REVIEW POTPOURRI

by  Peter Cates

Handel’s Messiah

Walter Susskind conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus; Musical Heritage Society MHS 582/ 583/ 584, three LP set, recorded September 22-24,1958.

Walter Susskind

Being in the Easter spirit, I offer comments on this Messiah set since the music is appropriate to both Christmas and this week’s observances. Con­duc­tor Walter Susskind (1913-1980) delivered a performance of superb quality with a crackerjack quartet of singers – my special favorite being the late contralto Helen Watts (1927-2009), whose rendition of He Shall Feed His Flock gives me the thickest goosebumps every time I hear it. Harpsichordist George Malcolm (1917-1997) did beyond superb playing with the orchestra and revealed especially exquisite details in certain sections such as the Pastoral Symphony.

My first Messiah record was a 99-cent highlights disk from this same performance. A CD edition of this recording is priced starting at 2 or 3 bucks by various Amazon vendors.

Melachrino Strings

April in Paris
RCA Victor LSP-2739, recorded 1963, stereo dynagroove LP.

The Melachrino Strings were the creation of English-born George Melachrino (1909-1965), an all-around musician skilled at playing violin, viola, clarinet, oboe, etc., and composer of movie soundtracks. This orchestra landed a contract with RCA Victor in the very early fifties, sold easy listening records by the millions and were the biggest rival to Mantovani. The albums had such titles as Music for Relaxing, To Sleep By, For Dining and To Study By; and ones devoted to the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, and, one special favorite, Jerome Kern. To me, their arrangements were tasteful, very pleasant and, as a rule, less sugary than those of Mantovani.

April in Paris also has a group of three accordionists, the Trio de Musette, which provides charming instrumental contrasts to the larger orchestra within each selection. The program consists of French-styled pop classics such as C’est Si Bon, I Love Paris, the Bobby Darin hit Beyond the Sea, Song from Moulin Rouge, Autumn Leaves, the title song, etc. The LP shows up often on Amazon sites and in various thrift stores along with other Melachrino titles.

Charley Varrick

starring Walter Matthau, Andy Robinson, Joe Don Baker, John Vernon, Sheree North, etc.; 1972.

Walter Matthau

A mostly forgotten film of possible interest.

With respect to bank heist flicks, this movie remains one of the best ones I have ever seen. Matthau plays the title character who is thrown unwittingly into one nasty situation after he and his friends pull off the typically every day bank robbery. Their proceeds are not the common ten or, if lucky, $20,000 for their well-planned hard day’s work but a roaring six digits when

Sheree North

the gang coerces the employees into handing over certain cloth bags seen behind the counter. They have obviously hit a money laundering outfit. And become the target of some individuals, portrayed with captivating aura by Joe Don Baker and John Vernon, who pursue them with scorched earth determination. Quite fun and delightfully unpredictable at moments!

Joe Don Baker

REVIEW POTPOURRI

by  Peter Cates

Dvorak

Symphonies 4, 5, and 6; Overtures
In Nature’s Realm, My Country and Carnival; Istvan Kertasz conducting the London Symphony Orchestra; Vox Box SVBX 5138, three 12-inch LPs, recorded 1967.

Back in my early classical record collecting days during the ’63-’64 years, a peak listening experience was the 9th Symphony, better known as “From the New World;” followed within three years, as I could afford the records on my dollar a week budget, by the uniquely sweet goose-bumpish beauties of Symphonies 8, 7, and 6 and the Cello Concerto. My records of these were pretty torn up, mainly from the tone arm of my 32 dollar RCA Victor manually operated three- speed player. But, even with such crude reproduction, this music stood the test of time and still does with much better home reproduction and a variety of different recordings of each piece.

The above set features Symphonies 4, 5, and 6, via recordings leased from the Decca/London label of the late, exceptionally gifted conductor, Istvan Kertesz (1929-1973), one Maestro from whom I have not heard a single record that was never less than very good. During the spring of 1973, he was appointed music director of both the Cologne, Germany, Orchestra and Opera, the kind of challenge that Kertesz relished and, in the opinion of many, would have made a very good fit. Unfortunately, within two or three weeks while on a much-needed vacation to Israel with his wife and two children, he was caught by an undertow while swimming in the Red Sea.

The three symphonies and companion overtures are, in typical Dvorak style, a feast of dramatic excitement and charming melody, and performed in a superb manner. A highly recommended trio of LPs !

Cry, Danger

starring Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Regis Toomey, William Conrad, etc.; directed by Robert Parrish; RKO Radio Films, released February 3, 1951, 79 minutes.

Dick Powell

Dick Powell (1904-1963) portrays, with commendable presence, Rocky Mulloy, a man freshly released from prison after serving five years of a life term for a robbery and murder he didn’t commit and then exonerated by a man who comes forward suddenly with a much-needed alibi for Mulloy’s whereabouts the day of the crime. The justly popular, alluring siren of fifties melodrama, Rhonda Fleming (1923-), is Nancy Morgan, Mulloy’s ex-girlfriend and now wife of his good friend Danny, who is still imprisoned unjustly for the same crime. Regis Toomey (1898-1991) weighs in as Lt. Gus Cobb, an investigator who’s still convinced Mulloy is not only guilty but knows where the unrecovered loot is; but he is also fair with people under investigation and keeps an open mind, just the type of role Toomey did so well in The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart.

Finally, William Conrad (1920-1994), best known as a radio actor, a narrator, a director of numerous episodes for various TV shows and star of the ‘70s hit series, Cannon, is Louis Castro – a bookie, another suspect for Mulloy’s crimes yet untouchable, and a leader of his own formidable gang, a character he deploys with commendable professionalism.

Rhonda Fleming

The story has its share of false leads, double crosses and violence but the events contribute to a pretty decent climax as Mulloy’s life is finally relieved of one bad monkey on his back. And 1951 Los Angeles is revealed in all of its pulsating ambiance – the train station and tunnel; the sleazy and semi-sleazy bars; a quaint yet sinister trailer park with year-round balmy weather; the majestic thoroughfares glutted with now-vintage automobiles, trucks and city buses; and the old hotel/apartment buildings with tobacco shops and newsstands. One solid 79 minute piece of newly-remastered black and white entertainment in its DVD incarnation.

REVIEW POTPOURRI

by  Peter Cates

Duke Ellington
                    Blue Light

Columbia CL 663, 12- inch vinyl mono LP, released 1955. From nine Brunswick 78 sides recorded between 1934-1939.

Duke Ellington

Blue Light gathers several lovely disks of the quieter jazz of which the Duke was a master. One number, Reminiscing in Tempo, not only stood out for several years after its composition and first recording in 1935 as having the longest performance time, but also as a moving commemoration of his mother who had died the same year.

The personnel during these years stood out for their musicianship, discipline, compatibility and relaxed teamwork. They included Cootie Williams, Juan Tizol, Barney Bigard, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, etc., and included a few who would stay for two or three decades.

The LP is available with another one, Ellington Uptown, on a single cd and can be ordered through Bull Moose and various Internet sources.

Bach
Two Concertos for Three Harpsichords and Harpsichord Concerto No. 8

Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichordist, and conducting the Leonhardt Consort; Das Alte Werk SAWT 9458, twelve inch vinyl lp, recorded October, 1963.

Johann Bach

Along with sheer beauty, J.S. Bach’s Harpsichord Concertos are a source of melody, fascinating harmonies and very stately but alive rhythms. And this LP, with the late Gustav Leonhardt’s exceptional playing and conducting, is reasonably priced, in both vinyl and CD formats, and available through the Amazon vendors and local Bull Moose and Barnes and Noble outlets for special ordering.

The Band of His Majesty’s Irish Guards
On Parade

London LPB 16, 10- inch vinyl LP, recorded 1949.

As a rule, marching band concerts and recordings bore me, but this ancient LP may be an exception to the rule. Its players display an unusual flair for nuance while performing in a captivating manner.

There are a couple of Sousa marches; Fucik’s Entry of the Gladiators – better known in its heyday as the theme for Bozo the Clown; Colonel Bogey – a late ‘50s hit for Mitch Miller, the movie theme for Bridge Over the River Kwai, and a most well timed inclusion in the 1961 Disney edition of The Parent Trap; and other less well known musical chestnuts from the British Isles. For interested parties, it is worth the search!

The Band of His Majestry’s Irish Guards

REVIEW POTPOURRI

by  Peter Cates

Hangmen Also Die

starring Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee, Gene Lockhart, etc.; directed by Fritz Lang; United Artists; 1943; 135 minutes.

Brian Donlevy

Hangmen Also Die was produced to depict the June, 1942, assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi Protector of Czecho­slo­vakia, a major architect of the Final Solution and, in general, a rather loathsome villain of the World War II years.

Walter Brennan

Due to the timing of its completion, the production team did not have available the full story of the actual assassins and the reprisals carried out against the village of Lidice; instead it tacked a fictitious hero for the main thrust of the story in that Brian Donlevy portrays a Czech doctor who is Heydrich’s assassin and working with an underground resistance of good citizens, most of whom will be betrayed, arrested and shot by the end of the film. Meanwhile, the doctor and a few good friends set up a treacherous Nazi informer in a spider web of intrigue.

Even though I watched the entire movie through Youtube with cheap headphones, I was riveted – by the ominous black and white sets, the stark cinematography, Hans Eisler’s atmospheric soundtrack and director Lang’s astute pacing and phenomenal ability to draw out one great ensemble performance from the actors/actresses, right down to the bit parts. Highly recommended film noir!

Gene Lockhart

Anna Lee

The Crystals

He’s Sure the Boy I Love; Walkin’ Along (La La La)
Philles Records 109; seven-inch vinyl 45 record; recorded 1962.

Even though this record was produced under Phil Spector’s supervision, the women are not the same group that was releasing hit 45s for him between 1960 and ’62. In one of his more devious moments, he hired Darlene Love and the Blossoms to replace the original group while using their name. Whatever the ethics of his switch, this is a very good example of the symphonic Wall of Sound he had been utilizing in recording sessions since the mid-’50s, quite often with unprecedented commercial and artistic success.

He’s Sure the Boy I Love is a charmer by the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil team, who has written more top quality songs than one can possibly count; a couple of examples – We Gotta Get Out of this Place and Somewhere Out There. The inspiring combination of the ladies’ heartfelt singing and the roaring Wall arrangement are, of, course, top notch, while the more sparingly arranged instrumental has a guitar solo worth careful discerning listening.

The Crystals

Since 2009, the 77-year-old Spector has been serving an 18-year prison sentence for second degree murder and his health has been deteriorating since a 2015 hospital stay.