The late Montserrat Caballé gets double-smooched by Danny Kaye and Luciano Pavarotti. Caballé, one of the great sopranos, died on Saturday at the age of 85. Tune in to hear her recording of Enrique Granados’ “Canciones amatorias,” settings of Spanish Renaissance love poems, this afternoon in the 4:00 hour EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
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Montserrat Caballé Remembered on WWFM
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Felix Weingartner Composer Conductor
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Felix Weingartner (1863-1942) is best-recognized as a conductor. However, he considered himself equally, if not more so, a composer. He was one of a number of prominent conductors of the day who fit the Mahler paradigm. However, the works of Wilhelm Furtwängler, Otto Klemperer and any number of other famed figures of the podium are very seldom heard.
Weingartner held many conducting posts over the years. He succeeded Mahler as principal conductor of the Vienna Hofoper, from 1908 to 1911. He led the Vienna Philharmonic in an official capacity until 1927. He was later chief conductor of the Vienna Volksoper.
He thought very deeply about the problem of the symphony. I remember reading a book he wrote in which he examined the strengths and weaknesses of all the major symphonies written in the shadow of Beethoven, down to the dawn of the 20th century.
He himself composed seven symphonies, among other symphonic works, and thanks to the enterprising cpo.de – classic production osnabrück label (CPO for short), all of them have been recorded. This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll hear the Symphony No. 2, from 1901, a fascinating mix of old and new, evidently romantic in disposition, yet very much of its time. The recording will feature the Basel Symphony Orchestra, which Weingartner himself directed from 1927 to 1934.
As a conductor, Weingartner was particularly well-regarded as a Beethoven interpreter. He’d been conducting the Beethoven symphonies as a cycle since at least 1902, and he was the first to complete an integral set of recordings. We’ll have time to sample the scherzo from the Symphony No. 9 from his superlative recording of 1935.
I hope you’ll join me as we raise a glass to Felix Weingartner. That’s “Wine from Weingartner,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.
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Jack Benny Violinist Comedian or Virtuoso?
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How good a violinist was Jack Benny? Allegedly a competent one, the owner of a Stradivarius, who mined the comedic potential of “bad playing.”
Benny in duet with 12 year-old Talia Marcus:
Later, he repeats the gag with a young Dylana Jenson, who went on to make that classic record of the Sibelius concerto with Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdQa-TaQvPs
Benny with Jascha Heifetz (radio):
Benny episode (television) featuring Isaac Stern and “Man of 1000 Voices” Mel Blanc as Benny’s music teacher. Note how Blanc’s characterization morphs into Yosemite Sam in moments of pique.
Benny and Stern play Bach at Carnegie Hall to raise money for American symphony orchestras:
Jack Benny Fiddles with the Classics:
Dylana Jenson plays the Sibelius concerto at the old Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Norman Carol is the concertmaster. Ormandy conducts. The RCA recording, made under studio conditions, was issued shortly after.
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Explorers on Film Celebrate Discovery
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Conquest is so not in right now. Nonetheless, this week on “Picture Perfect,” in advance of Columbus Day, the focus will be on explorers and exploration.
Fredric March plays the title role in “Christopher Columbus” (1949), inspired by the novel of Rafael Sabatini, author of “Scaramouche” and “The Sea Hawk.” The film was released by Gainsborough Pictures, the British studio that produced Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Lady Vanishes” and “The Wicked Lady,” a wildly popular, saucy period melodrama that starred Margaret Lockwood and James Mason.
Stewart Granger had originally been announced for the lead. Mason had also been considered. Replicas of the Nina and the Santa Maria were built especially for the film, and location shooting took place in Barbados. The Santa Maria was lost for two nights following a squall in the West Indies. Then it caught fire and had to be rebuilt. As far as March was concerned, all the effort was for naught. Reportedly, he was not very happy with the finished film.
The music for “Christopher Columbus” was by Arthur Bliss, who in 1950 would receive his knighthood and, in 1953, his appointment as Master of the Queen’s Music.
If you think March was a strange choice, just imagine Gary Cooper in “The Adventures of Marco Polo” (1938). Cooper assumes the role of the famed Venetian merchant who travels the Silk Road to China. Despite the ludicrous casting, the film yet manages to entertain, with Basil Rathbone, fine as always, as the villain.
The music is by Hugo Friedhofer. Friedhofer was such a successful orchestrator, he remained largely in the shadows of the film score luminaries he assisted. He lent his distinctive touch to many now-classic scores by Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. “The Adventures of Marco Polo” was Freidhofer’s first big chance to step up and show what he could do as a composer. He would have to wait until 1942 for another. Four years later, he would win a much-deserved Academy Award for his score to “The Best Years of Our Lives.”
The westward journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark has been a source of perpetual fascination for Americans. In 1997, Ken Burns directed a PBS documentary “Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery.” National Geographic climbed on board a few years later with “Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West” (2002). The 42-minute featurette was released in IMAX theaters, with narration by Jeff Bridges and music by Sam Cardon.
Finally, Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote his most famous film score for the Ealing Studios docudrama “Scott of the Antarctic” (1948). John Mills plays explorer Robert Falcon Scott on his determined push to the reach the South Pole.
Vaughan Williams’ work on the score became the basis for his Symphony No. 7, which bears the subtitle “Sinfonia Antartica.” (Note that the composer drops the first “c” from the title of his symphony, preferring the Italian and dooming the work to being constantly misspelled.) We’ll hear selections from an extended suite from “Scott of the Antarctic,” from the first of three CDs issued on the Chandos label that, collectively, offer an overview of Vaughan Williams’ work for the cinema.
Corn and tomatoes from the New World! Spaghetti and fireworks from the Orient! Snow cones and frostbite from the Antarctic! Discover music from movies about explorers and exploration this week, on “Picture Perfect,” this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
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Happy Feast Day Saint Francis of Assisi
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Today is the Feast Day of Saint Francis of Assisi.
If saints are your thing, you‘d be hard pressed to find one more beloved than St. Francis – unless you’ve misplaced your car keys, in which case St. Anthony is your man. I count myself fortunate in that I was able to visit Francis’ hometown before the devastating earthquakes of 1997.
Be sure to take a moment today to kiss your pet. Bless all animals! Then enjoy some of the music below.
Franz Liszt’s “Saint Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds” (piano)
Liszt’s “Saint Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds” (orchestra)
Francis Poulenc’s “Quatre petites prières de saint François d’Assise”
Paul Hindemith’s “Nobilissima Visione” (suite, conducted by the composer)
Hindemith’s “Nobilissima Visione” (rarely-heard complete version)
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