Rodgers and Hart's 'By Jupiter' Reconsidered

The final full-length collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart was their longest-running Broadway success, yet very few recordings were made of its songs at the time - none by the cast - and almost no trace remains of the musical itself, save for a few numbers that are still heard today.

The show was 1942's By Jupiter, the pair's second foray into the land of the ancient Greeks (The Boys from Syracuse was its predecessor). The musical does not deserve its obscurity, as I hope this post will demonstrate via the few contemporary recordings that were produced and a 1967 LP derived from an off-Broadway revival.

Thanks to the ever-imaginative Dave Federman for suggesting this post to me. Like me, he is a great admirer of Larry Hart - and Dick Rodgers, of course.

The Story

Ray Bolger and Benay Venuta - he gave her plenty of nothin'

Hart's book for the show was based on Julian Thompson's 1924 Broadway play The Warrior's Husband. The title couple are Hippolyta, queen of the warrior Amazons, and her stay-at-home husband Sapiens - played in the original production by Benay Venuta and Ray Bolger.

Ronald Graham and Nanette Fabray

The other couple is Theseus, a leader of the Greek soldiers who have arrived on the scene, and Antiope, head of the Amazon warriors. In the first production, these were Ronald Graham and Constance Moore (later replaced by Nanette Fabray, as in the photo and in poster at top).

This is a simplistic description, but it's enough to get our bearings.

The 1967 Cast Recording

The most complete account of the score can be found in the cast recording of the 1967 off-Broadway revival, which ran for four months. In this production, Bob Dishy was Sapiens and Jackie Alloway was Hippolyta. Theseus and Antiope were played by Robert R. Kaye and Sheila Sullivan.

Critic Paul Kresh of HiFi-Stereo Review offered this critique: "Although Bob Dishy cannot hope to compete with the original performance by Ray Bolger in the 1940's as Sapiens, Hippolyta's non-hero husband, he is certainly winning enough. In addition, Jackie Alloway as Hippolyta, Sheila Sullivan as Antiope, and Robert R. Kaye as Theseus all have lovable ways and forthright, pleasant voices."

Bob Dishy, Jackie Alloway
Sheila Sullivan, Robert R. Kaye

The production - or at least this recording - utilized bare-bones orchestrations, presumably not Don Walker's original charts. The LP's sound was cramped; I've opened it out a bit.

The recording allows you to hear nine pieces not discussed below: "For Jupiter and Greece," "Ride Amazon Ride," "Life with Father," "In the Gateway of the Temple of Minerva," "Here's a Hand," "The Boy I Left Behind Me," "Bottoms Up," and the finales for both acts.

Next we'll discuss the principal songs; that is, the ones that were commercially recorded back in 1942, most of which have retained some currency today, however slight. They are "Jupiter Forbid," "Nobody's Heart," "Ev'rything I've Got," "Wait Till You See Her" and "Careless Rhapsody."

"Jupiter Forbid"

"Jupiter Forbid" is a rousing ensemble piece of a type that is or was a staple of musical comedy. The lyrics were inspired at least in part by patriotic sentiment in wartime America:

Maybe there's a place where people never laugh 

Maybe there's a place where kids don't kid

Maybe there's a place for just the upper half

Not here, Jupiter forbid

 

Maybe there's a place whеre people nеver sing

Where you have to hide each thing you did

Where they have a sign "Keep Off the Grass" in spring

Not here, Jupiter forbid

This is the second least known song in the group. It merited one recording in 1942, and only a few since - by Jackie and Roy, Andrea Marcovici and Peter Mintun (all not included in this set).

The 1942 recording was by Hildegarde, a popular cabaret performer of the time who sounds vaguely continental despite being from Milwaukee. It was one of four she sang for a Decca album of the time, which had backing by Harry Sosnik, also of the time. The other three songs are discussed below.

Hildegarde may not be not the first name that springs to mind when you think of rousing ensemble songs, but she does "Jupiter Forbid" very well.

"Nobody's Heart"

Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers at a By Jupiter rehearsal

In the musical, "Nobody's Heart" is a lovelorn lament by Antiope. The song is still heard in cabarets, few that they may be. It's perhaps most notable for how the lyrics and melody support one another. The words are unremarkable, although I have always admired this verse:

Nobody's arms belong to me

No arms feel strong to me

I admire the moon

As a moon

Just a moon

Nobody's heart belongs to me today

This is another song selected by Hildegarde for her set. She dispatches it smoothly. As far as I can tell, "Nobody's Heart" then went unrecorded until several singers took it up in the mid-1950s. For this collection, I've added the 1955 reading by Audrey Morris, recently the subject of a post here.

"Ev'rything I've Got"

"Ev'rything I've Got" is perhaps the most notable example of sex-role reversal in the score. Queen Hippolyta threatens hubby Sapiens in a manner that today might be considered macho:

I've a powerful anesthesia in my fist

And the perfect wrist to give your neck a twist

Hammerlock holds, I've mastered a few

But ev'rything I've got belongs to you

 Meanwhile, Sapiens has his own method, expressed in one of my favorite Hart stanzas:

Then at night we'll sleep and sleep

Sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep

Sleep and sleep, sleep and sleep

I'll give you plenty of nothin'

At the end of the musical, by the way, the sex roles revert to "normal".

"Ev'rything I've Got," perhaps surprisingly, was the most recorded song from the score in the early days. In addition to Hildegarde's performance, we have a version from the band of Freddy Martin - with a male singer bragging about the "powerful anasthesia" in his fist, which today sounds grotesque.

In the years since, it's mainly been performed by women, although the next recording would appear to be a Betty Garrett and Milton Berle duet from 1947 (you can listen to it here, assuming you can stand Uncle Miltie). Note that both Berle and Garrett sing the lines threatening violence; the "sleep and sleep" stanza is left out.

Hart wrote the song for Benay Venuta, who told the lyricist's biographer Frederick Nolan: "He [Hart] told me, 'I'll write a big number for you, babe, you'll stop the show with it.' And he did. He wrote 'Ev'rything I've Got' while we were in rehearsal, and it turned out to be one of the smash hits of the show."

"Wait Till You See Her"

In the play, "Wait Till You See Her" is a waltz declaring Theseus' love for Antiope. The song as written has a verse that is seldom used by singers today. It sets the warrior Theseus' infatuation in relief:

My friends who knew me

Never would know me

They'd look right through me

Above and below me

And ask, "Who's that man?

"Who is that man?

"That's not my lighthearted friend"

Meeting a girl was the start of the end

Love is a simple emotion a friend should comprehend

You can hear the verse in the 1967 cast album, which also uses a chorus effectively.

David Allyn

This song, somewhat familiar today, was ignored by the recording artists of 1942. The earliest version I've found was David Allyn's from 1949, which can be found in this post from a few years ago, and which I've also included in the present set of early recordings.

Also in that set is a relatively early (1952) instrumental version from Andre Kostelanetz. His recording treats the number as if it were a precursor to Rodgers' sweeping "Carousel Waltz" of 1945.

Frederick Nolan asserts that the song "was one of the prettiest waltzes Rodgers ever wrote, and Larry's lyric, with its unconventional rhyming scheme, had a lovely, matching tenderness. They all loved it, [director Joshua] Logan especially."

That said, there was some thought that it didn't fit the show. I've read both that it was dropped after opening night and that it was cut late in the run.

"Careless Rhapsody"

"Careless Rhapsody" is not a lost masterpiece, but it doesn't deserve its oblivion. The song, written as a duet for Antiope and Theseus, merited two recordings when the show opened, both solo. One, by Hildegarde, includes the opening verse. The second, by Clyde Rogers with Freddy Martin's band, does not do so.

The lyrics link music and love - heartstrings, etc. Nolan says Logan claimed that "Careless Rhapsody" doesn't sound like Hart's work at all. While it's not the best effort of the lyricist - or Rodgers - it's entirely pleasing.

To my knowledge the song has not been recorded since the show closed, except in a By Jupiter medley done by pianist Peter Mintun many years ago.

* * *

Why isn't the show better remembered? The simplest reason is that it is eclipsed by both the earlier Rodgers and Hart hits and the later Rodgers and Hammerstein blockbusters. It's about on the level of I Married an Angel, but not as remarkable as Babes in Arms, both of which have been discussed on this site.

Second, a Musicians Union recording ban began not long after the show opened, killing any additional recording plans that might have been contemplated.

Here's critic Paul Kresh's 1967 judgment of the show: "The score of By Jupiter is not as likely to stir your pulses as often as that of The Boys from Syracuse, but it has its moments, and the best of them are in the second act: the graceful, hummable 'Wait Till You See Her,' the casual 'Careless Rhapsody,' and the exuberant 'Ev'rything I've Got.' They don't make 'em like that any more. Not lately, anyhow." Still true nearly 60 years later.

LINK to 1967 cast recording

LINK to contemporary recordings

A V-Disc Christmas

This post gathers all the Christmas V-Disc releases I could find - with the exception of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra's material, which is available elsewhere.

V-Discs were produced by the US government for distribution to its troops during World War II. Their contents were taken from commercial recordings, radio transcriptions and even special V-Disc recording dates - all of which are represented below.

The artists we hear include Richard Crooks, Marian Anderson, Claude Thornhill, Andre Kostelanetz, Charlie Spivak, Dick Haymes, Eileen Farrell, Jan Peerce, Nelson Eddy and Dinah Shore.

Christmas V-Discs for the most part used the red and green color motif seen above, although the early issues came out with the standard red and blue regalia.

This set contains 25 cuts, presented in order of their release on V-Disc, except for the final number.

The first Christmas V-Disc came out in 1941, and was a reprint of a commercial recording that the tenor John McCormack had made fifteen years earlier. That recording of "Adeste Fideles" can be found in a McCormack Christmas compendium I put together a few years ago.

Richard Crooks

Our first entry in this collection comes from another tenor, Richard Crooks, who is not as well remembered as McCormack. Crooks come from a time when a popular Metropolitan Opera star - which he was - could also be a favorite on the radio. His performance of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" was taken from a 1941 commercial recording. Here is an article on this fine artist.

Marian Anderson, 1946

Another singer who achieved great popular and artistic success was the distinguished contralto Marian Anderson. Her recording of the "Ave Maria" setting associated with Schubert was done at a special V-Disc session in late 1941. Anderson's first Christmas LP - less well known than her later album - is available here, newly remastered.

Claude Thornhill

I believe bandleader Claude Thornhill recorded his lovely theme "Snowfall" a number of times, starting in 1941. The version on V-Disc comes from a Lang-Worth transcription recorded that same year.

Andre Kostelanetz

The "Christmas Medley" from maestro Andre Kostelanetz is derived from a 1943 broadcast of The Pause That Refreshes on the Air, a title that was taken from Pepsi-Cola's slogan of the time. Baritone Leonard Warren of the Met soloed in "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear."

The other side of Kostelanetz' V-Disc presented the Army Air Force Training Command Band with another "Christmas Medley," featuring the sonorous soloist Bob Carroll, then an Army corporal. He has appeared on my other blog a few times, including a recording of "White Christmas" with Gordon Jenkins. This side has a brief introduction by Shirley Temple. These recordings came from a special 1944 Christmas broadcast of For the Record that was later excerpted for V-Discs.

Charlie Spivak

The popular band of trumpeter Charlie Spivak made a set of World Transcriptions that included "White Christmas," later issued on V-Disc. The vocal is by Garry Stevens.

Dick Haymes

Dick Haymes makes his first of two appearances, in company with the Travis Johnson Singers and organist Jesse Crawford. Dick sings "O Little Town of Bethlehem," the Singers take over for "Deck the Hall," and Haymes returns for "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen." These are also from World Transcriptions.

Eileen Farrell

The other side of Haymes' V-Disc has greetings to the troops from Brig. Gen. Joseph Byron, the Ben Yost Choir with "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" and the marvelous young soprano Eileen Farrell with "O Come, All Ye Faithful." She was then on radio; later she would become an opera star. These were taken from the same For the Record broadcast noted above.

Jan Peerce

Also from that session, but issued on a separate V-Disc, Farrell was heard in the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria" and "O Holy Night." They were coupled with the Met's Jan Peerce presenting a Bizet setting of "Agnus Dei."

Nelson Eddy

A December 1945 edition of radio's Electric Hour yielded several songs with Nelson Eddy, a choral group and Robert Armbruster's orchestra. First we have the inescapable and interminable "Twelve Days of Christmas," a greeting from Eddy himself, "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" from the choir, "Gathering Clouds" from Eddy, "Silent Night" from the choir, and the "Hallelujah Chorus" from one and all.

Dick Haymes then returns with a spoken greeting, "Silent Night" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful," backed by Gordon Jenkins' orchestra.

Dinah Shore

To complete the package, I've added a song that is really more suggestive of the season that truly a part of it, simply because I like both the tune and the singer. This is Dinah Shore's 1944 version of "Sleigh Ride in July" with Al Sack's orchestra. It's a Burke and Van Heusen song that V-Disc took from Dinah's commercial recording.

LINK

Andre Kostelanetz's Complete 1940s Recordings of Richard Rodgers

As might be expected from someone who recorded so much music, Andre Kostelanetz returned several times to the works of Richard Rodgers during his long tenure in the studios.

Kostelanetz made a number of 78s in the 1930s, but his recording career began in earnest with a move to Columbia records in about 1940. His first album for that company was titled Musical Comedy Favorites, and it was a hit, quickly spawning a sequel. Both included songs by Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.

Today we will present all the Kostelanetz-Rodgers recordings from the 1940s, notably the 1946 album Music of Richard Rodgers but also several other items. Let's take things in chronological order, starting with that 1940 album.

Musical Comedy Favorites

Kostelanetz's two volumes of Musical Comedy Favorites date from 1940 and 1941-42, respectively. The earlier set included Rodgers' "Falling in Love with Love" from The Boys from Syracuse, a 1938 production.

The conductor reached back to 1929's Spring Is Here for the Vol. 2 selection, "With a Song in My Heart," which has been interpolated into many films since then, and even was the title song of the 1952 Jane Froman biopic.

FYI - Columbia combined the two volumes of Musical Comedy Favorites on an LP. My transfer can be found here.

Oklahoma! Medley

Rodgers had a huge (and highly influential) success with his 1943 show Oklahoma!, with book and lyrics by his new partner, Oscar Hammerstein II.

Kostelanetz surely wanted to record the music from the score immediately, but the 1942-44 Musicians Union strike presented him from doing so. On November 11, 1944, Columbia finally capitulated to the union, and the next day, Kostelanetz and orchestra were in the studio to record a two-sided medley of songs from Oklahoma!

The Music of Richard Rodgers Album

In May and September 1946, Kostelanetz and his forces assembled in New York's Liederkranz Hall for their most extensive look yet at Richard Rodgers' compositions. The sessions resulted in a set of eight 12-inch 78s entitled Music of Richard Rodgers. My transfer comes from the corresponding LP issued a few years later.

The album includes 11 songs, all standards with the possible exception of the title song from 1926's The Girl Friend, the biggest hit show to that time for the 24-year-old composer.

The album closes with one of the ballets from Rodgers and Hart's superb On Your Toes, the enduringly popular "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue," here abridged (as it generally is).

Kostelanetz generally did not repeat himself in his various recordings. So there is nothing in this set from Oklahoma! And while he included "It Might as Well Be Spring" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's much-underrated 1945 film musical State Fair, he saved the irresistible waltz "It's a Grand Night for Singing" for a later album (see below).

A Motion Picture Favorite and an All-Time Hit

Following the success of his Musical Comedy Favorites sets, Kostelanetz turned his attention to Hollywood in 1947 with a set of Motion Picture Favorites. Despite Rodgers having done little work for film, he was favored with a spot in this eight-song album. "It's a Grand Night for Singing" is a marvelous piece that was introduced by Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine et al.

The conductor's final project of the decade was an album of Eight All-Time Hits, recorded in late December 1949 and early January 1950. Rodgers was represented by "The Carousel Waltz" from the 1945 show. The number opens the musical, but Kostelanetz saved this spectacular piece for the end of his program.

As I mentioned above, the Music of Richard Rodgers LP comes from my collection, and "The Carousel Waltz" is from my LP of Eight All-Time Hits. (A complete transfer of Eight All-Time Hits is available here.) Otherwise, I went back to the original 78s, cleaned up from transfers available on Internet Archive.

I wish I could tell you who arranged the various songs in this collection, but Kostelanetz seldom if ever credited his arrangers. He did mention in his biography that his radio arrangers included Carroll Huxley, Nathan Van Cleave and George Bassman. We also know that Amadeo De Filippo, a CBS staff arranger, did some work for him. And I have read elsewhere that Jimmy Carroll, Leo Addeo and Bill Finegan arranged for him at various times.

An amusing article on the Space Age Pop site likens listening to Kostelanetz records to being "gently anesthetized." But I find the listening to be absorbing. The arrangements are ingenious; the conducting and playing are wonderfully alive; the recordings are sonorous. Kostelanetz' métier was (as I have written before) conducting popular classical music and classy popular music, and at that he succeeded brilliantly.

Interestingly, Rodgers himself chose to gently distance himself from the Kostelanetz approach in his liner notes to the Music of Richard Rodgers album. He explained that he wrote the music to function in a dramatic setting, adding, "Its popularity has been a corollary, and a decidedly welcome one." Rodgers also admitted to the lure of compensation - "let it never be said that I resist the idea of large sheet music and record sales. Mr. Kostelanetz and I have formed the habit of eating and we like it."

Kostelanetz was not done with Rodgers' music. In 1951 he would record Robert Russell Bennett's South Pacific Symphonic Scenario and a repeat of the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" music for a Columbia LP made with the Philadelphia Orchestra Pops. The Kern Show Boat Scenario for Orchestra also is on the disc. I have the record and hope to transfer it soon.

Later in the mono era, Kostelanetz came out with The Columbia Album of Richard Rodgers, a mix of new recordings with some from the 1940s. And there were a few more excursions into Rodgers' music later on.

Musical Comedy Favorites from Kostelanetz

Andre Kostelanetz made quite a living by playing and recording popular classical music and classy popular music. This was true even in the early years of his recording career, when he provided eager listeners with albums of the best songs in sumptuous arrangements and plush recordings.

Musical Comedy Favorites, Vol. 1 (1946 cover)

Today's LP is an example, bringing together two of his earliest Columbia 78 sets - Musical Comedy Favorites Vol. 1 and 2, dating from 1940 and 1941-2. In 1949, soon after introducing the long-playing record, Columbia combined the two eight-selection albums on this LP, which remained in the catalog throughout the mono era.

Musical Comedy Favorites, Vol. 2

Kostelanetz (1901-80) was born in Russia. He came to the U.S. following the Russian Revolution, and soon began conducting in the nascent radio industry. He had his own broadcast in the 1930s, which led to a Victor record contract. By the late 30s he had moved to Brunswick and then its successor, Columbia.

Kostelanetz conducts in 1942. Albert Spalding is the soloist.

Kostelanetz's first album for his new label was a Victor Herbert collection, followed by the first selection of Musical Comedy Favorites. The latter contains songs by Porter, Kern, Gershwin, Rodgers, Youmans, and Arthur Schwartz, leading off with Porter's "Begin the Beguine," a massive hit for Artie Shaw a few years earlier.

Irving Berlin with Kostelanetz, 1950

Musical Comedy Favorites Vol. 2 repeats the formula with the same composers, adding a contribution from Noël Coward ("I'll See You Again").

Both albums slightly predated the so-called golden age of the musical, and some of the greatest songs of Berlin, Rodgers and Porter, along with the entire output of Loesser, Lane, Bernstein, Sondheim and many others. Even so, the songs in Kostelanetz's collections are familiar even today, at least to those who are devotees of the "Great American Songbook."

Also during the early 1940s, Kosty was busy with albums presenting the music of Stephen Foster and Johann Strauss, along with Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite and Gershwin's Concerto in F with Oscar Levant. He also conducted a "Pons-Kostelanetz Concert" album for his wife, the soprano Lily Pons.

Alternative early LP cover

Columbia recorded both volumes of Musical Comedy Favorites in its main recording venue of the time, Liederkranz Hall, which Kostelanetz favored as a recording studio. As he wrote in his biography, "To have played there is to be spoiled forever as far as acoustical standards are concerned." The sound on this LP is atmospheric, adding to the success of the production. When Columbia converted the old German music hall into a television studio later in the 1940s, Kostelanetz was unhappy. However, Liederkranz's successor, Columbia's 30th Street Studio, was hardly less successful as a setting for recordings.

I don't know who arranged the songs for this collection, although Kostelanetz said in his biography that his radio arrangers included Carroll Huxley, Nathan Van Cleave and George Bassman, mentioning some of the same songs included in this collection.

1956 LP cover

Kostelanetz Conducts Grofé and Kern, Plus Many Bonus Items

The recent post of Paul Whiteman recordings led to a lively discussion on the comments page, including  uploads of the Whiteman recordings of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite and Mississippi Suite.

As that was transpiring, I ran across an Andre Kostelanetz LP in my collection with his take on the Mississippi Suite. This 10-inch album couples the 1946 recording of the Grofé work with Kosty's 1942 rendition of Jerome Kern's Mark Twain (Portrait for Orchestra). Both suites are notable contributions to the then-popular vein of musical Americana.

Ferde Grofé

The Mississippi Suite dates from 1925, and was the Grofé's first attempt at such an extended composition. Whiteman recorded his version in 1927, minus the first movement. Grofé later arranged the piece for a larger ensemble. This may be the first recording of that version, although I would not swear that Kostelanetz used the composer's own score. It is possible the conductor edited or even rearranged it.

The fourth section of the Mississippi Suite ("Mardi Gras") spawned a popular song in 1942 called "Daybreak," with lyrics by Harold Adamson. Tommy Dorsey had a hit with the tune, with a vocal by his boy singer of the period, Frank Sinatra. On my singles blog, I've uploaded another fine rendition, the 1955 version by Al Hibbler.

Cover of 78 set

Kostelanetz himself commissioned Kern's Mark Twain along with Aaron Copland's A Lincoln Portrait and Virgil Thomson's Mayor LaGuardia Waltzes, introducing them during a 1942 Cincinnati Symphony concert. The Copland piece can be found on this blog in the Rodziński/New York recording. I don't think Thomson's ode to Fiorello has been recorded, and I've never heard it.

Mark Twain is an enjoyably melodious work. It's not clear who handled the orchestration, although the published version available from the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization was orchestrated by Amadeo De Filippo, who was a staff arranger for CBS and other media organizations during the mid-century years.

Jerome Kern

The LP sound is reasonably good for the Kern; better for the Grofé. [Note (May 2023): I've now rebalanced the Kern and mastered the files in ambient stereo. The sound is much improved.] The performances are splendid.

1943 Life Magazine ad

Bonus uploads

Now for a bonanza of bonus items, courtesy of our friend 8H Haggis. As before, the links below take you to one of my posts. Once there, look in the comments for 8H's commentary and a download link or links. Also as before, these are limited-time uploads, available for a month or less.

First we have the aforementioned Grofé Mississippi Suite in the historic but truncated Whiteman recording. LINK

Tchaikovsky's Hamlet and Glazunov's Stenka Razin, in classic performances conducted by blog favorite Constant Lambert. Also, From Arthur Bliss, his 1955 recording of the Colour Symphony, and his 1935-36 and 1957 performances of the suite from Things to Come. LINK

The famous recording of Bloch's Concerto Grosso No. 1 with the Chicago Symphony under Rafael Kubelik. Plus a concert performance of Berwald's Sinfonie Singulière with Louis Lane and the Cleveland Orchestra. LINK

Stokowski's 1950 recording of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite with 8H's valiant attempt to fix its squashed dynamic range. LINK

Copland's El Salón México in both the live Toscanini-NBC broadcast of 1942 and Guido Cantelli's 1945 performance with the New York Philharmonic. Also, the underrated Walter Susskind conducting Morton Gould's Spirituals with the London Symphony. LINK

A Toscanini/NBC broadcast from 1945 with music by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Vittorio Rieti, Paul Creston and Elie Siegmeister, plus interviews with Creston and Siegmeister. LINK

Early recordings from conductor Eugene Goossens: a suite from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, Balakirev's Islamey, Dvořák's Carnival Overture, Falla's Ritual Fire Dance, Massenet's Le Cid ballet music, Borodin's Polovtsian Dances and Rimsky-Korsakov's Le Coq d'Or suite. LINK

A notable 1962 broadcast recording of Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony from the Boston Symphony and Charles Munch. LINK

The classic mono recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and a fantastic performance of the Kodály Concerto for Orchestra, both from Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphians. LINK

Don Gillis' tone poem, Tulsa, in the interesting Remington recording led by H. Arthur Brown. LINK

Finally, in honor of the centenarian, a live 1949 performance of Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety, with Lenny as pianist and the Boston Symphony under his mentor, Serge Koussevitzky. LINK

So much here - thanks 8H!

Kostelanetz Plays Villa-Lobos, Plus Vocal Reups

Recently new reader 8H Haggis was kind enough to bequeath many of his transfers for us to enjoy (see the two posts directly below). One of those items was an Andre Kostelanetz LP of music by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. After 8H lamented that he did not have a better dub of the album, longtime reader Parchisi came through with a copy made from his own, very clean disc.

That new version forms the major item on tonight's bill of fare, which also includes some choice cuts from favorite singers, newly remastered.

The Villa-Lobos record is simply gorgeous, as 8H promised. The first side comprises a suite from the "folk operetta" Magdalena, a 1948 collaboration with Wright and Forrest of Kismet fame. As a Broadway production, it was not successful, but the music is terrific.

Some of the compositions on the second side may be familiar. They include an adaptation of Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2, the "Little Train of the Caipira," and other selections from the composer's extensive Bach-inspired oeuvre. All are well played by Kostelanetz's studio orchestra. On one cut, Kosty himself takes a turn at the piano.

Columbia's sound was harsh, as it sometimes was during this period. (The record dates from 1974.) To compensate, I have adjusted the frequency response and added a small amount of convolution reverberation. The result is very listenable.

Thanks again to Parchisi and 8H Haggis for their generosity!

Reups

All the 10-inch LPs below date from the early days of the blog. They have been remastered, and now sound quite good. The links below will take you to the original posts.

Dick Haymes - Serenade. An exceptionally fine record by a legendary singer, including some songs that are not heard very often. I should transfer more Haymes recordings!

Buddy Clark - For You Alone. A very popular singer who died young, Clark was a master and is a particular favorite of this blogger. I have dozens of Buddy Clark 78s that await my attention.

Page Cavanaugh - After Hours. An talented singer and pianist, Cavanaugh never achieved the renown he deserved. This is a rare early LP on the Vaya label. Again, I should get busy with the Cavanaugh records in my collection.

Martha Raye - The Voice of Martha Raye. Remembered as a comic actor, Raye was a singer before she hit Hollywood - and a good one. This record is weighted down with some bop-style arrangements that didn't suit the singer. Worth hearing, though. I have more Martha coming up on my singles blog.

Gershwin from Kostelanetz, Plus More from Weston

My last post presented two of the recordings that Columbia made to mark the release of the 1945 George Gershwin biopic, Rhapsody in Blue - the Rhapsody with Levant and Ormandy, and An American in Paris with the New York Philharmonic and Rodziński.

Cover of 78 set

The label's third contribution to the Gershwin fest was an album of song arrangements led by its pops maestro, Andre Kostelanetz. Like the concert pieces, Kosty's efforts enjoyed a long life in the catalogue - first the 78 set (left), then a 10-inch LP (cover above), and finally a 12-inch LP (cover at bottom of post). The first part of today's post consists of a transfer of the 10-inch LP, with the addition of the extra items from the 12-inch album.

Now why (you might ask) didn't I just record the 12-inch LP? Well, the name of this blog was a consideration, but the main reason was simply that the older LP had better sound. By the time the 12-incher came out in 1955, it was a ironclad item of faith among transfer engineers that everything sounded better with reverb. The mid-50s version of "More cowbell!!" was "More echo!!" So my download presents the unclouded sound of the 10-inch LP, then adds "I Got Rhythm," "Mine," "Bess, Oh Where's My Bess," and "Strike Up the Band," all taken from the 12-inch disc.

As always with Kostelanetz, the arrangements are busy but full of interest, if lacking in the emotional depth that is an integral element of many of Gershwin's songs.

I decided to add a bonus to the Kostelanetz post in the form of a 1953 10-inch LP from fellow mood music maven Paul Weston. As in my previous Kosty/Weston dual post, the records have one song in common (Gershwin's "Soon"), so you can compare and contrast the differing approaches of these fine arrangers.

Weston's LP is titled Whispers in the Dark after the 1937 Leo Robin-Frederick Hollander song from the film Artists and Models. It's one of the many wonderful songs from that era that are almost unknown today. As with the previous Weston album, the program is enjoyable and satisfying, and the sound is excellent - as it is on the Kostelanetz program.

Cover of 1955 LP