Hollywood Soundstage
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)
Overture from The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
David Raksin (1912-2004)
Theme from Laura (1944)
Herbert Stothart (1885-1949)/Harold Arlen (1905-1986)
Suite from The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Frederick Loewe (1901-1988)
Transylvanian March and Embassy Waltz from My Fair Lady (1956)
Max Steiner (1888-1971)
Suite from Now, Voyager (1942)
Johnny Mandel (1925-2001)
Main Title from The Sandpiper (1965)
Franz Waxman (1906-1967)
Suite from Rebecca (1940)
Alfred Newman (1900-1970)
Street Scene from How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Sinfonia of London/John Wilson
rec. 2021, Church of St Augustine, Kilburn, London, UK
CHANDOS CHSA5294 SACD [61]
This exploration of music from the Golden Age of Hollywood has something for everyone. I would be surprised if the track listing did not include someone’s favourite film from 1939-1965. My own candidates are The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady and How to Marry a Millionaire.
First off, the earliest film here. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex starred three of the Hollywood greats: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn. Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s score, powerful, dynamic and brassy, epitomises the late romanticism that would dominate the film industry for many years.
I have not seen Laura, a film-noir (a genre I typically avoid). The theme music, later made into a song, has been covered more than 400 times, notably by Frank Sinatra, Robert Farnon and Glenn Miller. The liner notes say that director Otto Preminger wanted George Gershwin’s unforgettable Summertime from Porgy and Bess for the signature tune, but it was not possible. Composer David Raksin was asked to produce a substitute. Apparently, he wrote this “standard” over the weekend. It majors on the glamour and romance of the story rather than its more sinister events. It is quite simply a gorgeous melody.
It is often claimed that The Wizard of Oz is the most watched film in the world. Truly, it is full of iconic characters and magical cinematic effects – and it was filmed in Technicolour. Harold Arlen wrote the songs to Yip Harburg’s lyrics, but it was Herbert Stothart who created the “underscoring” of the film from material in those melodies. The liner notes give a couple of facts about the film that I did not know. The MGM boss Louis B. Meyer wanted Shirley Temple in the role of Dorothy, which went to Judy Garland. And, apparently, the studio cut the song Over the Rainbow during a preview! No one knows how it was reinstated. The Suite played here introduces music from the entire score. Appropriately, it ends with a magical reprise of Over the Rainbow.
I have always enjoyed My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn and a cast of well-loved British actors. The film was based on the Broadway musical by Lerner and Loewe, which was a reworking of George Bernard Shaw’s popular play Pygmalion. The Transylvanian March and Embassy Waltz accompany the moment of Eliza Doolittle’s triumph when she manages to create the impression that she is a lady. It is a combination of brash music with a lush waltz.
The longest piece on this disc is the Suite from Now, Voyager. Although a capsule in the Internet Movie Database says “A frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman.”, there is nothing frumpy about the star Bette Davis! Max Steiner arranged his Oscar-winning score into the present suite. The booklet notes explain that this romantic and often passionate music follows the chronology of the story. I have not seen the film, but even I know that Jeremiah “Jerry” Duvaux Durrance (Paul Henreid) lights two cigarettes in his mouth and offers one to Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis). This trope has been overworked in the film and TV industry.
An impressive cast plays out the torrid plot of The Sandpiper. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton star alongside big names such as Charles Bronson. The main title theme features a sensuous and restrained solo trumpet that morphed into the hit song The Shadow of Your Smile. It acts as a perfect counterbalance to the soap opera plot and mannered dialogue that critics have identified and disliked.
Drama, mystery and film noir make up the gothic horror Rebecca, with Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine and George Sanders. Alfred Hitchcock directed this adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel. Franz Waxman’s score successfully portrays the innocence of Mrs. de Winter, the sophistication of her husband Maxim and the cruelty of Mrs Danvers. And then there is Rebecca herself… in the shadows.
The final offering comes from one of my all-time favourites, the romantic comedy How to Marry a Millionaire. The stars are three gorgeous actresses, Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable, who go on a mission to find (ensnare) eligible millionaires. Naturally, all does not go quite to plan: in the end true love triumphs over mere financial gain.
Alfred Newman’s Street Scene began life as the score of an early talkie of the same title. It became a hit regularly played by bands and orchestras, and was used in six other films in the 1940s. It finally ended up as the “overture” to How to Marry a Millionaire. It features a sequence wich highlights the 70-piece orchestra conducted by Newman. One reason was to showcase CinemaScope’s newly developed four-track stereophonic sound in the cinema. The story then begins… The music, influenced by George Gershwin, is quite simply a wonderfully evocative tone poem which describes a busy day in New York.
David Benedict’s liner notes, interesting and detailed, appear in English, German and French. There are some good historical photographs. Predictably, the recording is outstanding. These eight scores are played with love, affection and complete integrity. Each of them can be enjoyed as a concert piece, with no thought for the movie. One hopes for much more of such repertoire to follow.
John France
