It’s the 4th of July weekend, and the beaches are open!
BTW – Richard Dreyfuss was a snack in the ‘70s.
Category: Daily Dispatch
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Glück: Opera, Reform, and Lasting Influence
In German, the word for happiness and good fortune is the same: Glück.
These qualities also happen to characterize the composer who bears that name (albeit without the umlaut).
Christoph Willibald Gluck has come down to us as one the great operatic reformers. Yet, of his own operas (about 35 survive), he’s pretty much remembered for but a single work, “Orfeo ed Euridice” – especially the “Dance of the Blessed Spirits.”
Gluck’s own blessed spirit lives on primarily through his influence on others – Mozart, Weber, Berlioz, and Wagner.
One can certainly hear anticipations of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” not only in Gluck’s ballet “Don Juan,” but also in his overture to the opera “Iphigénie en Tauride.” Furthermore, there’s no way Mozart did not know Gluck’s “Don Juan” fandango when he himself came to include one in “The Marriage of Figaro.”
More broadly, for Gluck, words and music were to bear equal weight. No more, the florid, showy arias of yore, ornamented beyond recognition by star castrati. Beautiful singing was to remain, of course, but DRAMA was to be of foremost importance.
It was musical theater’s good fortune to attract Christoph Willibald Gluck. Happy birthday to a man who made his own luck. Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!
Otto Klemperer conducts Wagner’s arrangement of the overture to Gluck’s “Iphigénie en Tauride”
The ballet “Don Juan”
Gluck’s “Fandango” staged
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTAqT7MY-Dc
Mozart’s “Fandango” staged
“Dance of the Furies, from “Don Juan” (later reused in “Orfeo”)
Documentary “Gluck the Reformer,” with John Eliot Gardiner, William Christie and others
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Ernest Bloch’s American Rhapsody on KWAX
Just in time for Independence Day, Princeton’s wretched refuse washes up on the teeming shores of KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon. And in common with this week’s subject on “The Lost Chord,” I love and revere my adopted country as only an outsider can.
We’ll have music by immigrant-turned-naturalized-American-citizen, Ernest Bloch – who died in Portland, less than two hours north of Eugene, home of KWAX, in 1959. Bloch, born in Switzerland, is probably best remembered for his music on Jewish themes, including the rhapsody for cello and orchestra, “Schelomo,” the suite for violin and piano “Baal Shem,” and the humanitarian oratorio, “Sacred Service.”
With a rise in anti-Semitism in Europe, Bloch decided to make the United States his permanent home. His epic rhapsody, “America,” was written, according to the composer, “in love for this country, in reverence to its past, in faith in its future.” He dedicated the work to Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman.
Bloch first conceived the idea for the piece in 1916, as his steamer entered New York Harbor. The conflict of the First World War gave further impetus to the composition of what he envisioned as an American anthem, but it wasn’t until 1925 that the work began to take concrete form.
For modern listeners, it’s possible that this symphony in all but name crosses the line at times into the Realm of Hokey, with its quotations of “Pop Goes the Weasel” and “Yankee Doodle” – it is certainly a time capsule – however, Bloch’s heartfelt conviction and his love for his adopted country remain palpable.
Hear Bloch himself, full of patriotic fervor, introduce this homage to his adopted land. Leopold Stokowski conducts the Symphony of the Air. I hope you’ll join me for “Rhapsody in Red, White and Blue,” now in syndication on KWAX!
See below for streaming information.
Keep in mind, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)
Stream them here!
Bloch was also interested in the visual arts, especially photography, and developed a close friendship with Alfred Stieglitz:
Ernest Bloch and Alfred Stieglitz: Photography, Music and the Soul
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Indiana Jones Nostalgia Roy’s Sci-Fi Corner
No snakes were harmed in the making of last night’s episode of Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, which was essentially two children of the ‘80s reminiscing and sharing their observations about the Indiana Jones series. The emphasis of the discussion was on the first three films, and there were no spoilers about the latest installment, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” now in theaters. So if your concern is choosing wisely, you can guzzle from this grail with confidence! If nothing else, follow the link to see how dapper I look in a fedora and thrill to my amazing approximation of Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse” (on which John Williams’ dad played the drums).
Speaking of dads, I’d like to direct your attention to a special belated Father’s Day edition of the show, as tomorrow night, Roy will be joined by his dad, Ron, and his son, Ryan, for an intergenerational discussion of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1963). Okay, not a lot of science fiction in this one, but it’s a milestone in a genre of behemoth comedy that 16 years later spawned Steven Spielberg’s “1941.” It’s also the grandaddy of all scavenger hunt films, and the characters destroy as much stuff as the Blues Brothers.
It’s fun to see all these mid-century comedians do their thing, even if a lot of the gags have whiskers, alongside dozens of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them celebrity cameos. It’s what I call a good Sunday afternoon movie. So watch the film, and then tune in for commentary by three generations of mad, mad, mad, mad Bjellquists, on the next “Roy’s Tie Dye Sci Fi Corner,” this Sunday evening at 7:00 EDT!
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Indiana Jones Spoiler-Free Discussion
Our connection may have been bad last week, on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, but we’ll make a second attempt tonight as raiders of the lost art. Roy and I will be cracking our whips and clanking our crystal skulls in a free-form discussion about the Indiana Jones series. THIS WILL BE A SPOILER-FREE CONVERSATION, SO PLEASE, NO STARTLING REVELATIONS ABOUT THE NEW FILM.
The razors won’t be the only things that are dull, as we ratchet up our dial of density. Leave your daddy issues in the comments section, when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., this Friday evening at 7:30 EDT!
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