Carl Ruggles / How Now, Dow Jones
On this day in classical music: Carl Ruggles’ “Men and Mountains” received its premiere in New York City in 1924. Born in 1876, Ruggles taught composition at the University of Miami from 1938 to 1943. He spent most of the next three decades living in a converted school house in Vermont. His compositional style often makes use of dissonant counterpoint. His musical output is quite small due in part to his lengthy composition process and frequent revision. Listen to the Christoph von Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra perform “Men and Mountains.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ig5Ql2iNQk
Carl Ruggles
On this day in the musical theatre: Elmer Bernstein and Carolyn Leigh’s musical “How Now, Dow Jones” opened on Broadway in 1967. Set on Wall Street, “How Now, Dow Jones” follows the life of a woman who announces the Dow Jones numbers. Kate’s fiance will not marry her until the Dow Jones Industrial Average hits 1,000. One day, she decides to disregard the actual stock market gains and announces that the Dow Jones has indeed reached the 1,000 mark. The confusion that ensues lands Kate in hot water but the U.S. economy manages to survive the false rise. Known primarily for his film scores, Bernstein composed a decent score for “How Now, Dow Jones,” with the hit “Step to the Rear” enjoying popularity outside the show. Because of its unusual plot device, the musical has not been revived. Listen to Marilyn Maye perform the rousing “Step to the Rear.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoCmYd6Tc6Y
How Now, Dow Jones – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: “How Now, Dow Jones” is still another example of the musical that begins with talented and original people who have only the vaguest idea of exactly what they want to do. With the need to actually put something on that stage and have it last for two hours, frenzy moves in where conception fails to tread. Noise replaces sound, panic replaces movement and they cover over the whole business — usually assisted by specialists-in-emergency — relying on facility rather than organized inspiration. If Max Shulman, Carolyn Leigh and Elmer Bernstein had any idea for musical theater when they began work on “How Now, Dow Jones,’ that idea is nowhere apparent. From the looks of things, it was conceived, in doomed vague terms, as a musical about the stock market. (George) Abbott staged the whole business without a trace of interest in content, seeking the speed and the flash that once passed for entertainment. It passes no more. – Martin Gottfried in Women’s Wear Daily
John Corigliano / Happy Hunting
On this day in classical music: John Corigliano’s “Clarinet Concerto” was given its premiere in New York in 1977. Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, the work was premiered by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, with principal clarinetist Stanley Drucker as soloist. Listen to Brian Gnojek perform the final movement, titled “Antiphonal Toccta.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTEzovVl6oo
John Corigliano
On this day in the musical theatre: “Happy Hunting” opened on Broadway in 1956. Starring Ethel Merman and Virginia Gibson, “Happy Hunting” is set in Monaco around the time of Grace Kelly’s marriage to Prince Rainier. Merman played wealthy Philadelphia widow Liz Livingstone who attempts to find a royal husband for her daughter Beth (Gibson). Merman quarreled constantly with her co-star Fernando Lamas and was happy to see the show close after a year’s run. The score, by Broadway novices Harold Karr and Matt Dubey, produced two hits: the charming duet “Mutual Admiration Society” and a solo that Merman often performed in her concert appearances, “Gee, But It’s Good to Be Here.” In this rare television clip, Merman and Susan Watson sing “Mutual Admiration Society.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbdSnVOc9ew
Happy Hunting – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: I rely on the components of particular concerts to generate my musical materials. This commission from the New York Philharmonic provided me with a unique constellation of elements that eventually formed the basis of my approach to the work. My associations as a child — attending rehearsals and performances with my father, who was then the concertmaster of the Philharmonic — gave me the opportunity of getting to know many of the men in the orchestra both as artists and friends. This feeling of intimacy governed my decision to make sure that my first work for the Philharmonic utilized the entire orchestra. I was aware that, with a wind concerto, this is a potentially dangerous thing to do — to solve problems of balance most such pieces are discreetly scored for small ensembles — but it provided me with a fascinating challenge. My regard for the musicians of the Philharmonic also shaped their role in the accompaniment to this Concerto. In it, each player has a chance to display solo virtuosity; often the work approaches being a concerto for orchestra in its demands. The soloist, Stanley Drucker, was first clarinetist of the Philharmonic in my youth. Knowing his special gifts enabled me to write music of unprecedented difficulty for the solo instrument, and gave me the idea that generates the first movement; the opening cadenza. – from program notes by the composer
Vitezslav Novak / I Do! I Do!
On this day in classical music: Czech composer Vitezslav Novak was born in 1870. Little known today, Novak became one of the most well-respected Czech composers of the early 20th century. He’s best remembered for his symphonic poems “In the Tatra Mountains” (1902) and “Eternal Longing” (1904), and the “Slovak Suite” (1903). Listen to Libor Pesek and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic perform “The Ball” from Novak’s “Slovak Suite.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwka1cXFWTE
Vitezslav Novak
On this day in the musical theatre: Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s “I Do! I Do!” opened on Broadway in 1966. Based on the Jan de Hartog play “The Fourposter,” this two-person chamber musical spans 50 years and focuses on the ups and downs of an early 20th century married couple. Preston won a Tony Award for his role. “I Do! I Do!” ran for 561 performances. It’s best known musical number is “My Cup Runneth Over.” Listen to Preston perform “I Love My Wife” from “I Do! I Do!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIN8sss0VYk
I Do! I Do! – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: A warm and very original musical that has the handsome, if glossy, looks of an expensive greeting card and occasionally the sentiments of a cheaper one. From the very start, when the two appear onstage looking like photographs before a rich cyclorama, and as Oliver Smith’s handsome, simple, single set slides in with a fourposter and some striking designs, the production keeps its antique polish. The consequence is a work of remarkable consistency, fine musicality, warm rhythms and superb performances. – Martin Gottfried in Women’s Wear Daily
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari / Baby
On this day in classical music: Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s one-act opera “The Secret of Susanna” received its premiere in Munich in 1909. The secret of its title refers to Susanna’s one vice — smoking. While the opera is rarely performed today, the lively overture is popular in the concert hall. Listen to Leonardo Catalanotto and the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo V. Bellini di Catania perform the overture to “The Secret of Susanna.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0yoC6N3wGo
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
On this day in the musical theatre: Richard Maltby and David Shire’s musical “Baby” opened on Broadway in 1983. It’s the story of three couples (university students, young marrieds and a couple with three grown daughters), each of whom is expecting, and their reactions to the life-changing events that will ensue. The show never caught on with audiences and closed after a seven-month run. Listen to Beth Fowler, Catherine Cox and Liz Callaway perform “I Want It All” on the 1984 Tony Awards broadcast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMSPIPGdjHA
Baby – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: “When you’re pregnant, your emotions run all over the place,” says a mother-to-be in “Baby,” the new musical at the Barrymore. “Baby” runs all over the place, too, but never so far afield that it forsakes those intimate emotions. At a time when nearly every Broadway musical, good and bad, aims for the big kill with gargantuan pyrotechnics, here is a modestly scaled entertainment that woos us with such basic commodities as warm feelings, an exuberant cast and a lovely score. Perfect “Baby” is not, but it often makes up in buoyancy and charm what it lacks in forceful forward drive. Should you wish to avail yourself of the evening’s assets, be prepared for the drawbacks: You’ll have to put up with a jerry-built book littered with sitcom jokes. “Baby” also requires a fondness for its subject. This show is indeed about making babies, and it’s definitely not for anyone who believes that expectant parents should be seen and not heard. If the virtues of “Baby” can’t override all its hitches, so be it. In achievement, this show is a throwback to the early 1960’s — the last era when Broadway regularly produced some casual-spirited musicals that were not instantly categorizable as blockbusters or fiascos. Those musicals — like, say, “Do Re Mi” or “110 in the Shade” — weren’t built for the ages but could brighten a theater season or two: They were ingratiatingly professional, had both lulls and peaks, and inspired you to run to the record store as soon as the original cast album came out. So it is with “Baby,” and wouldn’t it be cheering if such a show could find a home on the do-or-die Broadway of today? – Frank Rich in The New York Times
George Gershwin / Camelot
On this day in classical music: George Gershwin’s “Piano Concerto in F” received its premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1925. The composer was the soloist with the New York Symphony conducted by Walter Damrosch. Impressed by the premiere of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” in February 1924, Damrosch commissioned the composer to write a full-scale piano concerto the day after the premiere. Gershwin completed the score in November 1925. While Ferde Grofe orchestrated the “Rhapsody in Blue,” Gershwin orchestrated his “Concerto in F,” often relying on textbooks about the craft of orchestration. The concerto includes references to the blues and ragtime. Reviews of the premiere were mixed — critics couldn’t decide if it was classical or jazz. Nevertheless, the “Concerto in F” has remained a repertory staple since its premiere. Listen to Peter Jablonski perform the concerto’s finale with the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Marek Janowski conducts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4yJVsuzimo
George Gershwin
On this day in the musical theatre: Lerner and Loewe’s “Camelot” opened on Broadway in 1960. Based on the novel “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White, “Camelot” was a musical version of the Arthurian legend. Starring Richard Burton as Arthur, Julie Andrews and Guenevere and Robert Goulet as Lancelot, “Camelot” didn’t measure up to the Tony Award-winning songwriters’ previous effort, the magical “My Fair Lady.” Audiences were slow to respond to “Camelot” but the musical caught on after Burton and Andrews perform excerpts on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” “Camelot” has remained popular over the decades, with Richard Harris, Howard Keel, Laurence Harvey, Michael York and Gabriel Byrne playing Arthur, and Constance Towers, Elizabeth Larner, Christine Ebersole and Marin Mazzie as Guenevere. “Camelot” became strongly identified with the Kennedy Administration, which is sometimes referred to as the Camelot era. Listen to Burton sing the title number in a 1978 television appearance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–oNWmh3kOU
Camelot – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: Lerner, Loewe and Hart spent so much to mount “Camelot” that the wisecrackers have been calling it “Costallot.” Rialto rumor has it that the new musical represents an investment of more than $500,000. And it looks it, too. If it’s pageantry and spectacle you’re willing to settle for, “Camelot” offers a lot. But, in our book, it’s no “My Fair Lady.” We suspect that Lerner set out to pen a serious satire on knighthood in flower, and missed the boat. His philosophy lacks true depth, and there’s too little wit about the premises. There’s all too little of the tongue-in-cheek that marked Rodgers and Hart’s delightful “A Connecticut Yankee,” a spoof on the same theme. – Robert Coleman in the New York Daily Mirror
Olivier Messiaen / The Mystery of Edwin Drood
On this day in classical music: Olivier Messiaen’s gargantuan orchestral work, the “Turangalila-Symphonie,” was given its premiere by Leonard Bernstein and the Boston Symphony in 1949. Commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the 10-movement composition took more than two years to complete. Its title is derived from the Sanskrit words turanga (time) and lila (love, but also the opposing forces of life and death). With a running time of approximately one hour and 20 minutes, the “Turangalia-Symphonie” was scored for a very large orchestra, with the addition of a piano, the electronic ondes Martenot, celeste and a large battery of percussion instruments. Listen to the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain perform the fifth movement of “Turangalila,” titled “Joy of the Blood of the Stars” at a 2001 London Proms concert. Andrew Davis conducts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv67YkOWJNA
Olivier Messiaen
On this day in the musical theatre: Rupert Holmes’ “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” opened on Broadway in 1985. Based on the novel by Charles Dickens, “Drood” followed the intertwining stories of a British theatrical troupe and the mysterious disappearance of the title character. Left incomplete at the time of Dickens’ death, “Drood” left readers guessing about the identity of the murderer. Holmes devised the clever ploy of having the audience vote on which character committed the murder. He wrote multiple endings for the musical which changed according to the audience’s choice. “Drood” won five Tony Awards, including one as best musical. A revival of the show opened earlier this month. Watch George Rose, Betty Buckley and Cleo Laine perform “There You Are” and “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead” on the 1986 Tony Awards broadcast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faixPCip_AU
The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: No matter how you slice it, “Turangalila” is not an easy listen. It is long, loud and lacks any clear narrative, instead relying on four themes that recur throughout. Messiaen composed deliberately, taking great care to assemble themes in ways that were, to him, perfectly logical. The effect however, particularly for someone who is not familiar with Messiaen’s other works, is one of an ADHD child unable to stay focused long enough to complete a thought. – from a set of program notes
Igor Stravinsky / The Color Purple
On this day in classical music: Igor Stravinsky’s ballet “Agon” received its premiere by the New York City Ballet in 1957. Choreographed by Georges Balanchine, “Agon” is a ballet for twelve dancers that features several movements based on 17th century French courtly dances. Although the ballet has no narrative, it combines groups of dancers in pairs, trios and quartets. The music is dramatically different from Stravinsky’s famous “Firebird,” “Petrouchka” and “The Rite of Spring.” By the 1950s, the composer had embraced serialism, elements of which give “Agon” a very contemporary sound. Watch Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell perform an excerpt from “Agon.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bx46l2gfZ0
Igor Stravinsky
On this day in the musical theatre: “The Color Purple” opened on Broadway in 2005. Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book about a young black girl and the many struggles she faces in the American South, “The Color Purple” enjoyed a two year run and earned a Tony Award for La Chanze’s portrayal as Celie. Watch a promotional video for the national touring production of “The Color Purple.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frkg4pcEGXc
The Color Purple – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: Time doesn’t just fly in the exhaustingly eventful world of “The Color Purple,” the musical adaptation of the Alice Walker novel and film of the same title that opened last night at the Broadway Theater. It threatens to break the sound barrier. In faithfully adapting Ms. Walker’s incident-crammed 1982 Pulitzer Prize winner about Southern black women finding their inner warriors, the show’s creators have fashioned a bright, shiny and muscular storytelling machine that is above all built for speed. So much plot, so many years, so many characters to cover in less than three hours. Or, as one of the many vibrant heroines sings, prettily papering over a gap of eight years, “So many winters gray and summers blue.” From the brass-warmed opening bars of its eclectic overture, this musical has an on-your-mark, get-set quality that promises that pages will be flying off the calendar as if in a tornado. Watching this beat-the-clock production summons the frustrations of riding through a picturesque stretch of country in a supertrain like the TGV. The landscape looks seductively lush and varied; the local populace seems lively and inviting, like people you might want to know; you can even hear tantalizing snatches of folks singing in an intriguing idiom as they go about their work. But it all passes by in a watercolor blur. This show isn’t stiff and anemic like its chief musical competition this season, “The Woman in White” (another plot-crammed adaptation of a novel). But it never slows down long enough for you to embrace it. Would that “The Color Purple” did take time to stop and smell the lilacs. – Ben Brantley in The New York Times
