by Peter Cates George Szell Bizet’s opera Carmen was considered one worthy of meticulous study for aspiring conductors by the perfectionist Maestro George Szell (1897-1970) who held dictatorial Music Directorship of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1946 until his death from bone cancer. I own a shelf of different sets of Carmen as sung by such […]
by Peter Cates Clark Gable Clark Gable (1901-1960) might not have achieved the same level of greatness as, for example, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Rod Steiger, George C. Scott and, among the living, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branaugh, when it came to getting inside the skin of a range of different characters; but […]
by Peter Cates Perry Como Perry Como – That Christmas Feeling; Winter Wonderland. Recorded August 8, 1946. RCA Victor 20-1968, ten-inch 78 disc. I might be jumping the gun here seasonally speaking but I found the key words of That Christmas Feeling most apt in the 78 years and 10 days since this record was […]
by Peter Cates Charles Munch, Walter Bruno, Pierre Monteux Continuing with my on-going fascination with the great conductors of the past, I encountered a group photo of Charles Munch (1891-1968), Bruno Walter (1876-1962), and Pierre Monteux (1875-1964), who established the still existing Domaine School in Hancock for conducting students just over 80 years ago. The […]
by Peter Cates Eli Oberstein Recording producer Eli Oberstein (1901-1960) was mentioned some months ago in a column about early 78 and LP budget labels. Oberstein had worked for Victor during the 1930s and helped start its 35 cent Bluebird label with country music artists and then bandleaders Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw, which was […]
by Peter Cates Roberta Chester Still living in her 80s, poet Roberta Chester has written articles for different newspapers in Maine and taught English at UMO, College of the Atlantic and in Israel. With respect to the Pine Tree State, she wrote the following in the 1989 Maine Speaks anthology: “Now that I live in […]
by Peter Cates Dana Andrews Actor Dana Andrews (1909-1992) had considerable screen presence in such classic 1940s films as The Ox-Bow Incident, Laura, State Fair, The Best Years of Our Lives and, a special favorite of mine more for Susan Hayward (1917-1975) than for Andrews, the 1949 My Foolish Heart. 1956 brought Beyond a Reasonable […]
by Peter Cates Jascha Heifetz Violinist Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) held a series of televised master classes at UCLA in 1962; I recently watched the first one on YouTube and was quite fascinated by his personality and teaching style for its entire 1 hour. He had a half dozen students sitting with what seemed to be […]
by Peter Cates Clifton Fadiman In his 1941 anthology Reading I’ve Liked, editor Clifton Fadiman (1904-1999) wrote why he felt that so many children’s books are terrible: “The trouble with these juveniles is that their authors are greatly interested in children and not at all interested in themselves.” Having enjoyed many of the Golden Books, […]
by Peter Cates Richard Himber A two LP set, Richard Himber and his Ritz-Carlton Hotel Orchestra Featuring Joey Nash (RCA Bluebird, AXM-5520, released 1975) contains 32 recordings from the 1934-35 years of 78s that were originally released on the ten-inch discs of that decade by RCA Victor’s subsidiary 35 cent Bluebird label. Prior to the […]