by Peter Cates Bartok Divertimento; 5 Chants for Children’s Chorus and Orchestra; 12 Miniatures for Orchestra Vassil Kazandjiev conducting the Sofia Chamber Orchestra, with the Bodra Smyana Children’s Chorus directed by Liliana Bocheva singing the five chants – Balkanton/Harmonia Mundi HMB 103, stereo LP, released early 1980s. Also a noted Bulgarian composer and now 84, […]
by Peter Cates John D. MacDonald A Deadly Shade of Gold. Fawcett paperback, 1965, 287 pages. Novelist John MacDonald (1916-1986) produced over 70 pulsating examples of the suspense genre. They included the classic thriller Cape Fear which was transformed into the 1962 film starring Robert Mitchum as the villain Max Cady and the 1991 remake […]
by Peter Cates Classical Journey Volume 4:France; Laserlight 79 669, cassette, released 1991. Some of the best of France’s shorter classical works are to be found here – Offenbach La Vie Parissienne, the always riveting Auber Fra Diavolo Overture, Herold Zampa Overture, Boieldieu The Lady in White Overture – quite engaging and new to me, […]
by Peter Cates NCIS Current Netflix 15th season This program featuring naval intelligence stories is one that keeps on giving. I am convinced some viewers watch it for the facial expressions of Mark Harmon alone. The balance of humor and suspense is another factor. The addition of Maria Bello as special agent Jack is a […]
by Peter Cates Laura Nyro Smile, Columbia AL 33912 LP ,1975. The late Laura Nyro was one very gifted singer, songwriter and pianist. A number of songs, Stoney End, Stoned Soul Picnic, Wedding Bell Blues, etc. have been covered by such artists as Barbra Streisand and the Fifth Dimension. The 1975 Smile is a sterling […]
by Peter Cates Yellow Rolls Royce/Umbrellas of Cherbourg Excerpts Cinema Sound Stage Orchestra, Somerset records, LP, 1965. The 1964 films, Yellow Rolls Royce/Umbrellas of Cherbourg generated original musical sound tracks. The above release had no connection with the originals. The Cinema players were hired by D.L.Miller, a fascinating businessman worthy of a biography while the […]
by Peter Cates Bizet Carmen excerpts Remington RLP-199-15, mono LP, recorded in 1950. Remington records was started in 1950 and stayed in business until 1957. The records themselves often had noisy surfaces; they also had very beautiful and colorful album covers, which makes them often collectible and also very expensive on different Internet sites. Finally, […]
by Peter Cates The World’s Greatest Cellists Sine Qua Non-SQN-112X, three LPs, released 1973. The set contains an assortment of truly great masterworks performed by three of the greatest practitioners of the cello. Each individual and his offering(s) will be considered: Pablo Casals (1876-1973) did more than any previous player to expand appreciation of the […]
by Peter Cates Sarah Vaughan Sings the Mancini Songbook Mercury, 61009, stereo LP, recorded 1965. This very fine album, a bringing together of one of the finest singers and composers in American music history, was a collaboration that never got the attention it truly deserved. Singer Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990) brought thorough professionalism, exquisite taste, and […]
by Peter Cates (Read part one here.) Zino Francescatti had a style of playing that was elegant, vibrantly alive and communicative and recorded an early ‘50s Columbia mono LP with Dimitri Mitropoulos and the New York Philharmonic in which this style truly shined. A late ‘50s second recording of the firebrand Jascha Heifetz paired him […]