Wallenstein Conducts Gershwin and Rodgers, Plus Reups

Robert Russell Bennett's suites from Oklahoma! and Porgy and Bess are still popular, and in the case of the Gershwin opera, his version is probably heard more often than the opera itself or Gershwin's own suite Catfish Row.

Bennett was closely associated with both composers, as the chosen orchestrator of many of their Broadway productions. He did the original orchestration of Oklahoma! and created the suite from Porgy following Gershwin's death, at the request of Fritz Reiner.

Robert Russell Bennett and Alfred Wallenstein

Bennett also collaborated with conductor Alfred Wallenstein, who led the 1935 premiere of a suite from Bennett's opera Maria Malibran. When Wallenstein became conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1943, he quickly recorded the Bennett suites from Oklahoma! and Porgy. The recording of the Rodgers suite dates from August 1944. The Gershwin may have been even earlier, possibly soon after the 1942 revival of the opera.

Decca had rights to both scores, issuing both the original cast album of Oklahoma! in 1943 and selections from Porgy and Bess in 1940 and 1942 with Todd Duncan and Anne Brown of the original 1935 cast. The Decca moguls may have seen the Bennett suites as ways to get the music into even more hands - the suites were shorter and less expensive than the full shows. In the 1946 ad down below, Decca touts the Wallenstein album right along with the Oklahoma! cast album.

This 10-inch LP transfer dates from 1949. The performances are sympathetic and Decca's sound is adequate.

Reups

Conrad Salinger - A Lovely Afternoon (remastered, repitched). The eminent Hollywood orchestrator Conrad Salinger made just one LP.  This latest remaster is the best yet, fixing pitch issues on the original. Thanks to StealthMan for the transfer!

Sonny Burke - Mambo Jambo (remastered). Bandleader Sonny Burke's version of "Mambo Jambo" helped to popularize the mambo in the U.S. This 10-inch LP has his original recordings.

Miss Sadie Thompson (OST remastered). There's a bit of George Duning among the source material and Lester Lee-Ned Washington songs on this forgotten 10-inch soundtrack from a Rita Hayworth flick.

Danny Kaye - Decca DLP 5033 (remastered). The first LP from the comedian-singer-actor, and a very good one.

Larry Adler in Vaughan Williams and Benjamin. The great harmonica player in scores written for him by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arthur Benjamin.

Copland - Red Pony, Thomson - Acadian Songs and Dances (Scherman). Early recordings of film music by Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson.

Copland - Our Town, Thomson - The Plow That Broke the Plains (Scherman). More movie music from Copland and Thomson, again led by Thomas Scherman, on the M-G-M label.

1946 ad

Sonatas by Delius and Robert Russell Bennett

Following the recent post of the Victory at Sea music, I wanted to provide an example of Robert Russell Bennett's own composition, and one that doesn't rely on his prodigious skill in orchestration. So here we have A Song Sonata, a modest violin-piano item.

Robert Russell Bennett and Louis Kaufman

The work may well have been written for the violinist on this recording, Louis Kaufman, who commissioned quite a number of works during his lifetime. Kaufman was active in the film music colony and made many records of contemporary works for such labels as Concert Hall Society, as here. He was heard here previously in an excellent recording of the Barber violin concerto.

I have to report that Bennett's sonata is as insistently unmemorable as the other compositions I have heard by him. As he himself described it, it is "friendly," but perhaps not a friend one would invite over all that often.

The balance of the record is devoted to what I believe was the initial recording of Frederick Delius' first violin sonata. Kaufman's intense sound and tendency to push ahead is perhaps not right for this music. The pianist in both works is Theodore Saidenberg, a well-known accompanist and the brother of Daniel Saidenberg.

The truth is, I have had this performance recorded for some time, but didn't offer it because of the reservations above. Sorry for the lukewarm endorsement. The sound is good, though! [Note (June 2023) - the sound is even better now, remastered in ambient stereo.] The recordings come from 1947; this LP is from 1951.

The photo portrait of Kaufman below is by Man Ray, who thought the violinist would look best with a bull fiddle coming out of his forehead.

Louis Kaufman

Victory at Sea

I am presenting the original 1953 recording of Victory at Sea for no other reason than I wanted to listen to it and decided to record it while doing so.

This was issued on CD about 20 years ago, but I believe that has long been out of print. What generally is available in the stereo remake, which extends to three volumes. This transfer is from a nice copy of the original LP.

Victory at Sea was a 13-hour documentary series that appeared on US television in 1952-53, and then in syndication for many years thereafter. For families like mine, where the father was on active duty in the South Pacific during the Second World War, it was watched intently, and I remember it well - especially the memorable score.

Robert Russell Bennett

And quite a score it was, a true collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and arranger Robert Russell Bennett, who worked together for many years. Some think that Bennett contributed as much or more to the score than Rodgers did. If we look strictly at quantity, that is undoubtedly true. There are 13 hours of music; Rodgers reputedly contributed only the 12 themes that are heard throughout the score. Of course, they are much the most memorable part of the what is heard; the reason why the music is still heard today. Bennett was a very talented orchestrator; Rodgers was a genius at what he did.

Even geniuses need help every once in a while. If you listen to the main theme from Victory at Sea ("The Song of the High Seas") after one of the themes from the first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony, premiered in 1910, you will see where Rodgers may have looked for inspiration. He also cribs the main theme from Chausson's Poem de l'amour et de la mer. Plus there are echoes of Elgar and Tchaikovsky in the orchestrations, but these would have been the work of Bennett.

Richard Rodgers

Note (June 2023): Valued commenter JAC writes as follows: "This is a most timely revival of this topic, given the very recent publication of George J. Ferencz's masterful book on the score. In impressive detail, both historical and analytical, he takes us through the making and contents of each episode.

"And he does establish beyond question how overwhelmingly essential Bennett was to the fabric of the score. Rodgers contributed his dozen themes, and they're truly inspired, no question. But there are whole episodes that mostly (or all) Bennett after the opening titles, and those are not all just unobtrusive background either -- there are complete Bennett marches for instance. I guess it's clear that I highly recommend this book."

Rodgers was a practical fellow. While composing the themes for Victory at Sea, he and Oscar Hammerstein also were discussing a new show, which became Me and Juliet. Not one of their big successes, but it does have an highly enjoyable score. The hit number was "No Other Love," a tango that was first heard in Victory at Sea as the "Beneath the Southern Cross" theme.

"No Other Love" 78 picture sleeve

RCA Victor, which had bankrolled Me and Juliet, rushed a Perry Como rendition of "No Other Love" to market to coincide with the musical's May 1953 opening. Como was a Crosbyite, but even the laid-back Bing might have found Perry's version impossibly languid. The download includes the a transfer from the original 78, which came in the picture sleeve at right. (Yes, there were 78 picture sleeves for a time.) The artwork is based on the play's program and is similar to the cover of the original cast LP.

Victory at Sea was recorded July 2, 1953 in Manhattan Center with members of the NBC Symphony, Bennett conducting.

[Note (June 2023): These recordings have now been remastered in ambient stereo. There is slight distortion on the vocal peaks in Perry Como's "No Other Love" single, probably caused by a disc master cut at too high a level. This distortion is present on all three copies I checked.]