Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Hollywood Bowl

A Hollywood Bowl Super-concert on “Picture Perfect”

Regardless of how you feel about the current state of the industry or the awards ceremony itself, you have to concede, there’s quite a rich history of impressive music written for film. And the Academy Awards is always the perfect excuse to look back.

This week on “Picture Perfect,” I’ll be leaning heavily into the nostalgia, as virtually every major composer from the golden age of Hollywood comes together at the Hollywood Bowl for a concert of now-classic film scores, originally broadcast on CBS Television in 1963. The event is often referred to as “the greatest film music concert in history.”

Participants included, among others, Alfred Newman (“How the West Was Won”), David Raksin (“Laura”), Alex North (“Cleopatra”), Johnny Green (“Raintree County”), Franz Waxman (“A Place in the Sun”), Bernard Herrmann (“North by Northwest”), Dimitri Tiomkin (“High Noon”), and Miklós Rózsa (“Ben-Hur”). They were joined by Mahalia Jackson, Andy Williams, and Jack Benny!

An album was released on LP, but understandably the three-hour concert was severely truncated. This was somewhat remedied on a CD-reissue on the Columbia Legacy label in 1995 that included 70 minutes of music. Among the casualties, however, was Elmer Bernstein conducting the theme to “The Magnificent Seven.” I will perform a service to film music by restoring that cut from another source.

Based on my reading and the fact that I’m finding other selections in my personal library that were recorded at the venue on the same date, there’s still much that remains to be compiled. Put out whatever you’re holding back on a double-disc, please, Sony Classical!

Hollywood couldn’t assemble this much musical talent today if it tried. Fortunately, recordings like this one endure. I hope you’ll join me for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!

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Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu

March 13, 2026
Academy Awards Weekend: Film Music on KWAX

We’re entering Academy Awards weekend, and the winner is… YOU!

Why? Because I’ve recorded THREE BRAND NEW SHOWS for KWAX for your delectation.

Regardless of how you feel about the current state of the industry or the awards ceremony itself, you have to concede, there’s quite a rich history of impressive music written for film. And the Academy Awards is always the perfect excuse to go excavating.

I’ll be leaning heavily into the nostalgia, beginning today on PICTURE PERFECT. We’ll hear selections from what has been dubbed the greatest film music concert in history. Elmer Bernstein, Johnny Green, Bernard Herrmann, Henry Mancini, Alfred Newman, Alex North, David Raksin, Miklós Rózsa, Dimitri Tiomkin, Franz Waxman, and more turned out for the occasion – all of them to conduct their own music.

They were joined by Mahalia Jackson, Andy Williams, and Jack Benny. What could only be described as a Hollywood Bowl superconcert was broadcast live over the CBS television network on September 25, 1963.

Highlights were issued on what became a highly collectible LP. The content was expanded for a CD reissue on the Columbia Legacy label in 1995. However, based on my reading and the fact that I’m finding other selections in my personal library that were recorded at the venue on the same date, there’s still much that remains to be compiled. Put out whatever you’re holding back on a double-disc, please, Sony!

On today’s show, we’ll hear ten musical selections. I hasten to add, not everyone mentioned will be represented; nor were they even included on the commercial recordings. Tune in to KWAX at 8:00 pm EST/5:00 pm PST. (See the streaming information below).

Then be sure to join me tomorrow morning when I’ll present a potpourri of classic film themes on SWEETNESS AND LIGHT. Tune in sharp at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST to enjoy 90 seconds of introductory fanfares from the great studios of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Finally, also tomorrow, on THE LOST CHORD, it’s another in an occasional series of programs devoted to concert works by composers better known for their work in film. Among the featured works will be “Pas de Deux,” a concerto for violin, cello and orchestra, by James Horner (“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” “Braveheart,” “Titanic”), and the Concerto for Flute and String Orchestra by Jerome Moross (“The Big Countrty,” “The Cardinal,” “The Valley of Gwangi”). That show will stream Saturday at 7:00 pm EST/4:00 pm PST.

That should give you plenty of time to load up on the popcorn and buffalo wings for Sunday night’s ceremony. Listen to all three of these NEWLY-RECORDED RADIO SHOWS, wherever you are, at the link!

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EST)

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday on KWAX at 8:00 AM PACIFIC TIME (11:00 AM EST)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EST)

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

More about “the greatest film music concert in history”

http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/features/2013/092313.html

March 8, 2024
New Indiana Jones Theme First Listen

Check out the first new Indiana Jones music in 14 years. John Williams conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in “Helena’s Theme,” last night at the Hollywood Bowl. Sounds pretty vintage to me! The still-untitled Indy 5 is scheduled for release on June 30, 2023.

September 3, 2022
Hollywood Bowl Celebrates 100 Years

The Hollywood Bowl formally opened on this date 100 years ago.

The open-air auditorium, constructed in a natural canyon, is immediately recognizable by its iconic band shell, a proscenium of concentric arches. Controversially, in 2004, the original shell, which over the decades had experienced wear from exposure to the elements and accrued acoustical issues, was demolished and replaced by a larger version.

The Hollywood Bowl is the largest natural amphitheater in the United States. The shell is set against the backdrop of the Hollywood Hills, with the landmark Hollywood sign to the northeast. The “bowl” refers to the shape of Bolton Canyon, which serves as a natural amplifier.

Music by Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, and Rossini opened the venue. But it wasn’t long before the orchestra shared space with actors, orators, dancers, and popular musicians. The Bowl can accommodate an audience of nearly 18,000.

You can learn more about the venue’s history and the shell’s remarkable architects here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Bowl

And here:

https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/about/the-bowl/hollywood-bowl-history

Many of us in other parts of the country got to know this West Coast landmark through its use in dozens of films and television shows, especially cartoons. This is where Bugs Bunny was venerated as “Leopold!” and Tom and Jerry attempted to one-up each other while conducting a feline orchestra.

Glimpse the real deal, in its heyday, in historic footage of some of the greatest classical musicians active in the 1930s. Consult the index below the videos to see Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Albert Einstein with Artur Rodzinski, Leopold Stokowski, William Grant Still, and Béla Bartók, among others.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Here’s a Hollywood Bowl cartoon from 1938, produced by Walter Lantz (of Woody Woodpecker fame), chockful of caricatures of classic movie actors. I love this sort of thing. The score is by Frank Churchill, indebted to Liszt, Johann Strauss, Mendelssohn, Weber, Beethoven, Schubert and others. Churchill composed many songs and scores for Walt Disney, including “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” and those for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Dumbo.” Stokowski gets a fair amount of screen time. Definitely check out his introduction, as he charges his fingers at 1:36! Once bandleader Ben Bernie takes over, Fats Waller, Rudy Vallee, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Fred Astaire, and Martha Raye get their moments to shine.

https://vimeo.com/126713908

Leopold!

July 11, 2022

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