Classic movie fans will have to stay sharp (and likely hit the pause button a few times) to catch all the cameos and references in this Warner Brothers Merry Melodies short.
Of particular interest is an appearance by Leopold Stokowski in a hairnet (although he conducts with a baton).
Stokowski will conduct Aram Khachaturian’s Symphony No. 2, tonight on “The Lost Chord.” The show airs at 10 PM, with a repeat Friday morning at 3. Or you can catch it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.
Today is one of those days with so many interesting birthday anniversaries, it’s hard to make a choice. Do I write about the brilliant composer-conductor Igor Markevitch (born 1912); the Hungarian composer of so much gorgeous music, Ernő – later Ernst von – Dohnányi (born 1877); or possibly my favorite of Spanish composers, Enrique Granados (born 1867)? I definitely need an air shift to do this one justice.
Faced with such an embarrassment of riches, I feel a little sheepish focusing on Harl McDonald. But since he has a number of local connections, I think it fitting.
McDonald was born in Boulder, CO, in 1899. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Redlands and the Leipzig Conservatory. In 1927, he was appointed a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also director of the university’s music department, its choral society and the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club.
In addition, he worked as a business manager for the Philadelphia Orchestra for a number of years, and his compositions were performed by Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy. Both Stokowski and Serge Koussevitzky recorded selections from “San Juan Capistrano” (1938), and Stokowski a good deal else beside.
Among his other works were four symphonies, a concerto for two pianos, a violin concerto, two piano trios and an assortment of choral works, including “Lament for the Stolen,” written in commemoration of the Lindbergh kidnapping.
McDonald died in Princeton in 1955.
There’s actually a surprising number of McDonald rarities posted on YouTube. In fact, my posting this morning has been delayed by so much listening.
Here’s McDonald’s Symphony No. 1 “Santa Fe Trail”:
If it picques your interest, there’s plenty else to explore. I have no idea where this guy got some of this stuff (air checks?), but it’s fascinating. My hat’s off to you, fellow traveler!
Has anyone seen the film “Carnegie Hall?” Sure, it sports a corny plot about a young pianist who turns the classical music world on its ear by becoming a jazz artist. Of course, the debut of his “avant garde” concerto (with Harry James as soloist) seems positively quaint from today’s perspective, as I’m sure it would have been even in 1947.
The main draw is the procession of real-life classical music superstars, including Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Arthur Rubinstein, Lily Pons, Rise Stevens, Jan Peerce, Ezio Pinza, Bruno Walter and Fritz Reiner, among others, all of whom get to perform.
The film was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, who emerged from the German Expressionist movement (he claimed to have worked on “Metropolis” and “M”) to direct atmospheric Hollywood films like “The Black Cat” and “Detour.”
That experience obviously prepared him for this showcase of Leopold Stokowski, who in the film’s best sequence conducts a movement from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. The camera angles are striking, the lighting dramatic, and Stoky’s hair just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
While we’re at it, here’s another one of my favorite Stoky clips posted on YouTube. He’s conducting Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” at the age of 90. The clip is in two parts:
