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Posted: |
Jan 28, 2020 - 8:50 AM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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During the last couple of years I created a separate thread for an assessment of my concerts by me simply because there were no extensive reviews of them and the artists deserved a spotlight for their incredible work. I may do a scaled down version later but this year I am happy to report there are a number of extensive reviews. I will move Ron Burbella's and Manderley's over here later but I will start with this one that I put on Facebook:
The accolades for the ELMER BERNSTEIN CONCERT keep rolling in. Been trying to get some newspaper or magazine to review these concerts to no avail. Luckily I have key industry people that have spread the word for me. Good friends like Richard Kraft and absolute angels like Craig Rogers keep us going. The good people at the Society of Composers and Lyricists, Film Music Society and the Academy of Scoring Arts as well as labels Notefornote, Perseverance, Howlin' Wolf and Lalaland keep seats filled. One of these industry film music fans Michael Hyatt (the guy who has literally pulled the specks of dirt from the negatives of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, MY FAIR LADY, SPARTACUS and many other films being a major player in film Restoration), kindly gave me permission to present his reaction to this concert. I would be impressed if anyone had wrote this but from Michael, who as you might surmise, is a perfectionist THIS is astounding:
Michael Hyatt: What you should know is that this was hands down the finest small film music concert I've ever attended. Everything was so precise, so tight, and everybody so dedicated, that it was totally infectious. William's arrangements were unbelievable. There was so much work done, and it all paid off, each instrument carrying the weight of a larger orchestra. I couldn't believe you were able to include "Hollywood and the Stars", one of Elmer's less-known and most beautiful works. The arrangement of "Robot Monster" made me feel like I was really at the recording session. What really blew me away was I felt the same way about "To Kill a Mockingbird". Who would expect that such a small orchestra could make one feel they attended the actual session? I have never felt or heard it done more beautifully.
And Marshall's videos and editing were wonderful. He's modest but so much work went into them. It was a thrill to see "Walk on the Wild Side" and hear the score played along with it. It was just as good as anything I've seen at the Hollywood Bowl, Saul Bass's main title given so much life with the music. Of course it was amusing to hear "The Ten Commandments" with so few musicians. At first it sounded like a silent film orchestra version, then it was more fleshed out and became surprisingly vallid. And the choral group. They were having so much fun, getting into "Meatballs" and the unheard "Great Escape" theme, with lyrics. And the solo vocalists, Megan and Robert were great. They really knew how to belt out Elmer's more bombastic songs.
I can't imagine a single person who loves film music not taking something valuable away. These will be memories that all of us will have, always.
And I KNOW Elmer was there (someplace!) and is so proud of you. He must be smiling down at you; he was righteously remembered. But YOU made it happen, Henry. This was your dream. And you and Nancy and the others all made it a reality.
I am so proud of you all. Thank you everyone for two wonderful and unforgettable days. (Now, if I can just stop humming that song from "Drango"...)
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Posted: |
Jan 28, 2020 - 11:46 PM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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Posted:
Jan 26, 2020 - 11:00 AM
Ron Burbella:
This was an impulsive event for me, arranging on short notice to travel 3,000 miles from New Jersey, arranging coverage for my patients, packing, connecting flights, and all that goes with an extended trip.
But it was VERY WELL worth it. No second thoughts about it. Coming and attending was a delight. The genuine enthusiasm of both the players and the singers was quite infectious. No mere two-hour concert could adequately survey Elmer Bernstein's total musical output. But there was something to satisfy most everyone who came, myself included. Most of the selections many of us knew by heart and hearing them performed live by this ensemble was most satisfying. Hearing the less well known selections were enlightening and enjoyable..
As remarked by Dr. Channing above, I too was sniffling and teary-eyed during the exquisite performance of To Kill A Mockingbird. This was the topper of the show. SO well done. Flutist Sara Andon was phenomenal. You just don't want music this good to stop.
Many of us are used to hearing orchestral-only concerts. A good chunk of the concert was devoted to Bernstein's song output, from song hits to obscure titles. When heartfelt expression was needed, it was there. When jazz and pizazz were needed, it exuded forth. Marshall Hervey's still shots and film clips were so very complimentary to the ongoings on stage below them. We use the term "labor of love" a little too loosely nowadays. Here it found it's most sincere expression in the whole presentation. I enjoyed Bruce Kimmel's witty and self-deprecating introductions. Henry Stanny and Nancy Hoven put together a hummdinger!
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
For those who do not know who Ron is, he is one of the biggest film music collectors in the nation. On top of that he is a doctor. He has dealt with life and death situations and been trained not to exaggerate. So when I get a notice like yours I can be assured it is accurate, sincere and definitely not to be dismissed. It helps me to breathe easier. It is an FSM post that keeps me coming back to this board. It tells me I am speaking to the people that I am intending to speak to, those who absolutely love film music.
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Posted: |
Jan 29, 2020 - 10:20 AM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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Michael Levine is a composer (COLD CASE, WICKER PARK), has been Governor of the Television Academy Music Peer Group and violinist on many scores including DARK KNIGHT and featured on DUNKIRK. Here is his quote about our extraordinary violinist Nathalie Bonin in this concert:
I went to a concert of film scoring great Elmer Bernstein's music this past weekend at the Autry museum. It was an excellent ensemble which included violinist Nathalie Bonin and flutist Sara Andon, both FB friends.
Of course, everything was well written from the jazzy coolness of The Man With the Golden Arm, to the charmingly kitschy Hallelujah Trail, to the classic bold Western theme of The Magnificent Seven (which, a generation later, Marc Shaiman, paid tribute to in his outstanding score to City Slickers.)
But the piece that stood out to me as completely timeless and kitsch-free was the theme to To Kill A Mockingbird. This is a score that, if written today, would still feel fresh and transcendent. I first saw the movie when I was eight and absorbed the score so deeply into my subconscious that, a few years later, when I started to improvise pieces at the piano I would play the part around 2:09 and wonder, "Where did that come from?"
I always figured it was a gift from God. I think I was probably right.
Michael Levine: On some of the epic numbers, Nathalie had to stand in for forty or more violinists and violists, which she did so with great skill and finesse. I was particularly impressed by her perfectly in tune playing the top line on a passage in the 10 Commandments that was so far up the fingerboard that, in Nathalie's words, she could "scratch her nose at the same time".
Michael Pictured with Nathalie on the left and our master flautist Sara Andon on the right.
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Posted: |
Jan 30, 2020 - 8:50 AM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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Manderley is a cinematographer, our own Golden Age maven and (as mentioned below) worked for master title designer Saul Bass for many years.
Posted:
Jan 27, 2020 - 4:38 PM
By:
manderley (Member)
My husband and I attended the Saturday matinee performance of HENRY'S BIG SHOW in the intimate 200-seat theatre of the wonderful Gene Autry Museum complex here in Los Angeles over the weekend. Ron B and Preston and bagby have posted their thoughts above, but I thought I'd add my own impressions and fill in some more information for those who missed out.
The concert program (a listing of which I'll abbreviate further below) seemed very ambitious, but knowing Mr. Stanny as I do, and his energy and abilities, I assumed he and his lovely wife, Nancy, could pull it off with the help of their many devoted fans and friends. And indeed they did. It seemed an overwhelming success, and the apparent full houses both days, and comments from those around me certainly validated that success.
The musicians were of the highest caliber, of course, representing the vast collection of really fine players here in our city. By my
count there were only 9 on the stage (not including the chorus), but that was hard to believe, considering the quality of the sound coming from them. (In reading the program early on, I was surprised to see that they were going to "attempt" a short suite from THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. We're talking here about 9 musicians sitting in for about 60-70; What a risky prospect! But the terrific orchestration/arrangements for this concert had reduced the massive orchestra requirements down to the number needed here and the musicians played about four of the score's themes with verve and skill and it was a lovely and melodic and totally unexpected part of the program.)
Marya Basaraba was the Choir Director for the show, and the concert’s excellent chorus was comprised of 7 singers---men and women---under her astute direction. Basaraba regularly directs choral work for the California Philharmonic at the Disney Concert Hall, the Golden State Pops Orchestra, and the Marina del Rey Symphony, so she is able to select voices she knows will fit into this more intimate kind of musical concert. I had the opportunity to chat with one of the vocalists after the show and was impressed with his musical credentials and experience which extended to all his musical associates as well. These singers are all pros who can perform their parts at sight with very little rehearsal time---a real value for a show like this. Before the show began, I assumed they’d just sing a few bars here and there, but they were a real part of the show and contributed even a few comedy bits to several songs, much to the audience’s delight.
Bruce Kimmel acted as host and raconteur, introducing each numberand giving a little history of each, which was particularly helpful and interesting for those few pieces which are truly obscure and little heard today. Bruce also has a thoroughly offbeat delivery and
sense of humor in narrating these kinds of events, and the audience loved it. This was quite a long show---almost 2 hours and 20 minutes by my count (including 10-minute intermission) and Bruce kept things moving along admirably.
Maegan McConnell and Robert Yacko, the two solo singers on many of the songs in the show, are veterans of local LA shows as well as Broadway venues. They are both very skilled professionals and had quite a number of different style notes to hit with the variety of songs they were required to sing, and did them all very successfully with their strong voices and appealing stage presences.
Although he took a number of bows during the concert, one of the otherwise unsung stars of the event must be William V. Malpede, the music director and keyboardist for the entire show. Malpede was a graduate student of Bernstein's at USC, and has gone on as keyboardist with many big-scale Los Angeles and touring shows including CATS, ALADDIN, KINKY BOOTS, and HAMILTON. He also has performed scoring chores on various films and tv shows. For this concert he was responsible for all the arrangements of the music (several with associates) and it must have been a considerable, time consuming project. The audience was well rewarded for his contributions.
I certainly can't comment on every number performed, but here are just a few of the many highlights for us…..
My husband was thrilled with the very first number of the evening, "It's About Magic" from Bernstein's 1982 Broadway show, MERLIN. I am told that there was never a Broadway Cast album of this show, so its presentation here, as performed by McConnell, Yacko and chorus, was a unique treat.
The "National Geographic Fanfare" from the famed TV series, got a beautiful rendering, accompanied by Marshall Harvey's perfect
onscreen video images. Harvey had seamlessly edited onscreen video material for each sequence of the entire show which really connected the music to the images and brought attention to Bernstein's enduring musical contributions in film and TV for our several generations of moviegoers and tv watchers.
Our own Bruce Kimmel sang a very heartfelt version of Bernstein's lovely theme song from "Love With The Proper Stranger". With his Renaissance-man interests and commercial ventures, I think we tend to forget how good Bruce can be as an onstage performer as well. This performance was a sweet and thoughtful moment beautifully rendered.
And yes…..there was a several minute tribute to ROBOT MONSTER, one of Elmer's earliest award-winning achievements! The music, played as the original black-and-white trailer for the film ran on the screen, was surprisingly imaginative and fitted this class-A film (not!) and Golden Age Classic (not!!) It was fabulous, the audience loved it, and it was a rare performance of this scintillating early score, indeed. (I'm surprised Mr. Stanny didn't coax McConnell and Yacko into donning gorilla suits and divers helmets for a vocal encore.)
But Yacko did perform a powerful rendition of Bernstein's rare song from the Paramount film, THE TIN STAR and McConnell sang a sexy (and probably un-PC today) take on the title song from the Dean Martin film, THE SILENCERS, and brought the house down.
On a personal note, I felt a few pangs of sentimental déjà vu when the orchestra played the music for the main titles from THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM and WALK ON THE WILD SIDE as the titles were run on the big screen. For so many years back in the 1960s when I worked for Saul Bass, I would see and hear those title sequences several times a week when the office would run sample reels of Saul's work for prospective new Saul Bass clients. I can't quite believe those days are now nearly 60 years ago for me.
Gene Micofsky, who played guitar through much of the concert, got one special "starring" moment when he accompanied himself and sang Elmer's "Baby The Rain Must Fall". His performance was not only wonderful but, I think, electrifying in its delivery.
The main title theme from the TV series, HOLLYWOOD AND THE STARS, got ohhhhs and ahhhhs from the audience when Kimmel
Introduced it, and it did not disappoint in this performance. It is a lovely and memorable theme. (Which reminds me: If there is anything additional I would have wished for in this concert it would have been for a couple more of Bernstein's romantic "love themes" like those in THE CARPETBAGGERS, RAMPAGE, FROM THE TERRACE, SUMMER AND SMOKE or others. Elmer was so well-known for these kinds of romantic orchestral melodies in the '50s and '60s and I missed hearing a good representation here. But I do understand that there is only so much you can do in one concert, creatively and financially.)
The program's penultimate orchestral performance of the main theme from "To Kill a Mockingbirds" was impeccable in its playing, and exquisite in balance and mood. This piece is truly a work of art and there can't have been many dry eyes in the house as it came to its quiet conclusion.
When you attend a concert like this, it seems to overwhelm you. And I can't help but recall so many of the Bernstein themes, songs and melodies that seem to have always been with me. I believe I started hearing and knowing of Elmer Bernstein about 1953. I was 13 at the time and I'm now 80, so his music has been a major part of my life for a long, long time. I'm so very lucky.
In reviewing this concert, I've left so much out, so here is a simplified listing of the segments. We all owe so much to Henry Stanny and his wife, Nancy Hoven, for inaugurating, first the Morricone, now the Bernstein concert. It takes a great deal of hard work to pull this kind of show together---and it takes a lot of money for facilities, music copying and performers. I hope that when/if Henry announces another show next year, you will all make an effort to attend this very rewarding event and get your tickets early so that the producers can count on you. They make such an investment of time and money and energy in making it special.
Here, in brief, is the show:
Part One-
"It's About Magic" (from MERLIN)
Medley, "The Comancheros" and "The Sons of Katie Elder"
Medley, "Where's Jack?" and "The Ballad of Jack Shepherd" (from WHERE'S JACK?)
"National Geographic Fanfare"
"Robot Monster"
"Love With the Proper Stranger"
"The Man With the Golden Arm"
"Hud"
"The Silencers"
Medley, "The Tin Star" (from THE TIN STAR) and "A Man Gets to Thinkin' " (from CAHILL, U.S.MARSHAL)
Medley, "Bluto's Speech/Faber College Theme" (from ANIMAL HOUSE) and "Are Your Ready for the Summer" (from
MEATBALLS) and "Ghostbusters" (from GHOSTBUSTERS)
"From My Window" (from FRANKIE STARLIGHT)
"I Love You, Alice B. Toklas"
"The Ten Commandments Symphonic Suite"
"The Great Escape"
"Walk on the Wild Side"
Part Two-
"Step to the Rear" (from HOW NOW, DOW JONES)
"The Birdman of Alcatraz"
"Baby, the Rain Must Fall"
"Gold"
"The Scalphunters"
Medley, "The Bridge at Remagen" and "Finale from 'Cast a Giant Shadow' "
Medley, "Drango" and "True Grit"
"Hollywood and the Stars"
"Hawaii"
"Hello and Goodbye" (from FROM NOON TILL THREE)
"The Hallelujah Trail"
"To Kill a Mockingbird-Concert Suite"
"The Magnificent Seven"
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Milan NS, who has been known to be slightly inarticulate, is referring above to the superb playing of composer/guitarist Gene Micofsky in this concert on the theme from HUD. Indeed it evoked the desolation and loneliness of the wide open spaces.
That's maybe what I most regret missing out on. Hearing Hud live would have been amazing. Intimate and desolate and powerful.
Yavar
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Posted: |
Jan 31, 2020 - 12:19 PM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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From Adryan Russ who has written songs for films, television and the theater for decades and is currently on the board of the Society of Composers and Lyricists:
"The Music of Elmer Bernstein," a glorious evening at the Autry Museum tonight. Extraordinary collection of Bernstein's eclectic career, produced by Henry Stanny, hosted by Bruce Kimmel with charm and humor, performed by conductor William V. Malpede, Karl Vincent (bass), Circe Diaz (cello), MB Gordy (drums/percussion), Sara Andon (flute), Gene Micofsky (guitar), Alan Kaplan (trombone), Drew Ninmer (trumpet), Nathalie Bonin (violin), and vocals by Maegan McConnell and Robert Yacko, and backup vocals directed by Marya Basaraba with Andrea Hilliard, Todd Kolberg, Johann Schram Reed, Clydene Jackson, Leslie Soultanian, Shawn Taylor and Veronica Young. Just plain wonderful!"
From Preston Neal Jones author of the comprehensive tomes "Heaven and Hell to Play With: The Filming of The Night of the Hunter" and "Return to Tomorrow: The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture":
“A day later, I'm still basking in the magic and the emotions stirred by the concert, and I expect I will continue to be for a long time to come. And in that, I'm obviously not alone. You have infinite reason to be proud of what those wonderful musicians accomplished because you had brought them all together. I'd say, I wish Mr. B. had been there to hear it, but then, maybe he was, because we certainly all felt his spirit in that auditorium.”
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Posted: |
Feb 22, 2020 - 4:17 PM
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By: |
Morricone
(Member)
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Ross Care has written about film music for the Library of Congress, Film Score Monthly (articles and liner notes), and the books such as Music in the Western: Notes from the Frontier. He composed the score for the documentary, Otto Messmer and Felix the Cat.
Elmer Bernstein Concert / January 24/25, Gene Autry Museum, Los Angeles
by Ross Care
It was emphatically worth braving the grueling Los Angeles Friday gridlock for this unique, “once in a lifetime/only in LA” event. I prefer films of the studio era and its ensuing transitional period as American cinema gradually freed itself from decades of censorship and underwent a radical shift in style, content, and scoring in the 1950s and ‘60s. It was also the period in which Elmer Bernstein was to emerge as a key composer who would musically define this new era in both films and film music.
There was, however, a difficult early period when Bernstein was black-listed but that did not end what had been a promising start in film scoring (at Columbia Pictures) in the early ‘50s. He persisted by composing for documentaries and B-pictures (such as Robot Monster). But in 1955 he introduced an intense, jazz-influenced sound for Otto Preminger's The Man With The Golden Arm, and in 1956 took on a more traditional (and intimidating) assignment when he replaced an ailing Victor Young on Cecil B. DeMille’s ultimate epic, The Ten Commandments.
These two major scores proved that Bernstein could score virtually any genre, and not only was he versatile but amazingly prolific. Which must have made it a challenge to organize a representative program of his prodigiously varied work. However, with an ensemble of A-list instrumentalists and vocalists, concert producer, Henry Stanny, and host, Bruce Kimmel, succeeded in bringing off exactly that. The instrumental ensemble brilliantly captured the duality of Bernstein’s various styles which draw on both symphonic/orchestral and jazz/pop influences. As did the idiomatic arrangements by William V. Malpede who was also music director and keyboardist.
I was curious to hear how some of Bernstein’s primarily orchestral scores would fare with this smaller instrumental combination and was amazed when a “chamber” suite from Ten Commandments evoked a whole new lyrical perspective on that epic score. And it was certainly thrilling to hear dynamic live performances of jazz main titles such as Man with the Golden Arm and Walk on the Wild Side, the latter accompanied by a clip of Saul Bass’s famous credit sequence of a black cat prowling the back alleys of the film’s seedy New Orleans setting.
In a more delicate mode the chamber sound was perfect for what may be Bernstein’s most revered score, the magical To Kill A Mockingbird which provided a lyrical showcase for flutist, Sara Andon, violinist Nathalie Bonin, and cellist Circe Diaz.
Bernstein is also well-known for his western scores and the concert ended with his “greatest hit,” the rousing theme from The Magnificent Seven. Also included were excerpts from the big Cinerama comedy/western, The Hallelujah Trail, its gospel-tinged title song showcasing the choral ensemble. The choir was also called upon at various points during the evening, including for a more serious symphonic epic, Hawaii.
With the popularity of Dimitri Tiomkin’s “High Noon” in 1952 movie songs became a definite trend in the ‘50s, though not all film composers were capable of turning out hits. Bernstein’s songs were handled by Maegan McConnell and Robert Yacko whose varied vocal stylings reminded that Elmer could be a distinctive song composer as well, with several commercial successes.
A lesser-known gem was “Hello and Goodbye” with poignant lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, from a Charles Bronson film, From Noon to Three (1976). Bernstein’s Broadway work was represented by a rousing show-stopper, “Step To The Rear” from How Now, Dow Jones (1967), and the dynamic “It’s About Magic” from 1982’s Merlin.
I was personally pleased that one of my favorite title songs (and a hit single for Glen Yarbrough), Baby, the Rain Must Fall, was included, in an appealing vocal performance by guitarist, Gene Micofsky. Bernstein composed both pop songs and a minimal but moving background score for this sensitive and under-rated Robert Mulligan film.
This remarkable tribute was a bit like sitting in on one of the most remarkable and constantly surprising studio sessions ever. The substantial evening zipped by and I’m only sorry I could not get back to experience it for a second time on Saturday.
It truly was about magic.
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