Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Thomas Stacy Acclaimed English Hornist Dies

“The Heifetz of the English horn” has died. Thomas Stacy was a member of the New York Philharmonic from 1972 to 2011. He was a featured soloist with the orchestra more than 70 times. He also appeared as guest soloist with many other ensembles.

More than 30 new works were written specifically for him. He was the most-recorded English hornist in the world. In 2005, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist for his recording of Kenneth Fuchs’ Concerto for English Horn, “Eventide.”

Stacy was also a virtuoso on the oboe d’amore. His final performances as a soloist with the Philharmonic were during the orchestra’s 2008-09 season, in an oboe d’amore concerto by Georg Philipp Telemann.

Growing up in Augusta, Arkansas – population 3000 – he listened to the New York Philharmonic Sunday afternoon radio broadcasts with his mother, a church organist. He sold his motorcycle in junior high school to buy his first English horn.

Leonard Bernstein characterized Stacy as “a poet among craftsmen.” Stacy died on April 30. He was 84 years-old.

Sibelius, “The Swan of Tuonela”

Copland, “Quiet City”

Dvorak, “New World” Symphony (video)

Kenneth Fuchs, “Eventide”

May 3, 2023
Super Chicken and the Jay Ward Cartoon Legacy

I’ve got a buddy in Philadelphia with whom I’ve been chums since the seventh grade, and he can be counted on to send me freakish snapshots of back-alley Philly, links to badly-dubbed kung fu movies, wisecracks about his latest serial killer obsessions, and clips of politically incorrect comedians. Sometimes I have to be careful not to open his mail too close to breakfast.

Last night, just before bed, he sent this, and it propelled me back across the decades.

Even not having seen the cartoon since childhood, it’s etched into my brain. Who could possibly forget Super Chicken and his sidekick, Fred the Lion? (“You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.”)

Henry Cabot Henhouse III is the Boston equivalent of the kind of fop long familiar from Zorro and “The Scarlet Pimpernel;” but in times of crisis, he downs his Super Sauce from a martini glass to become Super Chicken. His Super Suit resembles a D’Artagnan cast-off, supplemented with a domino mask. Fred, his manservant, wears his sweater inside-out. Note the backwards “F.”

Super Chicken was part of the Fred Ward stable of freewheeling cartoons produced by Jay Ward of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame. Ward was the inexhaustible genius who also gave us Dudley Do-Right, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Crusader Rabbit, Hoppity Hooper, Tom Slick, and George of the Jungle

I learned something this morning, through a quick Google search, as there was a rival company, Total TeleVision, which produced Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, Klondike Kat, Commander McBragg, Tooter Turtle, and Go Go Gophers. For my entire life, I thought these were Ward productions. The confusion is understandable, since they were all animated in Mexico by Gamma Productions and shared a similar vibe.

Somehow, the primitive animation worked with the concepts in ways they did not in your average, corner-cutting Hanna Barbera cartoons. The humor was offbeat, but knowing and referential, and it didn’t talk down. These were cartoons you could watch with your parents, and they would laugh too.

The theme song was written by Sheldon Allman (lyrics) and Stan Worth (music). In one afternoon, they knocked out the insinuating introductions for “Super Chicken,” “Tom Slick,” and “George of the Jungle.”

“Stan came over to my house,” Allman recalled. “We started at 1 o’clock, and by 4 o’clock we had the three songs.”

Allman, quite a multi-talented fellow, died in 2002. I found this obituary in the Los Angeles Times.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-08-me-allman8-story.html

Bonus points for the “Super Chicken” opener featuring headshots of John Barrymore, Douglas Fairbanks, Valentino, and Boris Karloff! Watch it again. You know you want to.

If Gilbert & Sullivan had lived in the 20th century, they might very well have contemplated the very model of a modern clucking super chicken!

Super Chicken transformation compilation:

May 3, 2023
Radio Show Ending After 36 Years

Holy smokes! I just did the math, and I’ve been broadcasting music on the radio for 36-some years!

To all of you who have been private messaging me and posting your comments here on Facebook, thank you for your support. It means a lot that you will miss “Picture Perfect” and/or “The Lost Chord” (both of which aired their last on WWFM this past weekend). Some of you are curious to know more. I have tried to include all the relevant information below, without pointing fingers and with emotional restraint.

I will say the decision to end the programs was not mine. I was emailed by WWFM’s program director the afternoon of Wednesday, April 19, and notified that the shows would be “sunsetting,” with “Picture Perfect” concluding its weekly run on April 29 (ten days later) and “The Lost Chord” ending on April 30.

The reason I was given is that those who make these decisions would like to refresh the program schedule. You can’t really argue with that. However, it would have been nice had I been given the option to help freshen it up by creating some new shows!

Needless to say, I put a lot into these broadcasts, and I have done so for quite a long while (“Picture Perfect” for 13 years; “The Lost Chord” for 20).

A combination of COVID-19 safety restrictions and budgetary considerations have kept me out of the WWFM studios for the past three years. During that time, a skeleton crew of managers have had to lean heavily on syndicated programming, automation, and remote control to maintain a 24-hour schedule. Which is why suddenly a lot of unfamiliar voices started to pop up and why you’re not getting a lot of weather forecasts, time checks, or community representation.

Unfortunately, you’re also not hearing very many complete pieces of music, as the trend with the principal service being relied upon is toward sound bites and pretty melodies without a lot of depth or space for reflection.

The reasons for this are complex, and I am not placing blame. The station is affiliated with a college, the first priority of which must necessarily be admissions. There’s no reason to start paying more people to improve the radio broadcasts of a station that, to an undiscerning ear, seems to be functioning just fine without them. It’s not the college’s primary mission and therefore non-essential. I can live with that.

However, my not being able to use the production studios during all that time means that I have not been able to produce new content.

As the months and years passed, I continued to select archived episodes of “Picture Perfect” and “The Lost Chord” for rebroadcast, touching them up at home to remove any time-sensitive material or to tailor them to important anniversaries. I do not have a home studio (which I will be remedying very soon), so any extensive new recording would have to be done at the station.

If there was a concern about the reruns becoming stale, I was never told, and I would have been happy to produce new episodes with authorized access to the station equipment.

I should add, at the time of the Picture Perfect “sunset” notification, I was given the option to start producing new shows on a once-a-month basis – for “Picture Perfect” only. Whether or not that means I would now be able to resume recording at the WWFM studios was not made clear. What was made clear was that I would receive no monetary compensation for my work and that the program would air in rotation with three other WWFM specialty programs on Friday evenings at 6:00.

This I declined to do, for several reasons. To put all that work into producing a polished program that would only air on a first-Friday schedule would be foolhardy. Listeners would never remember to tune in, it’s no way to build an audience, and for hardcore film music fans, it would be death by starvation. Having to wait a month to hear your favorite music doesn’t exactly convey a sense that the station cares very much about it.

To make it worthwhile, the show would have to be produced weekly or not at all. “Picture Perfect” is not a “pops” show. You will never hear kitschy arrangements of movie themes, lazily strung together, as if these are in some way representative of the actual scores. It’s a serious film music show that honors the integrity of the music and the composers.

As for pay, I’m a professional, but I have not received monetary compensation for “Picture Perfect” or “The Lost Chord” for years. Granted, for most of their run, I was paid for the production of recorded shows, but at a point, when we were looking for ways to tighten up the budget, it was agreed by everyone that those of us who produced specialty shows would attempt to get underwriters to support them. Which means we would only be paid for them if there was an underwriter.

Unfortunately, the way it was handled, it turned out to be a cumbersome system that didn’t really give me the authority to work out a deal. Instead, I was a basically a go-between, and I’ve had at least one prospective coalition collapse because of it.

At this point, I am basically resigned to the shows being taken off the air. However, if there are any “angels” reading this who are interested in underwriting (meaning a serious commitment, not just a week or two), it’s possible the station could be persuaded to reinstate them, with me providing fresh content. Should that be the case, please contact the station. I am not in a position from which I can simply walk into a room and discuss it with anyone. If you would like to split the cost with other contributors, tell the station so, by phone or email, and maybe they’ll be able to put together a deal for you.

This is not an attempt to incite a bunch of angry villagers to storm the castle with their torches, but if there’s anything else you’d care to express on the matter, you can contact the station manager/program director, Alice Weiss, at alice@wwfm.org. There’s also a phone number on the WWFM website. PLEASE NOTE: If you write to the info@wwfm.org address, in all likelihood it will only get lost.

Of course, your opinions will carry more weight if you happen to be a financial supporter of the station. But volume also speaks. If a lot of you like the show(s), and you let them know, they may be inclined to keep one of them. But frankly, if it isn’t the case, I’m ready to pack up my wagon and roll on to the next opportunity.

Again, I am happy that my work has meant enough to you that you’ve read this far. And I am grateful to WWFM for providing a platform from which I’ve been able to share music for the past 28 years (if you count my live air shifts). Some times were sweeter than others, but I never felt anything but contentment while I was spinning the records – the sweet spot where it was just me and the audience.

It was an unspoken compact that kept me there for decades, despite a lot of physical, psychological, and emotion wear-and-tear. No benefits, limited time off, hindered social life, strain on relationships, work on weekends and holidays, and for many years getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning and driving in all weather.

But what have I done for them lately?

At the moment, I’ve got a couple of other irons in the fire, including a very kind offer that arrived in my private messages the other day. But I had hoped to continue to have my local shows distributed from my local classical music station. Do what you will in terms of emailing, but I think it’s realistic to expect that they’ll pretty much do what they have always done, which is whatever it is they want to do.

For the time being, past shows are still archived as webcasts at the station website – although it looks as if the audio files for the last month or so have yet to be posted; but they’re there through March, with the more recent installments perhaps still on the way. The only other thing I ask is that you please excuse the horrendous profile pic!

https://www.wwfm.org/people/ross-amico

May 2, 2023
Lost Chord’s Persian Sunset WWFM

You might say I’m on a Seemorgh diet. I see ‘Morgh, and I play it!

This Sunday night that all comes to an end, as last week I received notice that, after 20 years, “The Lost Chord” will be “sunsetting” on WWFM.

I hope you’ll join me for a final go ‘round, with an hour of Persian polyphonic music – that is to say, music by Persian (or Iranian) composers, based on native folk and classical melodies, but tailored specifically to western instruments.

We’ll hear two works by Behzad Ranjbaran, recorded in 1994 for the Delos label. I had heard Ranjbaran’s lyrical Piano Concerto at a concert of the Philadelphia Orchestra some years ago, but it did not prepare me for the beauty and opulence of his “Persian Trilogy.”

Ranjbaran, born in Tehran in 1955, is currently on the faculty of the Juilliard School. Many of his works are influenced by Persian culture and literature. The “Persian Trilogy” was inspired by the “Shahnameh,” the national epic of 11th century poet Ferdowsi.

We’ll hear two of the three pieces, including “Seven Passages,” about the hero Rostam, who undergoes seven trials along the path to rescue the Persian king Kavus; and “Seemorgh,” about the mythical bird (“seemorgh” is Persian for “phoenix”) that raises the abandoned hero Zaal, who is able to summon her in times of crisis.

Ranjbaran proves himself a master orchestrator. If you enjoy the music of Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, Paul Dukas, or Ottorino Respighi, I think you’ll really enjoy his “Persian Trilogy.”

We’ll also hear music by Reza Vali, born in Ghazvin in 1952. Vali, currently on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University, has been called “the Iranian Béla Bartók” for his ability to successfully meld native folk elements with established western classical forms. His “Folk Song (Set No. 9)” is composed for the combination of flute and cello. The flutist switches between various instruments of the flute family, and the cellist plays tuned crystal glass and tom-toms. As you’ll hear, the musicians are also required at various points to sing and whistle.

It may be sunset, but we’ll keep looking to the sunrise for new possibilities. For now, it’s the last flight of the phoenix for “The Lost Chord.” I hope you’ll join me for “Roses of Persia,” a bouquet of Persian polyphonic music, this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

April 30, 2023
Conan & Barbarian Film Scores: A Final WWFM Tribute

“Crom… I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. Valor pleases you, Crom, so grant me one request: grant me an hour of barbarian music!”

Ten days ago, I received notice that, after a 13-year run, “Picture Perfect” will be “sunsetting” on WWFM. Not much notice, and tonight’s show was already scheduled. But I must say, if the series has to end, it may as well go out in a blaze of glory.

There are those, I’m sure, who would deny themselves the guilty pleasures of viewing these silly, cheesy, violent films, all of which were inspired by the writings of pulp master Robert E. Howard. Howard created the warrior Conan in 1932. The character became the center of a series of lucrative stories first published in “Weird Tales” magazine.

It would be a half century before Conan made the leap to the big screen, under the direction of John Milius. “Conan the Barbarian” (1982) propelled Arnold Schwarzenegger, already a legend in the field of bodybuilding, to international superstardom. While “Conan” isn’t exactly “Citizen Kane,” it does have its pleasures. The intensity of the violence can be a little disturbing, but the ponderous tone is a blast. “Conan” is a film that takes itself just seriously enough to make it occasionally hilarious.

Another thing “Conan” has going for it is the fact that it was made on a blockbuster budget. The first-rate production values extend to the music by Basil Poledouris, who employs a full symphony orchestra to impressive ends. In fact, the “Conan” score was one of the strongest of the decade. It’s amazing that anyone would find so much inspiration in such a mediocre film, but Poledouris’ music intersperses Borodin-style Central Asia lyricism with brawny, thrilling action music.

Sadly, the sequel, “Conan the Destroyer,” betrays signs of penny-pinching, so that it often winds up feeling like a direct-to-video effort. Poledouris was forced to make do with a smaller orchestra, which sounds a bit too much like a television ensemble. Still, he gave it his all, and there’s something to be said for the fact that it is an original score, rather than a mere retread of the original.

Another one of Howard’s creations, Kull of Atlantis, was given the big screen treatment as “Kull the Conqueror” (1997). Kevin Sorbo, TV’s Hercules, plays the title role. The composer, Joel Goldsmith (son of Jerry Goldsmith), was asked to incorporate heavy metal riffs into his orchestral underscore. I haven’t actually seen this one, but for some reason I don’t feel like I’m missing anything.

The astoundingly prolific Ennio Morricone – with more than 500 motion picture and television scores to his name – had an uncanny knack for spinning garbage into gold. His music for “Red Sonja” (1985) lends the film an aura of ‘80s cheese ball fun, perhaps more so than it deserves. This is the film that introduced Brigitte Nielsen as the chain-mailed barbarian beauty. Schwarzenegger appears in the supporting role of Lord Kalidor.

“Make the music loud, Crom! Drive my enemies before me and drown the lamentations of their women.”

“Picture Perfect” gallops off into the sunset with movies inspired by the writings of Robert E. Howard, this Saturday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Classic Ross Amico, after 28 minutes of music from “Conan the Barbarian”

April 29, 2023

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