by Peter Cates

Dick Haymes Sings Irving Berlin

MCA, MCL 1773, LP, released 1983 and based on Decca 78 originals.

Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin (1888-1989), born Israel Baline, in Czarist Russia, came to America with his parents to escape the frequent bloody pogroms occurring there. He left home at the age of eight years, eking out a living as a newsboy. Other subsistent jobs would eventually lead to songwriting, begun with Marie from Sunny Italy, his first published song; the publisher misspelled his name as I. Berlin and Baline kept it for the rest of his very long life.

Within a few short years, the hits started with Alex­ander’s Rag­time Band, Play a Simple Melody, and Everybody’s Doin’ It.

Meanwhile, for more than 70 years, he created an avalanche of songs, of which at least 60 were megahits that still generate royalties for his estate. Dozens of singers covered them on record, especially Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Pat Boone, etc. George Gershwin considered him, “the greatest songwriter who ever lived;” Jerome Kern quipped, “Irving Berlin has no place in American music; he is American music.”

Dick Haymes

Tommy Dorsey

Many music lovers consider Dick Haymes (1918-1980) the finest singer among the sizable pool of talent to emerge during the ‘30s and ‘40s Big Band Era. The story has been verified that Haymes began writing songs as a means to earn a living, and submitted a few to bandleader Harry James. The trumpeter refused the songs but hired Haymes as a singer to replace then recently departed Frank Sinatra, who had meanwhile signed with Tommy Dorsey.

Haymes worked with Benny Goodman and then was introduced by Sinatra himself to Dorsey as a suggested replacement when Sinatra decided to pursue a solo career. Inevitably, Haymes too left Dorsey, became a success and signed with Decca records, scoring nine gold records. His popularity in films increased with 1945’s State Fair. And, even later when his career waned, all of his records would be treasured by collectors simply because he was a great singer and conveyed a sincerity and passion for singing right up to his last years before his death at 61 from lung cancer .

Benny Goodman

Finally, he was married six times, one of his wives being Rita Hayworth and this side of his life having considerable potential for a biographer.

The above reissue contains sixteen 78 sides devoted to Berlin, who was a special favorite of Haymes and includes The Girl That I Marry, Little Fish in a Big Pond, All Alone, Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk, Say It With Music and my own personal favorite, You’re Just In Love, with Ethel Merman and the most exquisite, enchanting arrangement by Gordon Jenkins. A gem of an album!

by Peter Cates

Breakout Kings

starring Laz Alonso, Dominick Lombardozzi, Malcolm Goodwin, Serinda Swan, Jimmi Simpson and Brooke Nevin, produced for A&E, 2011-12, 23 episodes, 43 minutes each.

Laz Alonso

Dominick Lombardozzi

Breakout Kings dealt with a special task force, led by an investigator, Charlie (Laz Alonso), and his assistant, Ray (Dominick Lom­bar­dozzi), to catch prisonors who have escaped, usually ones with violent criminal pasts. However, the two are utilizing the talents of three convicted felons because of their special insights into the criminal mind.

They are a former wholesaler of drugs and weapons, Shea (Malcolm Goodwin); a murderer of five gang members for killing her dad, Erica (Serinda Swan); and a prescriber of illegal pharmaceuticals and a professional behaviorist, Lowery (Jimmi Simpson). All are compensated for their services by being transferred from maximum pens to minimum security residencies, and given one month off their remaining years for each recapture. But, if even one tries to escape, all three will be returned to their previous joint and have their sentences doubled.

Serinda Swan

Malcolm Goodwin

Finally, there is Julianne, the talented analyst and researcher, who was top in her police academy class before being overtaken by depression and other emotional disorders and who is portrayed in a very high-calibre performance by the Canadian actress, Brooke Nevin.

Brooke Nevin

I have already viewed season one and found each episode entertaining, even though a bit predictable. The cast does good work in making their characters believable and, especially as the series proceeds along, quite engaging and sympathetic.

Rimsky-Korsakov

Scheherazade
Jonel Perlea conducts the Bamberg Symphony; Vox-STPL 510.220, stereo lp, recorded 1963.

Jonel Perlea

Conductor Jonel Perlea (1900-1970) recorded a number of LPs for Vox after a 1957 stroke limited him to his left arm. But he delivered a number of good performances, including exceptionally fine readings of the Beethoven Emperor and Chopin First with pianist Guiomar Novaes, and this intense Scheherazade, one of a really good catalog of different recordings of the work.

Ravel

Bolero
Pavan for a Dead Princess; Menuet Antique; Rhapsodie Espagnole- Manuel Rosenthal conducting the Orchestra of the National Opera of Paris; Westminster, WST 14023, recorded early ‘60s.

Maurice Ravel

Manuel Rosenthal (1904-2003) was most prominent for his concoction of Offenbach tunes, known as the Gaite Parisienne ballet. His conducting of these Ravel four staples is very good and, for collectors of duplicates, Ravel and conductors below the radar, this LP is worth a search.

by Peter Cates

Mozart

4th Violin Concerto
Szymanowski Ist Violin Concerto – Piotr Janowski, violin; Stanislaw Wislocki conducting the Warsaw National Philharmonic; Stolat SZM 0105, stereo LP, recorded 1967-68.

Piotr Janowski

Polish born Piotr Janowski (1951-2008) recorded both of these Concertos when he was 16 years old but plays in a wonderfully matured, accomplished manner with musicality galore and a seasoned conductor and orchestra. The Concertos are richly rewarding listening experiences that hold up well. The Szymanowski is a very shimmering, coloristic piece that has become a big favorite of mine in recent years. Mozart’s joyous 4th, along with his 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Concertos, was finished by 1775, when he was 19 and would never write again for any solo string instrument. A record well worth the search.

The Traffickers

hosted by Nelufar Hedayat; produced by Fusion and available on Netflix; premiered November 13, 2016; approximately 41 minutes for each of 8 episodes.

Nelufar Hedayat

Recently I watched the first episode of what promises to be an interesting series of investigative journalism on the black market in illegal commodities, The Traffickers, with already seven additional programs available on Netflix. Its topics include human trafficking, fake pharmaceuticals, weapons, human organs, etc.

The host, Nelufar Hedayat, is a 30-year-old Muslim woman, who has traveled light years around the globe to follow up even the most minor threads to both heighten and bolster each weekly topic. The one I saw dealt with the wholesale poaching of the rhino population, mainly found in South Africa’s Kruger Preserve. It is one of huge profit and supposedly minimal risk. But researchers have found an average of three rhinos being killed daily, thus concluding that the population will end up extinct. The demand, mainly found in Southeast Asia, centers on the supposed healing of every known disease through grinding the powder of the rhino’s horn, a belief held since the Middle Ages. Secondly, the filthy rich enjoy the various trinkets carved and whittled from the horn, with which they flaunt their wealth .

Hedayat and her staff risk their lives talking to the involved criminal elements and depict the dangers to communities where the animals are processed.

Highly recommended!

Julee Cruise

Floating Into the Night
Warner Brothers, 4-25859, cassette, recorded 1989.

Julee Cruise

I have commented elsewhere on this cassette being one of the most beautiful albums of late ‘80s pop music I have ever heard. Julee Cruise, now 61, is a very talented singer who was provided a number of songs here by composer Angelo Badalamenti, all of them in the sweet, dream-like, ethereal category and music one can listen to or simply relax with. Cruise and Badala­menti both worked with director David Lynch who was then involved with his creation, Twin Peaks, a cult favorite among TV viewers, and were associated with some of Lynch’s other projects as well. The Wiki bio on Cruise is rather insightful and quite interesting.

by Peter Cates

Schumann

Symphonies and various works for piano and orchestra and solo piano

Robert Schumann

Heidrun Holtmann and Denes Varjon, pianists; Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra; Stefan Soltesz conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony; Capriccio- LC 08748, 5 CDs, released 2006.

This very generously filled package of five CDs contains some of the most lovable classical music in the world by Robert Schumann, 1810-1856; very nicely performed and blessed with vibrant digital sound; and priced in a range very close to ten bucks.

I especially recommend the sweeping, swash-buckling 3rd Symphony, known as the Rhenish, for its grand depiction of the Rhine River or maybe the Kinderszenen, or Scenes of Childhood, with its fountains of melody. But I will state that every piece of music will reward attentive listeners. An unquestionable recommendation for beginning classical listeners!

Boys’ Night Out

starring James Garner, Howard Duff, Howard Morris, Tony Randall, Kim Novak, Patti Page, etc.; directed by Michael Gordon; MGM films, 1962, 115 minutes.

James Garner

Howard Duff

Four businessmen, three of them married, commute together on the Greenwich to New York City train every day. The husbands persuade the bachelor to find a cheap yet swanky apartment, complete with a gorgeous “housekeeper,” to entertain each of them on their respective nights out. Due to an inscrutable set of coincidences, the digs are found, along with a woman, Cathy, played with fetching allure by Kim Novak, who is doing graduate work on male sexuality and agrees to the deal, fully intending to, using her wiles, avoid the bed.

Kim Novak

Patti Page

One choice example of humor is when Cathy’s professor asks, “Can you look like yes but act like no? This is what a nice girl hasn’t learnt!” To which Cathy replies, “This is what a nice girl has learnt best!”

The comedy is superbly done, as the story builds up to a truly farcical conclusion. Garner as the bachelor and the rest of the cast give a true ensemble performance.

Ralph Flanagan

1001 Nighters
RCA Victor, LPM-1274, mono LP, recorded 1956.

Ralph Flanagan

Ralph Flanagan (1914-1995) began his career in 1935, just as the Big Band era was getting started, and worked for Sammy Kaye, Horace Heidt and Blue Barron; after World War II, he did arrangements for Perry Como, Tony Martin, etc.

However, it wasn’t until 1949 that he really hit the big time with the formation of his own band with its very danceable sound, quite similar to Glenn Miller. He discovered traveling on the road was the real cash cow, although record sales were a close second, and he loved every minute of it. The title of the album refers to the minimal number of evenings chalked up by these journeys over a six-year period.

The selections to be heard here include such oldies as Indiana, Stars Fell On Alabama, Moon Over Miami, etc., with a group of singers joining in for a few titles. Glenn Miller fans would especially enjoy this very pleasant record.

Last Tahra label

by Peter Cates

Tahra Story

Tah 768, one CD, released 2014.

Tahra was a historical CD label started in 1992 by Myriam Scherchen, daughter of the conductor, Hermann Scherchen (1891-1966), and her late husband, Rene Tremaine, journalist, producer and voracious record collector. They started the label as a means of releasing previously unavailable tapes, recordings that had been out of print for decades and some restored material that had wretched sound in their earlier release but now were much improved.

Hermann Abendroth

Although the catalog had several conductors, pianists and string players of significant interest throughout its availability, the couple’s initial focus would be three important conductors- Myriam’s father, Hermann Abendroth (1883-1956) and Wilhelm Furtwangler (1886-1954). I own a sizable pile of their releases and enjoy them thoroughly.

Unfortunately, the decision to end the label, due to several business considerations in 2014, was made and the above CD was its last release.

It was focussed one final time on the same three conductors – Scherchen, Abendroth and Furtwangler, each of whom was a brilliant interpreter of Beethoven. They were also very personalized and individualistic in their conducting styles and gave frequently exciting performances, of which there are five vibrant examples on this CD:
Scherchen conducted a short instrumental piece by the fascinating French baroque composer, Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), Sixieme concert en sextuor , from a 1964 broadcast; and a powerful Schubert Unfinished Symphony, from a long, out-of-print 1960 LP.

Wilhelm Furtwangler

Abendroth was a most adept political survivor under two totalitarian regimes. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Abendroth was resistant to, and highly critical, of the regime; thus he lost one conducting post. By 1937, he had joined the Nazi Party and appointed music director of the Leipzig Gewand­haus.

After the war, he was again dismissed by the recently installed Communist government in East Germany yet within a few short years would be busy doing concerts and recordings mostly in Leipzig and Berlin. After his death, from a stroke he suffered during surgery, he was honored by the East German government with a state funeral.

On this CD, Abendroth conducts the opening Allegro moderato, from Bruckner’s 7th Symphony, in a majestic, truly stirring 1951 broadcast performance.

Hermann Scherchen

Furtwangler is generally the most well-known conductor of the three, even sparking more interest in his many live and studio recordings since his death more than 60 years ago. He had a unique talent for communicating the spiritual essence of whatever musical piece he was conducting, whether it was Mozart or Wagner, and his sizable catalog of CDs is more profitable than that of any other conductor, alive or dead!

He conducts the Beethoven 7th’s joyously jubilant first movement in a 1943 Berlin Philharmonic broadcast and the same composer’s 5th Symphony’s second movement in a 1954 Vienna Philharmonic concert, both renditions typically fascinating Furtwangler tracks.