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Gould Conducts Gould, Direct to Disc
When I recently posted the first recording of Morton Gould's Spirituals for Orchestra, dating from 1946, longtime blog reader Centuri asked me if I had this rendition, conducted by the composer and...
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Wallenstein Conducts Gershwin and Rodgers, Plus Reups
Robert Russell Bennett's suites from Oklahoma! and Porgy and Bess are still popular, and in the case of the Gershwin opera, his version is probably heard more often than the opera itself or Gershwin's...
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Gauk Conducts Miaskovsky
About a month ago I uploaded a recording of Symphony No. 21 by the 20th century Russian composer Nikolai Miaskovsky (latterly Myaskovsky), in a vivid performance by the Philadelphians under Eugene...
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Gershwin from Levant, Kostelanetz and RodziĆski
Times Square, 1945By the time the Warner Bros. had released their romantic biopic of George Gershwin in 1945, the late composer had ascended to a crescendo of fame that endures to this day. His most...
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Gershwin from Kostelanetz, Plus More from Weston
My last post presented two of the recordings that Columbia made to mark the release of the 1945 George Gershwin biopic, Rhapsody in Blue - the Rhapsody with Levant and Ormandy, and An American in Paris...
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Chausson from Francescatti, Casadesus, Guilet Quartet
The Chausson Concert for Piano, Violin and String Quartet is one of the great masterpieces of French Romanticism. Today we have a sterling rendition from some of the finest French instrumentalists of a...
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Vic Damone for the Silvertone Record Club
Young Vic DamoneVic Damone has recorded for a number of companies during his long career, but his early efforts were mainly but not exclusively for Chicago-based Mercury records. He joined that label...
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Hovhaness Conducts Hovhaness
Longtime friend of the blog David Federman recently sent a plea for more transfers from the M-G-M Records classical catalog. That label was active in the classical realm for several years in the 1950s,...
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Khachaturian: Kaufman vs. Kogan
When I recently posted a transfer of Oscar Levant's Gershwin recordings, reader Brent asked if I had the pianist's rendition of the Khachaturian concerto. I did not, but my good friend Bryan does, and...
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Damone Special - April in Paris Plus Bonuses and Remasters
Vic Damone has become something of a sub-specialty of this blog, most recently with a collection of his Silvertone Record Club recordings.At that time I speculated that the Silvertone sides were...
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Kay Armen Sings to No One but You
I had a request from long-time reader Ravel for something by the pop singer/actor Kay Armen. I hope he (and you) will find this 10-inch LP from 1955 to be appealing. Armen had a lovely alto voice, with...
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'Middlebrow' Music from Kermit Leslie
My great friend and fellow blogger Ernie has been busy posting "Christmas in July" shares over at his Ernie Not Bert site this month. These consist of individual songs with a seasonal bent that come...
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Levant Plays Rubinstein and Liszt
There has been a revival of interest in Oscar Levant's recordings on the music blogs and sharing sites lately, and I've done my part with a number of posts already. Today that continues with Levant's...
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Jolson and Levant on the Radio
We have heard a lot of Oscar Levant in recent months in his guise as piano virtuoso. Let's explore another aspect of his persona - the comical sidekick.Today Levant is known for his roles as filmic...
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Slaughter and Other Ballet Favorites from Boston and Fiedler
New reader "rev.b" asked me for this LP last month, promising to be patient while I attended to other urgent business.At this point, I'm not sure what those pressing matters were, but I have now...
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Paul Bowles and Peggy Glanville-Hicks
Here is a second entry in a series devoted to M-G-M's classical recordings of the 1950s. This LP presents two works by composer-author Paul Bowles, and one by composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks, setting...
View ArticleBarbara Cook and Glen Campbell
Two brilliant but very different singers died earlier this week - Barbara Cook and Glen Campbell.I have nothing new for you to commemorate their passing, but I did want to point you to a few items that...
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Over the Rainbow with Les Brown, Plus Notes
I haven't been able to accomplish much recently due to a faltering computer (not to mention its faltering operator), but I did get this enjoyable set by Les Brown in the can.It's organized around...
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Constant Lambert and Brian Easdale
I'm planning to present a series of posts devoted to the 20th century English composer-conductor Constant Lambert, starting with this 10-inch LP that couples scenes from his Horoscope ballet with music...
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Larry Elgart and Charles Albertine
Bandleader Larry Elgart died last week, so I thought I might post one of his most unusual records, this 1954 LP of Music for Barefoot Ballerinas and Others. It's not in the big-band realm occupied by...
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