work that maintains more than the usual reserve, a fascination lies in following the labyrinth of dissonances through to their resolutions in extraordinarily clear, cool harmonious chords (as in the instrumental opening of the Agnus Dei).

"It is more than an intellectual joy - the feeling, rather, of being liberated after wandering in' an underground passage that seems to offer no exit." (Others may prefer simply not to enter the labyrinth.)

There is no denying Stravinsky's sincerity, however. As Berger noted, "His modest, deeply religious work, essentially a profession of faith, is content merely to serve the church as the early Flemish masters did."

LINK

Apollon musagète, Concerto in D

First, a few words about the titles of these works. Apollon musagète is the ballet usually titled simply Apollo. The work that is called the "Concerto Grosso in D" is actually not a concerto grosso; it is more aptly called the Concerto in D.

In these 1950 recordings, Stravinsky conducts the "RCA Victor Orchestra," a group of New York orchestral players. The soloists in the ballet are violinists John Corigliano and Michael Rosenker, then the concertmaster and vice concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic.

Serge Lifar (Apollo) and Alexandra Danilova (Terpsichore)

These are excellent performances of top-drawer Stravinsky. Here's Arthur Berger's take in Saturday Review: "The pure beauty of Apollon is conveyed in long flowing lines by strings whose special quality derives from divided cellos and from basses used independently. Emphasis of the low strings gives grandeur and breadth. 

"The string orchestra normally disposed yields very different sounds, on the reverse side of this LP, in the Concerto in D. Its stunning luminous qualities ... suggest Danses concertantes - the playfully truncated phrases, for example. The Arioso shows how much a musical genius can still do above an old-fashioned accompaniment."

LINK

Lalo Schifrin's First US LP

The late, great composer-arranger-conductor Lalo Schifrin was active in the recording studio from an early age. This 1957 LP - his first in the US - came out when he was all of 24.

It's quite a remarkable achievement, but an online Schifrin discography shows that he made his first record in his native Argentina at age 19, when he arranged "The Continental" for a big band.

By 1955, he was playing piano for the famed composer Astor Piazzolla. In about that same year, he made two LPs in Paris, where he was studying with Olivier Messiaen. (His first teacher back home was Daniel Barenboim's father.)

The young composer

So when it came time for a US recording, he was no neophyte. And it shows in this assured set, called Spectrum to denote that the songs all have a color in their names. The discography says the LP was recorded for Philips (this release is on the US label Epic), but I have not found evidence of the Philips disc yet.

The arrangements are clever and sophisticated, comparable in quality to anything on that market at the time. This is not a jazz album - although Schifrin was a major jazz fan and was soon to begin an association with Dizzy Gillespie. Even so, it is extraordinary.

Here is a rundown on the songs - some familiar, some less so:

• "Red Sails in the Sunset," from 1935, by Wilhelm Grosz (writing as "Hugh Williams'), first done by Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra

• Don Redman's "Azure," introduced by that bandleader in 1937

• "The Moon Was Yellow," one of Fred Ahlert's best songs, a hit in 1934 for Abe Lyman with Frank Munn and Bing Crosby

• The film theme "Ruby," which Heinz Roemheld wrote for 1952's Ruby Gentry; the song was a success for Les Baxter and Richard Hayman

• Duke Ellington's "Black Beauty," first recorded by him in 1928

• "When the Wind Was Green" by Don Hunt (Donald Henry Stinson), which was used in the film When You're Smiling and recorded by Hugo Winterhalter in 1949

• "Brown Prelude," an obscure piece by "C. Paul"

• Peter de Rose's "White Orchids," first written for piano in 1945, with lyrics by Charles Tobias soon to follow

• Fred Fisher's "Blue Is the Night," from the 1929 film Their Own Desire, and recorded by many artists at the time

• "Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)," one of the most effective quasi folk songs of mid-century, written by Evelyn Danzig and Richard Segal, first recorded by Jo Stafford and a hit for Harry Belafonte shortly before this LP was recorded

• "Purple Pastel," written by former Ben Pollack pianist Sammy Prager in 1942

Schifrin would go on to make a large number of recordings in the next several years - with Dizzy Gillespie, various bossa nova and other Latin LPs, backings for singers such as Pat Thomas and Sarah Vaughan - before launching his hugely successful Hollywood career via the 1964 film Rhino! with Harry Guardino as a zoologist. Mission: Impossible and Mannix were not far in the future.

Here a free link to the New York Times obituary for this fascinating musician.

LINK to the Spectrum LP

The young pianist

Another Collection of Color Songs

Recordings themed to colors are not unusual - at least one other one has appeared on this site. It is Les Brown's Over the Rainbow - A Panorama of Color from 1951. Like Spectrum, the Brown LP includes "The Moon Was Yellow" and "Azure." 

This enjoyable LP has now been remastered in ambient stereo.

Here's a link to the original post with more information.