Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Leith Stevens’ Lost Piano Concerto

Hey, I’m the music guy, right?

In preparing to talk about “The War of the Worlds” on “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner” the other day, I was in the process of boning up on Leith Stevens, the film’s composer, when I stumbled across this clip. It’s a piano concerto written for “Night Song” (1948), a movie starring Dana Andrews that somehow had slipped beneath my radar. The music is performed in the film by Arthur Rubinstein, Eugene Ormandy, and the New York Philharmonic.

What’s that you say? The music is not about to win a Pulitzer? Well Rubinstein and Ormandy aren’t going win any Oscars either! (Actually, they’re not half bad.) Stevens eschews the Rachmaninoff-style movie concerto kitsch then very much in vogue. (I’m looking at you, “Warsaw Concerto.”) The trade-off, unfortunately, is a concerto that quickly faded into oblivion. More’s the pity. All in all, a fascinating document.

Ah, the good old days, when you could enjoy a cigarette in a stairwell, while dreaming about touching Merle Oberon’s face, on the beach, during a concert…

From Bosley Crowther’s review in the New York Times: “…The music, the prize concerto—well, that is really the thing which puts ‘Night Song’ in the spotlight as baldfaced and absolute sham. For this scrappy and meaningless jangle by Leith Stevens is good for nothing more than an excuse for filming the fiddles, the drums and the batteries of horns. And if Mr. Rubinstein and Mr. Ormandy can swallow it, along with their pride, they must have pretty strong stomachs.”

Ouch! Everyone’s a critic.

Crowther was later drummed out of the Times for doubling down on his hatred of “Bonnie and Clyde” in 1968.

July 20, 2020
Séverac’s “En Vacances” A Musical Holiday

Summertime. A time for vacations – even if only of the imaginary variety.

Musically speaking, there are two types of getaways: (1) actual travel music, inspired by a journey to a particular locale; and (2) the flight of fancy, a vacation of the creative mind. Either lends itself to compiling collections of miniatures, after the fashion, perhaps, of some of the great keyboard works of Robert Schumann.

Déodot de Séverac studied in Paris with Vincent d’Indy and Albéric Magnard. He also acted as an assistant to Isaac Albéniz, whose character pieces certainly influenced some of his own evocative regionalisms for the keyboard.

Séverac composed two sets of piano pieces, under the title “En vacances” (“On Vacation,” or “Holiday Time”). The second of these, sadly, was left incomplete at the time of his death at the age of 48.

These sketches suggest the experiences of his children, in particular, Mimi and Toto, with individual movements titled “Invocation to Schumann,” “Grandmother’s caresses,” “Visit from the little girls next door,” “Toto pretends to be a verger,” “Mimi dresses up as a Marquise,” “In the park,” “On listening to a musical box,” and “Romantic Waltz.”

Enjoy both sets, performed here by Aldo Ciccolini:

Happy birthday, Déodot de Séverac (1872-1921)!

PHOTO: Séverac vacations in place

July 20, 2020
Mily Balakirev and Russia’s Mighty Five

Mily Balakirev was Russia’s musical kingmaker.

Balakirev, of course, was the founder of the “Mighty Handful,” or “The Russian Five,” that collective of Russian nationalist composers that also included Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin, and Cesar Cui.

He had very strong ideas about what Russian music should be, and he was not at all bashful about telling other composers what to do. He essentially micromanaged the early careers of his acolytes, which included not only “The Five,” but on several occasions Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky.

In his later years, though Balakirev’s influence was on the wane, he made two final, important contributions. He was responsible for introducing the prodigy Alexander Glazunov to Rimsky-Korsakov, and he was blessed with one last, very talented disciple, Sergei Lyapunov.

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll hear music by this last of the Russian nationalists, who was as much influenced by the keyboard prowess of Liszt as he was the patriotic zeal of his mentor. He also happens to be the composer of “The Lost Chord” signature music.

I hope you’ll join me for “One Past Five,” music of Sergei Lyapunov – one hour later than usual, due to the length of today’s opera broadcast – this Sunday night at 11:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

WHEN BEARDS WERE IN: Top left, Mily Balakirev; bottom left (clockwise), Cesar Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; right, Sergei Lyapunov

July 19, 2020
Bird Crossword Test Your Avian Knowledge

This week’s Classic Ross Amico crossword is definitely for the birds. Celebrate our feathered friends and test your knowledge of the avian influence on the world’s classics.

To fill out the puzzle, follow the link and select “solve online” at the bottom of the page. You’ll then be able to type directly into the squares. Once you feel you’ve exhausted the puzzle, you’ll find the solutions by clicking on “Answer Key PDF.”

Flex your wings and, with any luck, catch a thermal to the catbird seat!

https://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/2020.07/1907/19075227.887.html

July 19, 2020
War of the Worlds & Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner

Okay, so maybe I didn’t know that Princeton really had an observatory (since 1934!) or that California declared square dance its official state dance (in 1988!) or that the correct name of the actor who played the science advisor on season one of “Space: 1999” was Barry Morse – but I think a good time was still had by all. As always, Roy and my observations, on the 1953 film “The War of the Worlds,” were enhanced by plenty of fun and insightful comments from our viewers. Here’s a link to the show, in case you missed it.

“Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner” will celebrate it’s 30th episode on Sunday evening at 7:00 EDT. For this landmark occasion, Roy will open up the Zoom conference to his loyal and knowledgeable audience. Details available on the show’s Facebook page. Thanks, Roy, and live long and prosper!

July 18, 2020

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