Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Vintage Recordings

Vintage Gershwin on the Lost Chord

This week on “The Lost Chord,” it’s very clear our love (for Gershwin) is here to stay!

We’ll get a jump on the Fourth of July celebrations with an hour of vintage recordings of music by one of our most versatile composers.

George Gershwin occupied a unique place in American music, rising from Tin Pan Alley scrapper to Broadway royalty. From there, he conquered the concert hall and even the opera house, with his blend of popular song, jazz, blues, spirituals and European classical forms.

Like Franz Schubert a hundred years before, Gershwin managed to churn out an astonishing amount of music over a comparatively brief span. His songs, in particular, have been of enduring interest. His gift of lyricism and invention defied early critics as he bestrode the worlds of popular and classical music like an American colossus.

Sadly, at the peak of his success, he died of a brain tumor at the age of 38.

We’ll sample Gershwin’s artistry in recordings of the era, including several songs performed by Al Jolson, Fred Astaire, and Ella Logan. (So many excellent recordings to choose from!)

We’ll also hear the world premiere recording of “An American in Paris” – performed by the Victor Symphony Orchestra (really members of the Philadelphia Orchestra), with the composer himself on the celesta – and the Concerto in F, performed as part of a memorial concert at the Hollywood Bowl, with the composer’s friend, Oscar Levant, as soloist.

Three of these recordings date from 1937, the year of the composer’s death. All are from his era. I hope you’ll join me for “Vintage Gershwin,” this week on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

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 – ALL NEW! – 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/

PHOTO: (left to right) Astaire with George and Ira Gershwin

June 29, 2024
Flag Day Vintage Recordings Sousa & US Marine Band

It’s Flag Day! Here are three vintage recordings for Old Glory:

The U.S. Marine Band performs “True to the Flag” (actually of German origin) in 1922

John Philip Sousa, “Riders for the Flag” in 1929

Sousa introduces and conducts “Stars and Stripes Forever” in 1929

IMAGE: Jasper Johns, “Three Flags” (1954)

June 14, 2022
Wagner’s Birthday Broadcast Vintage Recordings

Time to get out the crazy party hats. You know, the ones with the horns and feathers. May 22 is the birthday of Richard Wagner (1813-1883). This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll honor the composer with an handful of vintage recordings.

American baritone Lawrence Tibbett never actually sang the role of Wotan on stage, in the context of a “Ring” cycle. However, he did record “Wotan’s Farewell and Magic Fire Music,” magnificently, in 1934, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Leopold Stokowski.

Karl Muck was a casualty of anti-German sentiment during his time as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which, unfortunately, happened to coincide with the First World War. Be that as it may, he was held in the highest regard by fellow musicians and thought by many to be one of Wagner’s finest interpreters. We’ll hear a fascinating 1927 recording of the Transformation Music and the beginning of the Grail Scene from Act I of “Parsifal,” made at the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth.

The recording employs the original bells designed by Wagner, which would be melted down by the Nazis for ammunition during the Second World War. So this will be a rare opportunity to experience the “Parsifal” Wagner actually knew. Muck was principal conductor of the Bayreuth Festival since 1903. He conducted “Parsifal” at Bayreuth 14 times between 1901 and 1930.

Incidentally, it was on this date 150 years ago – Wagner’s 59th birthday – that the composer laid the cornerstone for his Bayreuth Festival Theater.

Finally, we’ll return to “Die Walküre” to wrap things up on a buoyant note with Siegmund and Sieglinde’s love music from Act I, which concludes with the lovers fleeing together into the welcoming spring. Nine months later, Sieglinde gives birth to Siegfried, the saga’s hero-without-fear. Lotte Lehmann strikes sparks with legendary Danish heldentenor Lauritz Melchoir in a 1935 recording with Bruno Walter and the Vienna Philharmonic.

The power of these performances remains undiminished by the passage of time. It’s a Wagner power hour on “Vintage Wagner,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTOS: Lotte Lehmann as Sieglinde and Lauritz Melchior as Siegmund

May 22, 2022
Gershwin’s Genius: July 4th on The Lost Chord

Happy Independence Day! This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” cap your Fourth of July celebrations with an hour of vintage recordings of the music of George Gershwin.

Gershwin occupied a unique place in American music, rising from Tin Pan Alley scrapper to Broadway royalty. From there, he conquered the concert hall and even the opera house, with his blend of popular song, jazz, blues, spirituals and European classical forms.

Like Franz Schubert a hundred years before, Gershwin managed to churn out an astonishing amount of music over a comparatively brief span. His songs, in particular, have been of enduring interest. His gift of lyricism and invention defied early critics as he bestrode the worlds of popular and classical music like an American colossus.

Sadly, at the peak of his success, he died of a brain tumor at the age of 38.

We’ll sample Gershwin’s artistry in recordings of the era, including several songs performed by Al Jolson, Fred Astaire and Ella Logan. (So many excellent recordings to choose from!)

We’ll also hear the world premiere recording of “An American in Paris” – performed by the Victor Symphony Orchestra (really members of the Philadelphia Orchestra), with the composer himself on the celesta – and the Concerto in F, performed as part of a memorial concert at the Hollywood Bowl, with the composer’s friend, Oscar Levant, as soloist.

Three of these recordings date from 1937, the year of the composer’s death. All are from his era. I hope you’ll join me for “Vintage Gershwin,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTO: (left to right) Astaire with George and Ira Gershwin

July 4, 2021
Vintage Gershwin on the Radio This Sunday

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll cap the long Fourth of July weekend with an hour of vintage recordings of the music of George Gerswhin.

Gershwin occupied a unique place in American music, rising from Tin Pan Alley scrapper to Broadway royalty. From there, he conquered the concert hall and even the opera house, with his blend of popular song, jazz, blues, spirituals and European classical forms.

Like Franz Schubert a hundred years before, Gershwin managed to churn out an astonishing amount of music over a comparatively brief span. His songs, in particular, have been of enduring interest. His gift of lyricism and invention defied early critics as he bestrode the worlds of popular and classical music like an American colossus.

Sadly, at the peak of his success, he died of a brain tumor at the age of 38.

We’ll sample Gershwin’s artistry in recordings of the era, including several songs performed by Al Jolson, Fred Astaire and Ella Logan. (So many excellent recordings to choose from!)

We’ll also hear the world premiere recording of “An American in Paris” – performed by the Victor Symphony Orchestra (really members of the Philadelphia Orchestra), with the composer himself on the celesta – and the Concerto in F, performed as part of a memorial concert at the Hollywood Bowl, with the composer’s friend, Oscar Levant, as soloist.

Three of these recordings date from 1937, the year of the composer’s death. All are from his era.

I hope you’ll join me for “Vintage Gershwin,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

GERSHWIN BONUS! TUNE IN EARLY TO ENJOY MORE SONGS BY GERSHWIN ON “THE DRESS CIRCLE” AT 7 P.M!

The Dress Circle – Public Radio Dedicated to the Performing Arts

Fred Astaire singing “A Foggy Day (In London Town),” from “A Damsel in Distress”:

July 7, 2019

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