Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Miklos Rozsa

Sherlock Holmes Movie Music Picture Perfect

The game is afoot! This week on “Picture Perfect,” it’s an hour of music from movies inspired by the world’s greatest detective.

“Sherlock Holmes” (2009) features Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, in Michael Ritchie’s post-“Matrix” take on the master detective. While some of the film adaptations over the years may have glossed over the character’s physicality, Ritchie’s revisionist Holmes perhaps errs a mite too far in the other direction. Hans Zimmer wrote the music, he too going against received wisdom, and in the process coming up with one of his more interesting scores, if only for the quirky instrumentation, which includes a Hungarian cimbalom, accordion, fiddles and a broken pub piano.

Perhaps it’s unfair to put Zimmer up against an old pro like Miklós Rózsa. Rózsa wrote the music for Billy Wilder’s melancholy portrait of the great detective, “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” (1970). Wilder requested that the composer adapt his lovely Violin Concerto for the project, a recording of which the director had listened to repeatedly during the writing of the screenplay. Rózsa and Wilder had previously collaborated on “Double Indemnity” and “The Lost Weekend.”

The Sherlock Holmes comedy, “Without a Clue” (1988), represents a missed opportunity of sorts. The hope had been for Sean Connery to play Watson opposite Michael Caine’s Holmes, a longed-for reunion between the two who had worked so well together in “The Man Who Would Be King.” In the end, it was Ben Kingsley who assumed the role.

The fun conceit that sets “Without a Clue” apart is that Holmes is the fictional creation of mastermind Watson, who in reality is the gifted crime-solver. Through necessity, Watson hires a second-rate actor to play the role of Holmes. Of course, the actor turns out to be a bumbling idiot. Henry Mancini provides the British Light Music style score, with a nod to Edmund White’s “Puffin’ Billy” (familiar stateside as the theme to “Captain Kangaroo”).

Finally the Steven Spielberg-produced “Young Sherlock Holmes” (1985) offers a conjectural origins story, including Holmes and Watson’s first meeting as teenagers (ignoring the particulars laid out by Arthur Conan Doyle in his stories, with Watson already a war veteran who had served in Afghanistan). It’s all for fun, though it’s unfortunate the filmmakers felt the need to interject ‘80s-style special effects, rather than simply trust in the inherent magic of the subject matter. “Young Sherlock Holmes” features the first photorealistic, fully computer-generated character (a stained glass knight). Also, some Indiana Jones B-movie antics involving an Egyptian cult seem especially out of place.

Interestingly, the film’s screenwriter, Chris Columbus, went on to direct the first two Harry Potter films. By my recollection, “Young Sherlock Holmes,” with its boarding school setting, has some of that same feel.

The music, by Bruce Broughton, is certainly buoyant and beautiful, in the best John Williams tradition. Broughton scored a handful of big screen hits, notably “Silverado” and “Tombstone,” though arguably it is in the medium of television that he’s made his greatest impact. Thus far, his work has been recognized with a record 10 Grammy Awards.

It’s elementary, my dear Watson. Join me for “Picture Perfect,” this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

September 28, 2018
Hungarian Night Music Bela Lugosi’s Requiem

“Children of the night – what beautiful music they make!” So says Hungarian superstar Bela Lugosi in his signature role of Dracula. The observation (spoken in response to the howling of wolves) might equally be applied, under less chilling circumstances, to three of Lugosi’s composer-compatriots, whose nocturnal meditations we’ll enjoy this Sunday night on “The Lost Chord.”

Miklós Rózsa, himself a figure with cinematic associations, wrote nearly 100 film scores and won three Academy Awards – for “Spellbound” (1945), “A Double Life” (1947), and “Ben-Hur” (1959). He was also an active concert composer, writing concertos for Jascha Heifetz, Leonard Pennario, Gregor Piatigorsky, and Pinchas Zukerman.

In the summer of 1962, Rózsa composed “Hungarian Nocturne” on a commission from Edward B. Benjamin, a New Orleans millionaire with a fondness for quiet music. However, in order to maintain interest, the composer realized, there was no way he could remain quiet for the entire span of the piece. So the nocturne eventually builds to a climax before returning to the serene mood of its opening. His patron wasn’t entirely pleased, though he did draw enjoyment from the quieter parts. The piece was an attempt by the composer to recapture the rare beauty of nights on his estate in rural Hungary.

Though Antal Doráti would ultimately become world famous as a conductor, he studied composition at the Franz Liszt Academy under Zoltán Kodály and Leó Weiner. He also studied piano with Béla Bartók. A fine Bartok interpreter, Doráti would later conduct the world premiere of his teacher’s Viola Concerto.

Doráti’s own music has always been regarded as something of a sidelight. His “Night Music,” from 1970, is a collection of evocative miniatures for flute and orchestra. We’ll hear it performed by Alison Young, now the host of American Public Media’s “SymphonyCast.”

Unlike Rózsa and Doráti, who were both natives of Budapest, Zoltán Kodály was born in a small town in Southern Hungary. He claimed that his first exposure to folk music was through the singing of servant girls in his own home. He went on to become one of the most important figures in Hungarian musical life, as composer, ethnomusicologist, and educator.

Kodály will be represented by his orchestral idyll, “Summer Evening,” music originally composed in 1906, then revised in 1929, to fulfill a commission from Arturo Toscanini. Kodály himself will conduct, on a gorgeous recording with the Budapest Philharmonic.

That’s “Children of the Night” – Hungarian composers take wing – this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

IMAGE: “New Moon,” by Mihály Zeller

August 12, 2018
Rózsa Morricone South America Film Scores

If you are a Miklós Rózsa fan, you’ll want to join me for this week’s “Picture Perfect,” as I dig deep into the archive for two contrasting scores to movies set in South America.

Rózsa, who is probably best remembered for his work on Biblical and historical epics (he won his third Academy Award for “Ben Hur” in 1959) provides a lush symphonic tapestry for “Green Fire” (1954), starring Stewart Granger and Grace Kelly. Rózsa piles on the MGM gloss, for a conflict between love and lust for emeralds in the jungles of Colombia.

Then we’ll hear perhaps Rózsa’s most unusual venture, “Crisis” (1950). “Crisis” starred Cary Grant and Jose Ferrer in the story of a brain surgeon who must weigh ethical considerations when faced with saving the life of a dictator who oppresses the people of an unnamed banana republic. Unusual for a composer who likes to swing for the fences, Rózsa set himself the limitations of writing for solo guitar.

M-G-M must have felt it had scored a major coup when securing famed Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos to supply music for “Green Mansions” (1959). The big screen an adaptation of W.H. Hudson’s novel, set in the rainforests of southeastern Venezuela, starred Audrey Hepburn as Rima the Bird Girl. Unfortunately, the studio deemed what Villa-Lobos produced unusable, since the composer had begun writing based on his impressions of the novel, rather than wait for the completed film. M-G-M house composer Bronislau Kaper was brought in to salvage what he could.

Finally, we’ll turn to one of Ennio Morricone’s best-loved scores – that for “The Mission” (1986). “The Mission” starred Jeremy Irons, as a Jesuit priest who penetrates the South American jungle to convert the native Guarani to Christianity, and Robert DeNiro, as a reformed slave hunter. The lovely and moving “Gabriel’s Oboe” became a recognizable hit, thanks in particular to its use by figure skaters and Aer Lingus.

This is the score for which Morricone believed he should have won the Oscar.

I hope you’ll join me for these South American adventures this week, on “Picture Perfect” – music for the movies – this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

May 18, 2018
Stokowski Strauss Hindemith Marlboro School

He shook hands with Mickey Mouse, married Gloria Vanderbilt, and signed a ten-year recording contract at the age of 90. Why, it’s LEOPOLD! Join me this afternoon at 4:00 on The Classical Network as we dip a toe into the recorded legacy of Leopold Stokowski, on his birthday.

It’s also the anniversary of the birth of famed film composer Miklós Rózsa. Rózsa titled his autobiography “A Double Life.” Following his lead, we’ll hear examples of both his film and concert music. And I suppose – Franz von Suppé also having been born on this date – we’ll toss in one of Suppé’s frothy overtures, as well. Like Stokowski, Suppé got a fair amount of mileage out of being parodied in cartoons, so we should all be thankful for the movies, for having granted wide exposure to all three of today’s birthday celebrants.

At 6:00, it’s another “Music from Marlboro.” This week, we’ll hear works by two composers of German origin, who travelled very different routes, Richard Strauss (1864-1949) and Paul Hindemith (1895-1963).

Both men found much notoriety as nerve-shattering iconoclasts – Strauss with his operas “Salome” and “Elektra” and Hindemith with his raucous works of the 1920s. Then they settled into respectability, Strauss ageing into the elder statesman of Romantic opulence, and Hindemith becoming an influential teacher at Yale. The two men chose different paths during the Nazi Regime. Hindemith, denounced as an “atonal noisemaker” by Goebels, left for America, by way of Switzerland and Turkey, while Strauss, in his 70s with the outbreak of war, remained at home, hoping to preserve and promote German music and to protect his Jewish daughter-in-law and grandchildren. While understanding Strauss’ importance as a propaganda tool, Goebels wasn’t too fond of his music, either, referring to him privately as a “decadent neurotic.”

But we’ll avoid all that, and instead listen to Strauss at the very beginning of his career, in 1883-84, and a Piano Quartet in C minor completed at the age of 20. Interestingly for this composer who became celebrated for the apotheosis of the lavish tone poem, Strauss here channels his admiration for Johannes Brahms, and in a genre not generally associated with a follower of the post-Wagnerian “New Music School.” Brahms was at the height of his fame while the young Strauss was living in Berlin. In fact, Strauss attended the premiere of Brahms’ Fourth Symphony. This performance of the Piano Quartet promises to be a very special one, with Walter Klien at the keyboard, heard at the 1972 Marlboro Music Festival, in his early 40s and at the peak of his powers.

Hindemith was evidently feeling his oats when he launched into his series of Kammermusiken, 20th century analogues to the Bach Brandenburg Concertos, but with a little bit of an ironic edge. Hindemith was about 26 when he wrote his exuberant Kammermusik No. 1, in 1922, the piece sounding like a post-modern mash-up of “Petrushka,” the Rondo-Burleske from Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, and hot jazz. Watch out for that siren! The performance, from 2016, will feature an ensemble of 12 Marlboro musicians under the direction of another great pianist, Leon Fleisher.

Two young composers show what they can do, one in reverence and the other evidently not, on “Music from Marlboro,” this Wednesday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page

April 18, 2018
Epic Biblical Film Scores for Passover & Easter

Passover begins tonight, and Sunday is Easter. Time to Bible-up!

This week on “Picture Perfect,” religion takes a back seat to spectacle, with an hour of music from mid-century Hollywood epics, including “Samson and Delilah” (Victor Young), “Solomon and Sheba” (Mario Nascimbene), “Sodom and Gomorrah” (Miklós Rózsa) and “The Ten Commandments” (Elmer Bernstein).

We begin and end with two Cecil B. DeMille productions. DeMille could always be counted on to give his audience a good show. Both “Samson” and “The Ten Commandments” feature sultry temptresses, violent, bare-chested men, and plenty of austere moralizing. The climactic special effects in both films are still sublime.

Tyrone Power was originally cast as Solomon in King Vidor’s “Solomon and Sheba.” However, he died of a massive heart attack during shooting (at the age of 44), paving the way for Yul Brynner to assume the role of the wise king. Brynner, of course, would later become DeMille’s pharaoh Rameses. With Gina Lollobrigida as the Queen of Sheba, you know there has to be an orgiastic dance.

Miklós Rózsa characterized “Sodom and Gomorrah” as “an intriguing subject which developed into a bad picture,” and most critics agreed. Any film that casts Stewart Granger as Lot should be taken with a pillar of salt. Rózsa determined not to score any more Biblical epics after “Sodom,” though his music is nothing to be ashamed of. It possesses that classic Rózsa epic sound, much beloved thanks to his work on “Quo Vadis,” “Ben-Hur” and “King of Kings.”

Chariots! Tunics! Histrionic acting! The music will be epic, this Friday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network. (Please note: if the time happens to conflict with your Seder, the show will be posted next week as a webcast, at wwfm.org.)

PHOTOS: Victor Mature’s stuffed lion vs. Charlton Heston’s cotton candy beard

March 30, 2018

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