by Peter Cates

Prague Spring Festival

Since 1946, the Prague Spring Festival has been a renowned annual gathering of top notch classical artists in the Czech Re­public. The An­dante label re­leased a nicely packaged set of four CDs and a hardcover book consisting of broadcasts from 1947 to 1968 featuring 11 great conductors with the extraordinarily accomplished Czech Philharmonic. I offer one anecdote of a fascinating guest Maestro and, due to space, brief comments on the others:

A 1957 Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony had the longtime conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic, Yevgeni Mravinsky (1903-1988), delivering an especially riveting performance of what has become my favorite symphony by this composer, even more than his Pathetique or 6th.

YouTubes of Mravinsky reveal a poker-faced gentleman using the tiniest hand and finger gestures while drawing the most exciting playing. Just about every other conductor in the profession admired him.

Mravinsky also had the ability to make a piece always sound fresh, no matter how many times he had conducted it before. One player told of participating in 113 performances of the Tchaikovsky 5th under Mravinsky and each one was different from the others in some special way.

Mravinsky also had the longest tenure of any conductor, serving over 50 years as music director in Leningrad, before it changed back to being the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic after the early ‘90s collapse of the Soviet Union.

Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) collaborated with pianist Lev Oborin (1908-1974) in a dazzling 1961 Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto. The charismatic Stokowski contrasted vividly with the jovially obese and bespectacled Oborin, who partnered in concerts and recordings with violinist David Oistrakh (1907-1974).

Longtime Boston Symphony Maestro Charles Munch (1891-1968) conducted a powerful rendition in 1967 of the captivating 6th Sym­phony of Czech com­poser Bohuslav Martinu, which Munch recorded ten years earlier in Boston for RCA Victor.

Munch preferred minimal rehearsals so as to give the players and himself greater reserves of energy and excitement during the concert itself. His YouTube videos reveal a man who could dance and jump like his younger colleague Leonard Bernstein.

The remaining conductors:

Igor Markevitch (1912-1983) with a blazing 1959 Stravinsky Rite of Spring and who was married to an heiress whose family made millions in the French perfume industry.

The irascible perfectionist George Szell (1897-1970), of Cleveland Orchestra fame, in a gripping Beethoven Coriolan Overture also from 1959. Somebody once commented that Szell was his own worst enemy to which Metropolitan Opera general manager Rudolf Bing retorted, “Not while I’m alive!”

Next, my personal favorite of the Maestros assembled here as one to collect recordings of, Belgium born Andre Cluytens (1905-1967) spent most of his adult years in Paris. He was a radical contrast to Szell, being a very kind man whose death from lung cancer because of his chain smoking saddened so many friends.

He was also incredibly brilliant at drawing exquisite performances and a 1955 Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique is one of five he left us, and all of them on my shelves.

Former Czech Philharmonic Music Director Vaclav Talich (1883-1961) recorded some fine 78 sets of Dvorak and Smetana that were released by Victor Red Seal here in the U.S. and conducts a lovely 1954 performance of Dvorak’s tone poem The Wood Dove.

He was wrongfully thrown into jail just after World War II for so-called “unpatriotic conduct” during the Nazi occupation but was released and exonerated by former Czech President Benes.

Another former CPO Music Director Karel Ancerl (1908-1973) conducts the 1968 very ravishing Smetana piece From Bohemia’s Meadows and Forests.

Ancerl was an emaciated Holocaust survivor when the camps were liberated. Not long after this 1968 concert, he and his wife and children emigrated to Toronto, Canada, just as the Russian tanks were rolling into Czechoslovakia.

Russian conductor Kirill Kondrashin (1914-1981) collaborated with pianist Sviatoslav Richter (1914-1998) in an elegant 1950 Mozart 20th Piano Concerto, although interestingly Richter detested most of Mozart’s music while much preferring the music of his teacher Franz Josef Haydn.

Kondrashin defected to the west during the late 1970s and was forging a wonderful relationship with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam but tragically died of a sudden heart attack on his 67th birthday just after conducting a concert with them.

The most well known Russian violinist David Oistrakh (1908-1974) delivered a powerful 1947 Prokofiev 1st Violin Concerto with Rafael Kubelik (1914-1996) conducting. Kubelik first conducted the Czech Philharmonic at the age of 19. Later he would be music director of the Chicago Symphony, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra of Munich.

by Peter Cates

Peter Falk

Peter Falk will always be best-remembered as the cigar burning homicide detective Lt. Columbo and rightfully so. His characterization of a man whose persona was that of a socially awkward bungler who was so easily distracted by the most insipidly trivial, useless pieces of information and yet would fool murderers time and again into thinking they would never get caught with his standard “Oh, I apologize for bothering you but just one more question!”

I have been watching the several available episodes on Amazon Prime, starting with season 2 and its very impressive guest star murderers row line-up:

John Cassavetes as a conductor who disposes of his pianist girlfriend after she’s pressuring him to divorce his wife. Cassavetes and Falk were very close friends who collaborated on several films, one of which was the harrowingly powerful 1974 A Woman Under the Influence, which Cassavetes directed and Falk played the emotionally insensitive construction worker and husband of a woman on the brink of a nervous breakdown (Cassavetes’s wife Gena Rowlands gave an award-winning performance as the main character).

Ray Milland as a murderous uncle who sends his spoiled brat of a nephew to his eternal reward.

Leonard Nimoy as a surgeon who commits three murders in violation of his Hippocratic oath.

English actor Lawrence Harvey as a world class chess champion who murders a rival he perceives as a threat to his world class status and which was one of Harvey’s last roles a year before his death as the age of 45, in 1973.

Martin Landau as twin brothers who electrocute a rich uncle in his bathtub with a blender. This episode also featured the positively brilliant actress Jeannette Nolan as the uncle’s perfectionist housekeeper.

Vera Miles as an entrepreneur in the cosmetics business who cracks a former boyfriend, portrayed by Martin Sheen, on the skull when he refuses to hand over an anti-aging formula he stole from her.

One most memorable episode featured the wonderful Anne Baxter as the murderess who ignites the gasoline explosion of an automobile being driven by a man who gossips too much. Her portrayal of the murderess ended up being a tearfully sympathetic one.

My first experience of Peter Falk’s acting was in 1962 when he appeared as a killer on the short lived TV series The Aquanuts, starring Ron Ely and Jeremy Slate. Falk conveyed very low key ominous presence vividly.

by Peter Cates

Back during the last century old days of my adolescent youth, I was quite enamored by the Mercury dollar cut out LPs of the Chad Mitchell Trio that I bought at downtown Waterville Center’s Department Store. The group’s brand of folk music making thrilled me- their sing­ing of such classics as You Were On My Mind, The Last Thing On My Mind, 4 Strong Winds, I Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound, etc. In addition the impeccable artistry of backup guitarist Paul Prestopino and the precision honed arrangements of Milt Okun contributed to the pleasure of these records.

Seeking similar splendors, I bought my first album of the much more well known Kingston Trio, Close Up, which I believe was the first to feature John Stewart (1939-2008), who replaced the departing Dave Guard in 1961. Guard, along with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, formed the group in 1957 and hit the charts with Tom Dooley.

Stewart had already gotten experience with the less successful but musically gifted Cumberland 3, which recorded an album devoted to songs of the Civil War. He was a gifted songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist- meaning outstanding interpreter of his songs, since his singing was not especially beautiful- ; and he would assume most of the duties as Master of Ceremonies during the Trio’s concerts, being very quick on his feet with witty repartee.

The early ‘60s folk music boom soon busted with the on­slaught of the Beach Boys, Beatles, Rolling Stones and their contemporaries but the Trio continued performing and recording as long as feasibly possible, finally calling it quits in 1967.

Meanwhile John Stewart accumulated a significant body of work and recorded his first of just over 60 al­bums in 1968, the exquisite Signals Through the Glass with his then-girlfriend and later wife, Buffy Ford. The album was a stunning example of great 20th century American music and on the same scale as the music of Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, just to name a few examples

Parallels in art and literature would be painters Winslow Homer, Grant Wood, Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth, the poets Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg and the novelists Willa Cather, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway.

The song titles on that first album included Nebraska Widow, July You’re a Woman, Mr. Lincoln’s Train and Muddy Truckee River.

I recently listened to three of his albums: Lonesome Picker Rides Again, from 1971; 1992’s Bullets in the Hour Glass; and the 2006 The Day the River Sang.

Lonesome Picker had the wistful Just an Old Love Song; the very delectable celebration of village life, Bolinas, with its lovely strings and English horn; the most famous song Stewart ever wrote and a megahit for the Monkees and Anne Murray, Daydream Believer; and, since horses and horse races were subjects dear to Stewart’s heart (his father was a horse trainer), side two’s concluding Wild Horse Road, and All the Brave Horses.

Bullets in the Hour Glass was considered a rather desultory bad day for the singer by one otherwise loyal fan but I found only one dud, a monolog entitled Bad Rats. The River, Dealing with the Night, a very eloquent The Wheel Within the Clay, Women (with backup vocals by Rosanne Cash) and The Man Who Would Be King (it with Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary fame as backup) are first class. By this time, Stewart’s vocal chords were a bit more frayed than during the ‘60s and ‘70s but the solid beauty of the material was still in ample evidence.

In addition, there was a more frequent utilization of New Age synthesizer effects, as opposed to the straight folk rock of the 70s, yet used with taste and intelligence.

The Day the River Sang was a top notch Last Hurrah. While Stewart’s own singing had deteriorated even more in any semblance of beauty, the total quality control of material and arrangements prevailed. The choice Baby It’s You, East of Denver, the title song, Sister Mercy and Midnight Train warrant very close attention.

I attended two concerts of the singer, one in 2001 at the Town Crier Club in Pawling , New York, a village distinguished by the presence of headquarters for Norman Vincent Peale’s Guideposts publication and a separate set of buildings for the Jehovah’s Witnesses; and the second in 2006 at the Augusta St. Mark’s Episcopalian Church just off of Lithgow Street.

He put on great shows both times.

Sadly by 2007, Stewart’s health, which had been problematical for a few years, was showing signs of Alzheimer’s and he died in early 2008 at the age of 68.

by Debbie Walker

My newsletter from Farmer’s Almanac dated 2/22/22 is titled , 20 Strange Remedies That Work looked like something to share and maybe a few extra comments. As with any other column dealing with health issues, please don’t take my word for it. Questions? Discuss with your doctor or nurse.

Let’s start:

1. Cuticle infection: White vinegar treat torn up and infected cuticles – glass of equal parts distilled white vinegar and warm water. Soak for 15 minutes once a day until infection heals.

2. Hiccups: Wasn’t there a song about ‘a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down’? In this case the sugar stops the spasm that cause hiccups.

3. Removing warts: Yet another use for duct tape. Apply a strip of duct tape over the wart. Keep it on for three days; remove, rub, rub the wart area with a pumice stone and then reapply with new tape. It suffocates the virus. Another cure I have tried is to cover wart with nail polish. After a day pull off the polish then cover again. Been there, done it and it did work.

4. Beets for constipation: This one was new to me. Eat fresh steamed beets, then drink the water.

5. Potatoes for bug bites: Create a poultice by grating a peeled potato and put into a piece of cloth. Secure with a rubber band. Apply to cleaned bite until the potato is dry.

6. “Drunkin” raisin for joint pain relief: I know my Mom tried this but I don’t know what her opinion was. Soak golden raisins in gin over night and eat ten daily. Don’t drive until you know the effect on you!

7. Banana peels for poison ivy relief: Rub the inside of a banana peel against the poison ivy rash. It’s supposed to relieve itching. You can also shine your shoes.

These next ones are from an article called The Very Best Old-Time Remedies.

I don’t know where they came from originally.

• If you carry three potatoes with you at all times and pain will not settle in your bones when you are old.
• Never leave the clippings from your hair on the floor because doing so will cause the achy kind of arthritis to settle in your bones when you are old.
• Eat an onion a day to keep your blood flowing smoothly. You will be less likely to have a heart attack or stroke. (Won’t have many people hanging around you either.)
• Include at least one clove of garlic in your diet each day and you may never need to worry about having too much cholesterol in your blood.
• Each morning and evening, pat orange juice onto the skin around the eyes. You will be rewarded with wrinkle-free skin for all of your life.
• Sip warm onion soup at bedtime and you will be able to sleep in a short time.
• Never allow hate to live in your body. It will stir up the mind, corrode the spirit and lead to an early death and sleepless nights.

Enough for now.

I’m just curious what old cures you have heard over the years. Contact me please with questions and comments at DebbieWalker@townline.org. Have a great week and thanks for reading!

by Peter Cates

Mahler Symphony

The Mahler Symphony I would pick for beginners is the First, composed in 1888 when he was 28 years old. It has melodic appeal, it evokes the sounds of the natural world with coloristic sonorities from the woodwinds and double basses to heighten brooding, spooky tension and finally it utilizes brass and percussion for blazing crescendos.

I first encountered the piece via the 1962 Boston Symphony recording under then newly-appointed Music Director Erich Leinsdorf (1912-1993), a very inspired performance with the orchestra in peak form. A number of other distinguished recordings are available, such as those of Seiji Ozawa, Jascha Horenstein, Sir Adrian Boult, Hans Rosbaud, Sir Georg Solti etcs. but this Leinsdorf remains a first choice.

It is also accessible on YouTube.

A couple of quotes

As the world turns with what is perhaps rightfully perceived as extra stress, I am a bit haunted by a couple of quotes.

First the 19th century author of travel books, Richard Burton once wrote, “Peace is the dream of the wise. War is the history of mankind.”

The main character of James Joyce’s difficult to read masterpiece, Ulysses, states that “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awaken.”

On a more cheerful note, George Bernard Shaw recalled, “I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”

Harry Truman gently but tartly rebuked the cynics, “A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.”