REVIEW POTPOURRI – Music: Classical Journey; Film: The Loved One

by Peter Cates

Classical Journey

Volume 4:France;
Laserlight 79 669, cassette, released 1991.

France

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, Meyerbeer Coronation March, Delibes Coppelia excerpts, Massenet Meditation, Berlioz Dance of the Sylphs, Chabrier Joyeuse Marche, and the Saint-Saens Danse Macabre.

Conductors Pinchas Steinberg, Tamas Pal, Caspar Richter, Heinz Fricke, Andras Korodi, Adam Fischer, and Rouslan Raychev are not exactly household names, but they are very good. Orchestras are Berlin Radio Symphony, Hungarian State Orchestra, Cologne Radio, Budapest Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, and Plovdiv Philharmonic. The lineup of talent and repertoire are very well-matched and the cassette and cd should be very inexpensive. I like this a lot and will keep my copy!

James Coburn

The Loved One

Starring Jonathan Winters, Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Tab Hunter, Dana Andrews, Paul Williams, etc.

Jonathan Winters

Rod Steiger

The 1965 film, The Loved One, is a very funny satire on the funeral industry. Jonathan Winters plays a dual role as the Divinely Rev. Wilbur Glenworthy and his hapless endearing brother Harry; Rod Steiger as the mortician, Mr. Joyboy; and such seasoned stars as Milton Berle, Robert Morse, Robert Morley, Liberache as the casket salesman, Tab Hunter, James Coburn, Lionel Stander, Dana Andrews, Paul Williams etc., are in peak form. There is a five-minute sketch of Liberache’s salesmanship that conveys maximum humor in a minimum of time.