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The Voice of Sally Sweetland
Although she never became a big star, Sally Sweetland (1911-2015) had an extraordinary voice that led to a long career as a studio singer and later as a teacher.Born Sally Mueller, she acquired the...
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More Fauré from Kathleen Long
My previous post of pianist Kathleen Long and the music of Gabriel Fauré was surprisingly well received, so today I am offering her other recordings of that composer.This is in the form of a 10-inch...
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Les Brown - Coral Singles 1951-54
Bandleader Les Brown recorded a large number of singles for the Coral label from 1951-54. I thought we might have a look at some of the more neglected items. Most of these never appeared on a Coral LP,...
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Music from Ireland
For this post I am combining a few records to provide a by-no-means comprehensive overview of 20th century music in Ireland. First we have two transcription discs published by the Marshall Plan...
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The Young Steve Lawrence - His First Recordings
Steve Lawrence made a whole lot of records and a whole lot more appearances on stage and television in a career that lasted nearly 70 years. The singer-actor-comedian died last week at age 88.Something...
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Music for Democracy from Eastman
For the first entry in its "American Music Festival Series," the Mercury label turned to patriotic works by two of the leading composers of the time - Howard Hanson (1896-1981) and Randall Thompson...
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Lee Wiley Sings Harold Arlen
Here is the third in our exploration of the composer songbooks recorded by the great Lee Wiley from 1939-43. The earlier posts were devoted to Gershwin and Rodgers and Hart. The R&H article...
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Beethoven with Pollini and Böhm
A quick tribute to the remarkable pianist Maurizio Pollini, who has died at age 82, in the form of one of my favorite recordings.It is Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, here in a magnificent 1976...
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Robert Shaw's 'Treasury of Easter Songs'
Toward the end of last year I posted Robert Shaw's early LPs of both Thanksgiving and Christmas music. Today I am adding to the collection with his Treasury of Easter Songs, which came out in...
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The Songs of Dana Suesse
Dana Suesse in 1932For today's post we examine the songs of Dana Suesse (1909-87), who wrote popular works while maintaining an interest in classical music, which her success in pop music later allowed...
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The Music of Edgard Varèse
I had a request for a particular LP of Edgard Varèse's music, so I thought I would turn this post into a small festival of historic recordings of works by this remarkable, iconoclastic figure.Varèse...
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Casper Reardon - The First Jazz Harp Player
Casper Reardon (1907-41) didn't start out to become the first jazz harp player. He was a trained classical musician who had performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony.But...
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A Requiem for Sir Andrew Davis
The distinguished conductor Sir Andrew Davis has died at age 80 after a brief struggle with leukemia. Today a tribute to him in the form of one of his earliest recordings, the Requiem by Maurice...
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Lee Wiley Sings Cole Porter
The fourth composer songbook recorded by vocalist Lee Wiley was devoted to Cole Porter, issued in a 1940 Liberty Music Shop album.It's the fourth songbook, that is, in its appearance on this blog; the...
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Hanson Conducts Gould, Barber and Hanson
Howard HansonThe composer and Eastman School of Music head Howard Hanson (1896-1981) conducted a large number of American music recordings for the Mercury label in the 1950s and 60s.Recently I posted...
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Bull Moose Jackson, 'Big Ten-Inch Record' and Much More
When I started this blog 16 years ago, I decided to focus on 10-inch LPs, a long-forgotten niche and one that I had pursued for many years. What better name, I thought, than the old R&B hit, "Big...
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More from Maurice Duruflé
Last month in a tribute to the late Sir Andrew Davis, I mentioned the absence from the catalog of Maurice Duruflé's orchestral Trois danses. My friend and frequent commenter centuri quickly reminded me...
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The Complete 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon'
After the success of 1951's On Moonlight Bay, the Warner Bros. brought back stars Doris Day and Gordon MacRae for another go at a story loosely based on Booth Tarkington's Penrod stories. The result...
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Lauritz Melchior - 1942-43 Performances
The lighter side of the great tenor Lauritz Melchior (1890-1973) has been featured here on several occasions (see below). Today we hear from him in the métier that made him famous - opera - along with...
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Trudy Erwin
Trudy Erwin (1918-2000) was a talented singer mostly remembered for her movie dubbing assignments and appearances with Bing Crosby. She had a lovely mezzo voice, perfect diction, careful intonation and...
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