George Crumb / Taboo
On this day in classical music: George Crumb’s “Makrokosmos I” for amplified piano was given its premiere in New York in 1973. Subtitled “Twelve Fantasy-Pieces after the Zodiac,” “Makrokosmos” was composed for Crumb’s friend David Burge who gave the premiere. The composer would write three additional sets of “Makrokosmos,” the second also for amplified piano, the third for two amplified pianos and two percussionists, and the fourth for amplified piano, four hands. Listen to Benoît Gagnon perform “The Magic Circle of Infinity,” the eighth movement from “Makrokosmos I.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=322Yqli6Y9I
George Crumb
On this day in the musical theatre: The musical “Taboo,” a stage musical loosely based on the early life and career of pop star Boy George, closed on Broadway after a 100-performance run in 2004. Originally staged in London in 2002, “Taboo” was set in an abandoned London warehouse frequented by Boy George’s contemporaries. The Broadway production, which opened in November 2003, was substantially rewritten by Charles Busch. Talk show host Rosie O’Donnell had been so impressed with the show that she financed the Broadway production. Listen to Euan Morton sing “Stranger in this World” from “Taboo.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIoF9JO6qNE
Taboo – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: “Taboo,” a disastrously overcrowded tableau of a show about hedonists who hide their hearts, can keep your head spinning for any number of reasons. And that’s not even counting all the extracurricular drama that attended the show in its rehearsals and previews — tabloid tales of battling egos and last-minute fixes overseen by no less a personality than Rosie O’Donnell, its ardent co-producer. But like its London prototype, this “Taboo” is essentially a singing showbiz soap opera, in which rising stars in a glittery world misplace their souls, hiding the tears of clowns beneath their greasepaint. The newspapers bubbled with stories of starry ego clashes, missed performances and last-minute consultations with outsiders, all given enhanced fascination by Ms. O’Donnell’s simultaneous involvement in a high-profile court case with her former magazine publishers. Up to the moment of the first critics’ preview, rumors persisted that the show would be postponed or perhaps even canceled altogether. But here it is, still definitely alive, if dazed and confused. And it has enough exciting talent — in a cast that includes bright stars-in-the-making like Raul Esparza and Sarah Uriarte Berry — so that no one should really want to hurt “Taboo.” But there’s no denying that the show is a crazy, mixed-up mess in tone, structure and rhythm. Its first act inspires a kind of open-mouthed fascination, as such messes often do. By the second act, the numbness descends that comes from overdosing on plot lines. – Ben Brantley in The New York Times
George Whitefield Chadwick / Little Me
On this day in classical music: George Whitefield Chadwick’s “Symphonic Sketches” was given its premiere by Karl Muck and the Boston Symphony in 1908. Chadwick and his colleagues Horatio Parker, Amy Beach, Arthur Foote and Edward MacDowell became known as representatives of the New England School of American composers during the late 19th century. In 1897, Chadwick was appointed Director of New England Conservatory. His works, many of which reflect a distinctively American style, include several operas, three symphonies, five string quartets, tone poems, incidental music, songs and choral anthems. Composed between 1895 and 1904, the “Symphonic Sketches” are cast in four movements (“Jubilee,” “Noel,” “Hobgoblin” and “A Vagrom Ballad”), each of which was inspired by a work of poetry. Listen to David Sawtelle and the Texas State Symphony Orchestra perform “Jubilee” from Chadwick’s “Symphonic Sketches.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igeCvQODJJY
George Whitefield Chadwick
On this day in the musical theatre: A 1998 revival of “Little Me” closed on Broadway in 1999 after 101 performances. Written by Neil Simon, with music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, “Little Me” was based on the novel by Patrick Dennis. The novel’s subtitle was “The Intimate Memoirs of that Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television/Belle Poitrine, An Illustrated Autobiography of an Imaginary Diva.” Sid Caesar starred in the original 1962 production. Martin Short and Faith Prince headed the cast of the 1998 revival. Watch Short and company perform “Boom, Boom” at the 1999 Tony Awards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOWwclRVIS8
Little Me – Broadway Revival Cast
Musical musings: “Little Me,” the 1962 musical with a book by Neil Simon and songs by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, was originally written for the great television comic Sid Caesar. Its chain of burlesque-style vignettes, designed as a showcase for its versatile leading man, might have come from vintage episodes of “Your Show of Shows,” a television series for which the young Mr. Simon, incidentally, was a writer. On the page, these scenes read as hokey, crass and seriously funny reworkings of classic Borscht Belt shtick. What Mr. Short does with them, in the gravely imbalanced production that opened last night under Rob Marshall’s direction, becomes a testament to the forces of will, instinct and incandescence that make a star. And not just any old kind of star, but a star of the stage. Though Mr. Short is best known for his work on television and in films, the stage loves him the way the camera loved Garbo. There is one little problem about “Little Me,” however, and that is that Mr. Short is essentially the only thing in it, a life force surrounded by dead air. You get the feeling that you’re watching a virtuoso high-wire act performed above a soggy field of a show. And even Mr. Short can’t totally distract your attention from the bog beneath him. Whether playing a Maurice Chevalier-like music hall star or a Teutonic tyrant of a movie director, Mr. Short’s zestful performer’s glee, equal parts ego and generosity, turns cutout cartoons into portraits of Dickensian robustness. This single blaze of light in a disappointingly dreary production is enough to justify the ticket price for “Little Me.” By the way, the evening’s most ingenious sight gags involve making it seem as if Mr. Short were in two places at the same time. The current of this actor’s show-biz electricity runs so strong, I wasn’t at all sure that these moments were merely illusions. – Ben Brantley in The New York Times
Robert Schumann / Dear World
On this day in classical music: Robert Schumann conducted the premiere of his “Symphony No. 3” (Rhenish) in Dusseldorf in 1851. Schumann was inspired to write this symphony after he and his wife Clara took an enjoyable trip to the Rhineland. The composer incorporated elements of his journey and portrayed other experiences from his life in the music. Cast in five movements, the Rhenish Symphony was the last of Schumann’s four symphonies to be completed but is known as the third because of its publication date. Listen to Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic perform the finale of Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpwSIi6E0VA
Robert Schumann
On this day in the musical theatre: Jerry Herman’s “Dear World” opened on Broadway in 1969. music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Buoyed by the success of “Hello, Dolly!” and “Mame,” Herman adapted Jean Giraudoux’ play “The Madwoman of Chaillot” into “Dear World.” Angela Lansbury starred as Aurelia, a countess who plots with her friends to stop businessmen from drilling for oil in the Parisian neighborhood of Chaillot. The forces of idealism, love and poetry ultimately win out over those of greed, materialism and science. The simple story was overwhelmed by the elaborate production although Herman’s score proved to be as tuneful as his earlier shows. Lansbury won a Tony Award for her performance. Listen to Lansbury and company perform the musical’s title number. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQW0EvRh0SM
Dear World – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: So much hard work and so many weeks of industrious previews have gone into the making of “Dear World” that it would have been poetic justice if it could have turned out to be a brilliant show. But the melancholy truth, it seems to me, is that the musical comedy is, despite a picturesque performance by Angela Lansbury, disappointingly mediocre. “The Madwoman” was greatly admired when it was done as a straight play, although it is only fair for me to add that I was not among its critical enthusiasts. I believe that the Giraudoux fantasy was a provocative idea to begin with but had a very scanty narrative to keep it going. “Dear World” is by no means a terrible show. It is actually quite pleasant. Unfortunately, it never comes to stimulating life musically, dramatically or humorously. The mad countess is so buried in grotesque makeup that there is little of the handsome Miss Lansbury left, but her skill and vitality are still there, and she is the evening’s major blessing. – Richard Watts, Jr. in The New York Post
Jacques Ibert / Redhead
On this day in classical music: French composer Jacques Ibert died in Paris at age 71 in 1962. Ibert studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1919. While not allied to any particular compositional school, Ibert nevertheless produced a large body of music, including seven operas, five ballets, incidental music for plays and films, songs, choral works and chamber music. In 1937, Ibert was appointed director of the Academie de France at the Villa Medici in Rome, a post he retained until 1960. Among the composer’s film scores are those for Orson Welles’ “Macbeth” (1948) and Gene Kelly’s “Invitation to the Dance” (1952). Ibert is best known today for his orchestral suite “Divertissement” (1930) and the orchestral travelogue “Escales” or “Ports of Call” (1922). Listen to S. Eric Hawk and a chamber ensemble perform the finale of “Divertissement.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5_c5WLY2kY
Jacques Ibert
On this day in the musical theatre: The musical “Redhead” opened on Broadway in 1959. Starring Gwen Verdon as Essie Whimple, a rather plain girl with an overactive imagination, “Redhead” was set in a London wax museum in the 1880s, around the time of Jack the Ripper. The musical was a murder mystery in which Essie Essie pretended she was being attacked by a murderer on the loose. Although little known today, “Redhead” won eight Tony Awards, including one for Verdon and another as best musical of the season. It ran for 455 performances. Watch Marge Beddow, Verdon’s understudy in “Redhead,” perform “Erbie Fitch’s Twitch.”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQBrA73uoTU
Redhead – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: A sort of pink-champagne-and-black-tights murder mystery, with Gwen Verdon spending the first act finale quivering and popeyed against a darkened backstage wall while an ominous shadow with a swirling cloak looms every more mightily over her. Choreographer Bob Fosse keeps thinking up fetching postures, parades, chases and tailspins for her to dive unblinkingly into, and she dives — well, magnificently. – Walter Kerr in the New York Herald Tribune
Giacomo Puccini / Stop the World – I Want to Get Off
On this day in classical music: Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La Bohème” received its world premiere at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy in 1896. The 28-year old Arturo Toscanini conducted the premiere. Featuring a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, “La Bohème” was based on Henri Murger’s “Scènes de la vie de bohème.” The opera focuses on four artists trying to eke out a living in 1830’s Paris: the poet Rodolfo, the painter Marcello, the musician Schaunard and the philosopher Colline. The opera’s romantic narrative involves Rodolfo and the seamstress Mimi. “La Bohème” has since become one of the most popular operas in the repertoire. Listen to Anna Netrebko perform the lovely aria “Quando m’en vo” from “La Bohème.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDvE8uKWznc
Giacomo Puccini
On this day in the musical theatre: “Stop the World — I Want to Get Off,” a musical by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, closed after 555 performances in 1964. Featuring a circus backdrop, the story focuses on Littlechap, a young man who decides to marry after he gets his girlfriend pregnant. With family responsibilities, he quickly grows dissatisfied and begins a period of philandering. Before the final curtain, Littlechap realizes that the love of his wife had been more than enough to satisfy him. “Stop the World” introduced the hits “Gonna Build a Mountain,” “Once In a Lifetime” and “What Kind of Fool Am I?” Listen to Newley perform “What Kind of Fool Am I?” on the television variety show “Hollywood Palace.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z09CSDQN9M
Stop the World – I Want to Get Off – Original Broadway Cast
Musical musings: Seldom has so much anticipation been built up over so little a show as “Stop the World — I Want to Get Off.” From what I’d read and been told, this English revue was going to be the last word in style and wit. What I saw was a overly precious little affair with a couple of good songs and a couple of good sketches, a few timid jokes, and an overdose of pantomime in imitation of Marcel Marceau. Newley wanders through numbers which are, I suppose, gentle remonstrances over the shortcomings of mankind. – John Chapman in the New York Daily News
