Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Jewish Composers

Castelnuovo-Tedesco From Exile to Hollywood

I always felt a mix of compassion and wonder when reading about all those artists and intellectuals in the 1930s and ‘40s, who were driven away from everything they ever knew, becoming refugees well into their adult years, and forced to reinvent themselves in strange lands. Of course, their loss was our gain, as, in particular, they made the United States a better place, bringing all their expertise to bear in their respective fields, ensuring the country was alive with fresh ideas and influences, making us a leader in medical, technological, academic, artistic, and other fields. But it was a hell of price for them to pay.

Now I wonder if history is repeating itself, and many will be forced to flee in the opposite direction, if they can.

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was 44 when he came to the U.S., fleeing persecution, as a Jew, under Mussolini’s antisemitic policies. He was sponsored by none other than Arturo Toscanini, who loathed fascism. Castelnuovo-Tedesco had many empathetic, well-placed musical friends, including Jascha Heifetz, Andrés Segovia, and Gregor Piatigorsky, who understood his true worth.

In addition to being a prolific concert composer, Castelnuovo-Tedesco wound up making a nice chunk of change in Hollywood. He wrote music for some 200 movies, including “And Then There Were None,” starring Barry Fitzgerald, and “The Loves of Carmen,” with Rita Hayworth. As a teacher, his students included André Previn, Nelson Riddle, Herman Stein, Henry Mancini, Jerry Goldsmith, and John Williams.

I first to got to know Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s music through his guitar concertos, which live in the sweet spot between Italian lyricism and cinematic splendor. Just about everything I’ve ever heard by him goes straight to the heart. The slow movements make you sigh, and later, when you’re doing the dishes, they make you want to sing.

Today marks the 130th anniversary of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s birth, and more and more his music is being recorded all the time. Good for him. The man brought a hell of a lot of beauty to the world.

Happy birthday, Mario C-T!

Guitar Concerto No. 1

With Passover right around the corner, this one’s always been a favorite of mine this time of year: the Violin Concerto No. 2 “The Prophets” (its three movements: “Isaiah,” “Jeremiah,” “Elijah”)

A new discovery for me: “Ballata dall’Esilio”

Shakespeare overtures. Pick any one of them.

April 3, 2025
Winter Wonderland’s Surprising Jewish Roots

In putting together yesterday’s broadcast of “Sweetness and Light,” I looked into the origins of the Christmas song “Winter Wonderland,” and I learned a few things.

First of all, the song joins the pantheon of great American Christmas songs composed by Jews (see Sammy Cahn, Jay Livingston, Johnny Marks, Mel Tormé, and of course Irving Berlin).

Second, it was written in my home state of Pennsylvania within an hour of where I grew up. The lyricist, Richard Bernhard Smith (Dick Smith), was born in Honesdale, PA, 32 miles northeast of Scranton.

Third, Smith wrote the words while being treated for tuberculosis in Scranton’s West Mountain Sanitarium. His sister claimed he was inspired by the sight of Honesdale’s Central Park covered in snow. (Perhaps that should be third and fourth? I had better stop counting.)

Felix Bernard, who wrote the music, was born in Brooklyn, into a Jewish family named Bernardt. Smith was an Episcopalian. So in this case, the Christmas tune was the product of something of a mixed marriage.

The first recording was made in 1934 by Richard Himber and his Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra, as kind of an afterthought, on time left over from another session. Among the musicians in the orchestra was Artie Shaw. But it was Guy Lombardo who made it into one of the year’s biggest hits. The song, of course, went on to be covered countless times.

Sadly, Smith, whose illness was diagnosed in 1931, died on September 29, 1935 – his 34th birthday – a poignant footnote to this timeless fantasy of winter fun and romance.

Lombardo’s nationwide broadcasts were New Year’s Eve staples for nearly 50 years, originating first from New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel and later the Waldorf Astoria. I remember watching him on television in his twilight years with my grandparents when I was child growing up in the 1970s. Following Lombardo’s death in 1977, Dick Clark’s “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” first broadcast in 1972 – and which unquestionably appealed to a younger crowd – sounded the death knell for a more elegant era.

The first recording, with Himber at the Ritz-Carlton, with Joey Nash vocal

Lombardo and His Royal Canadians in 1934:

Lombardo 1946 remake, with the Andrews Sisters

December 15, 2024
Hanukkah Music on The Lost Chord KWAX

This week on “The Lost Chord,” for Hanukkah, we’ll light a candle for the eight-day Festival of Lights. Join me for music on Jewish themes and by Jewish composers, including “Aspects of a Great Miracle” by Michael Isaacson, “Three Hassidic Dances” by Leon Stein,” and “The Klezmer Concerto” by Ofer Ben-Amots. Enjoy your fill of light and latkes. We’ll be wishing you a happy Hanukkah on “Pieces of Eight,” on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Remember, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

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

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

Stream them here!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

December 9, 2023
Castelnuovo-Tedesco Rediscovered After Decades

Earlier this week, I posted about the birthday of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, the Jewish Italian composer who was fortunate to make it to America before he could be packed off to a concentration camp.

Things had already been heating up at home for some time, with Castelnuovo-Tedesco being banned from radio and performances of his works being cancelled, well before the passage of Italian racial laws in 1938. He didn’t leave until 1939, when Arturo Toscanini (who was not Jewish, but had had enough of Mussolini by 1933) agreed to sponsor his immigration to the United States.

I always wind up playing Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Violin Concerto No. 2, subtitled “The Prophets,” during Passover. Written for Heifetz in 1931, its three movements are named for the Old Testament prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Elijah. Of course, we hear his guitar pieces – many of them written for Segovia – all the time. But I always wondered what happened to his Cello Concerto.

The Cello Concerto, written for Gregor Piatigorsky, was given its premiere under Toscanini’s direction in 1935. I have read about it, but I have never actually heard it. Now I learn that the reason is because Piatigorsky had exclusive performance rights to the piece during his lifetime, much as Paul Wittgenstein held exclusive performance rights to the works he commissioned (which is why, for instance, a major work by Paul Hindemith, “Klaviermusik mit Orchester,” went unheard until its revival in 2004 – Wittgenstein didn’t like the piece and locked it up in a trunk).

Fascinatingly, the Castelnuovo-Tedesco concerto has reemerged in Texas, to be performed by the Houston Symphony over Easter weekend. Allegedly it will be the first time the work will have been heard since the 1930s. Hear excerpts, with lots of fascinating background, at the Houston Symphony’s website:

http://www.houstonsymphony.org/tickets/production/detail?id=7346&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=social+media&utm_campaign=17CLS14&utm_content=17CLS14+FB+Ad+Brinton+Music+Clip+5

How many more of these musical treasures await rediscovery, I wonder, having been jealously guarded by performers who opted not to promote them, or who were given better offers for yet another whirl through that well-worn crowd-pleaser by Dvořák?

April 8, 2017
New Music & Winter Classics on WWFM Today

I hope you’ll be able to join me for today’s noontime concert on WWFM, when the focus will be on new music for the new year. The program will feature works by young Jewish American composers, which were presented at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in NYC on November 2. Included will be “Fünf Kleine Klavierstücke,” by Princeton native Lainie Fefferman, and “Meditation,” by Alyssa Weinberg, who is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at Princeton University.

Then stick around for Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1, subtitled “Winter Daydreams,” and Sir Arnold Bax’s “Winter Legends,” written for his mistress, the alluring Jewish pianist Harriet Cohen.

Lots of alluring music today, between 12 and 4 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Harriet Cohen, who inspired and enticed a number of Britain’s greatest composers

January 3, 2017

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