Classic Ross Amico

  • New England Movies Music & Thanksgiving

    New England Movies Music & Thanksgiving

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    Ross Amico
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    8 responses

    The inclusion of “The Cummington Story” (1945) on this week’s “Picture Perfect” made me reflect on current events. The short semi-documentary, made for the Office of War Information, relates the gradual acceptance of European war refugees into a cautious but fundamentally decent New England community. I try to stay off politics if I can help it, but I couldn’t help but notice a parallel with what’s going on in the news today, with everyone concerned about Syrian refugees.

    My first thought was to put together a Thanksgiving show of music from films that highlight generosity and the gradual acceptance of strangers from different backgrounds. However, it would have required some finesse so as not to come across as preachy, and I was too overburdened this week to guarantee that lightness of touch. So I opted for an easier topic and one less likely to stir controversy.

    Therefore, we have four films set in New England. I open with the aforementioned short, with music by Aaron Copland, which is far less well-known than his other New England film, “Our Town.” The score is pure Americana, with some of the material later finding its way into the composer’s Clarinet Concerto and “Down a Country Lane.”

    Then we take a decidedly un-Thanksgiving turn (unless we count Jabez Stone’s eventual thanks for salvation), with “The Devil and Daniel Webster” (1941). An expanded treatment of Stephen Vincent Benet’s popular short story, it starred Edward Arnold as Webster, and Walter Huston in one of his most memorable roles as the diabolical Mr. Scratch. The film also features Bernard Herrmann’s second film score, written hot on the heels of “Citizen Kane.” It would earn the composer his only Academy Award.

    “The Devil and Daniel Webster” was originally issued as “All That Money Can Buy,” in an attempt to avoid confusion with the contemporaneous “The Devil and Miss Jones.” I remember being disappointed with the adaptation the first time I saw it, having been such a fan of the original short story. Now I recognize its brilliance. Huston’s scenery-chewing (and pie-eating) performance aside, the director, William Dieterle, applies some nice Expressionistic touches. It’s an ingenious blend of eerie diabolism and homespun Americana.

    I can’t find anything particularly “Thanksgiving” about “Peyton Place” (1957), about a fictional New England town whose residents have more than their share of skeletons in the closet. But Franz Waxman’s music sure is nice.

    Finally, we’ll hear some of Miklós Rózsa’s score for “Plymouth Adventure” (1952). Spencer Tracy plays the cynical captain of The Mayflower. Gene Tierney is his forbidden love. Van Johnson appears as John Alden, and Lloyd Bridges is the first mate.

    Rózsa, already at this stage of his career, was MGM’s go-to composer for historical drama. Seven years later, he would take home his third Academy Award for his classic score to “Ben-Hur.”

    Curiously, this film about the Pilgrims sidesteps the actual first Thanksgiving. It does, however, include among its characters William Bradford, John Alden and Priscilla Mullins.

    I hope you’ll join me for music from movies set in New England this week, on “Picture Perfect,” tonight at 6 ET, with a repeat tomorrow morning at 6; or that you’ll enjoy it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.

    NOTE: Turner Classic Movies: TCM will air “Plymouth Adventure” this Sunday at 6 p.m. ET

    You can watch “The Cummington Story” here:

  • Early Morning New Music on WPRB

    Early Morning New Music on WPRB

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    Ross Amico
    in
    2 responses

    This will hurt me more than it does you! Or so I thought, when I set the alarm for 4:00 this morning.

    Everything is brand spanking new, straight out of the shrinkwrap, as we listen to new releases until 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.

    Yet to come: guitarist Nadav Lev plays music by young Israeli composers, JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra perform Sibelius, the Danish Piano Trio plays Romantic music from Denmark, cellist Louise Dubin presents music by Chopin’s friend and associate Auguste Franchomme, the Boston Modern Orchestra (BMOP) performs Lukas Foss, and more.

  • New Classical Music Releases Gift Guide

    New Classical Music Releases Gift Guide

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    Ross Amico
    in
    10 responses

    Everything we hear this morning will be brand spanking new. Right out of the shrinkwrap, virtually – in some cases, quite literally.

    We’ll have recent releases on the Ancalagon, Beau Fleuve Records, BMOP, Bridge, Dacapo, Delos, Erato, Innova, Navona, Reference Recordings and SFS Media labels.

    Featured artists and ensembles will include Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Danish Piano Trio, Louise Dubin, Clipper Erickson, piano , JoAnn Falletta, Marc Andre Hamelin, Sharon Isbin, Lara St. John, Nadav Lev Guitarist and Composer, the San Francisco Symphony, Orli Shaham, Mimi Stillman, True Concord Voices & Orchestra and Benita Valente, performing music by John Adams, Johann Sebastian Bach, R. Nathaniel Dett, Lukas Foss, Auguste Franchomme, Stephen Paulus, Franz Schubert, Jean Sibelius, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, and others. My hand is getting sore just thinking about it!

    With the holidays right around the corner, this program should be of particular interest to anyone starting to think about gifts for the music-lovers in their lives.

    I hope you’ll join me, from 6 to 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM or at wprb.com, as we sample from new releases. We give until it hurts, on Classic Ross Amico.

  • New Classical Music Gifts WPRB Show 2015

    New Classical Music Gifts WPRB Show 2015

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    Ross Amico
    in
    4 responses

    As you may have noticed, a good many of my WPRB programs have been exercises in excess. I basically choose a theme (Goethe, the circus, Hallowe’en, “Fantasia”) and run with it. I show up with a whole box full of stuff, and I just keep playing from it until I hit the five-hour mark.

    Of course, that doesn’t tell the whole story. The point is, when you deal with themes all the time, a lot of worthwhile music tends to fall through the cracks. In particular, I’ve been eyeing the mountains of promotional copies that have been accumulating in my apartment and thinking, something really has to be done about this.

    This Thursday morning on WPRB, I’ll be playing from all new releases, or at the very least from albums which have been released in 2015. We’ll hear recordings issued on the Ancalagon, Beau Fleuve Records, BMOP, Bridge, DaCapo, Delos, Innova and Navona labels, and probably a whole lot more.

    Over the course of the show, you may encounter selections from violinist Lara St. John’s “Shiksa,” a collection of new works inspired by Central European, Mediterranean and Near Eastern folk music; flutist Mimi Stillman’s latest, “Freedom,” featuring music by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, David Finko and Richard Danielpour; cellist Louise Dubin’s “The Franchomme Project,” a long-overdue tribute to Auguste Franchomme, friend, confidante and musical partner of Frederic Chopin; Nadav Lev Guitarist and Composer’s “New Strings Attached,” a compilation of pieces by young Israeli composers; Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP)’s traversal of the complete Lukas Foss symphonies; “Infinite Jest,” a San Francisco Symphony CD devoted to the works of John Adams; Danish Romantic piano trios performed by – well, The Danish Piano Trio; and JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s recent issue of Sibelius orchestral favorites, titled “The Essential Sibelius” (and what Sibelius isn’t?).

    With the holidays fast approaching, you never know how many of these might make for interesting gift ideas. I hope you’ll join me tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM or at wprb.com, for a show made up entirely of CDs straight out of the shrinkwrap. It’s all brand-spanking new, on Classic Ross Amico.

    DISCLAIMER: Tom Jones will not be played on this program!

  • David Amram Celebrates 85 Years

    David Amram Celebrates 85 Years

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    Ross Amico
    in
    6 responses

    David Amram turns 85 today.

    Amram, born in Philadelphia in 1930, has always been equally at home in classical music, jazz, folk and world music. He’s composed over 100 orchestral and chamber works, music for Broadway and film (including scores for “Splendor in the Grass” and “The Manchurian Candidate”), and two operas. He’s also written three books, with a fourth in the works.

    He was raised on a farm in Bucks County, where he was introduced to classical, jazz and cantorial music by his father and uncle. He took piano lessons and experimented with instruments of the brass family, finally settling on the French horn. Following a year at Oberlin, he lit out for George Washington University, where he studied history. While there, he performed as an extra hornist with the National Symphony. He also studied privately with two musicians in the orchestra.

    Amram became a pioneer of the jazz French horn, as well as the New York Philharmonic’s first composer-in-residence (named in 1966). He’s worked with artists ranging from Dizzy Gillespie to Bob Dylan to Leonard Bernstein, from Jack Kerouac to Arthur Miller, from Christopher Plummer to Johnny Depp. He’s a musician without boundaries, who has always been open to new experiences.

    Trailer for the documentary, “David Amram: The First 80 Years”:

    Amram Horn Concerto:

    Amram with Dizzy Gillespie:

    Amram (at the age of 80) performing at the Philadelphia Folk Festival:

    Happy birthday, David Amram, still going way strong.

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