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Andre Previn. I've been listening to a LOT of Previn lately for our next Kritzerland show at The Federal on the first Sunday in August, the 2nd. The day he walked away from Hollywood was a sad day indeed. My first discovery of him consciously was in 1960 because I could not escape his name - first with his musical direction and glorious arrangements for Bells Are Ringing, then The Subteranneans, then Elmer Gantry, which blew me away, and finally his stuff in Pepe. I became a lifelong fan after that. And he never disappointed me. He could do anything - adapt classic musicals for the screen (winning an Oscar for Gigi and My Fair Lady), write the most incredible dramatic and comedy scores (Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, All in a Night's Work, The Fortune Cookie, Dead Ringer) and also create the most delicious title songs for films (Goodbye, Charlie, Valley of the Dolls).
I've been lucky to be able to release some classic Previn on Kritzerland, including one of my all-time favorites, Two for the Seesaw, with its brilliant theme, which also was used as a song in the film (Second Chance). To be able to do that new mix and have it sounding better than ever was one of the great early treats for Kritzerland.
But I've been listening to the FSM release of Inside Daisy Clover a lot recently - what a score! The fact that it nor it's classic song (You're Gonna Hear from Me) were nominated for Oscars is shameful. It was a strong year in the song category (The Shadow of Your Smile won) but really, much as I enjoy The Ballad of Cat Ballou, did it really deserve a nomination over You're Gonna Hear from Me? But I think it's probably clear why that happened - no one in the Academy liked Daisy Clover - too caustic, too bitter, and too truthful for those folks. It seems to still (shockingly) be available at SAE - I'm not sure 29.95 was its original price, but it probably was. To me, that this amazing score could not sell a measly three thousand copies at that point in collecting is more than shocking, it's actually irritating. It seems to go for more money on Amazon, but if it's still at SAE then it's still around. There were a couple of FSM Warner titles I was looking at to reissue, but unbelievably none of the ones that were on Warner Bros. Records have sold out or anywhere near sold out. I don't get it but that's just me.
The Daisy CD is just glorious. If you just passed it by because you somehow thought it was a musical (it's not - it has two songs, with a third that was cut), you should really go listen to the samples. Previn was completely unique and a genius (he still is - I just listened to his recent opera of Brief Encounter, which is excellent). He had his orchestration trademarks (no one wrote French horn like Previn), and his melodic gift is astonishing.
And if you're in LA, why don't you get off your butt cheeks and come see our Kritzerland show August 2. FSM board's Morricone will be there, and Marshall Harvey is usually there, too, and even Peter Hackman was there last month and had a good time. We have a stellar cast and the majority of what we're doing is film related.
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"Like"
Yes yes.
The Daisy score is fantastic. To be honest, I'm a sucker for anything Natalie Wood related, but this one really stands out.
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mgh - Do you mean Diversions instead of Divertimento? I can't find anything about a divertimento Previn wrote. I also was unaware of Diversions, so thanks whether or not that's what you meant.
And Bruce, if you ever return to this, could you add Previn to the subject line? This was a bear to find after just a week....
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Ahh, Mr Preview!
"I worked with Morecambe and Wise...and look what happened to me!"
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mgh - Do you mean Diversions instead of Divertimento? I can't find anything about a divertimento Previn wrote. I also was unaware of Diversions, so thanks whether or not that's what you meant.
And Bruce, if you ever return to this, could you add Previn to the subject line? This was a bear to find after just a week....
Just did it.
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Thanks... It looks marvelous!
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I am going.
Have you reserved? Make sure Marshall is coming, too. There is a LOT of movie stuff in this show.
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Posted: |
Jul 25, 2015 - 5:22 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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I will add my praise. First I fell in love with his film music: The Outriders (one of the great main titles ever), Bad Day at Black Rock, Elmer Gantry, Inside Daisy Clover. And his jazz: Like Love and Like Young. And his concert music: The Violin Concerto, Divertamento. Not to mention his conducting: The Vaughan Williams Symphony cycle, and the best damn performance ever of the Walton Symphony No. 1.
In addition to conducting his own film scores, Previn conducted many other composers on film. By my reckoning:
Other Film Composers Conducted by Previn
Above and Beyond [Hugo Friedhofer] 1953
Act of Violence [Bronislau Kaper] 1949
Big Jack [Herbert Stothart] 1949
The Great Sinner [Bronislau Kaper] 1949
I’m Nobody’s Sweetheart Now [various] 1940
Malaya [Bronislau Kaper] 1950
The Secret Garden [Bronislau Kaper] 1949
Three Little Words [Bert Kalmar] 1950
The Way West [Bronislau Kaper] 1967
Broadway Composers Conducted by Previn (on film)
Bells Are Ringing [Jule Styne] 1961
Gigi [Frederick Lowe] 1958
Give a Girl a Break [Burton Lane] 1954
Jesus Christ Superstar [Andrew Lloyd Webber] 1973
Kiss Me Kate [Cole Porter] 1953
My Fair Lady [Frederick Lowe] 1964
Porgy and Bess [George Gershwin] 1959
Silk Stockings [Cole Porter] 1957
Classical Composers Conducted by Previn (on film)
Kismet [Alexander Borodin, adapted by Robert Wright and George Forrest] 1955
The Music Lovers [Peter Tchaikovsky] 1971
One, Two, Three [Aram Khachaturyan, Richard Wagner, others] 1961
Rollerball [Johann Sebastian Bach, Dmitri Shostakovich] 1975
Six Weeks [Peter Tchaikovsky] 1982
Small Town Girl [Nicholas Brodszky, George Frideric Handel] 1953
The Sun Comes Up [Giacomo Puccini, Antonín Dvorák] 1949
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To paraphrase you know who: "Exclude me in." I was so sorry I suddenly had to miss the last show, but am hoping to get back on track for the Previn panorama.
Incidentally, FWIW, IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER happens to be my favorite Gene Kelly movie. It may not be his best film, but then, Kelly's own favorite was ON THE TOWN, and that wasn't his best film, either. (Of course, as many of you already know, FAIR WEATHER was originally planned to be a sequel to TOWN.)
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Posted: |
Jul 25, 2015 - 10:03 PM
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By: |
manderley
(Member)
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I will add my praise. First I fell in love with his film music: The Outriders (one of the great main titles ever), Bad Day at Black Rock, Elmer Gantry, Inside Daisy Clover. And his jazz: Like Love and Like Young. And his concert music: The Violin Concerto, Divertamento. Not to mention his conducting: The Vaughan Williams Symphony cycle, and the best damn performance ever of the Walton Symphony No. 1.
In addition to conducting his own film scores, Previn conducted many other composers on film. By my reckoning:
Other Film Composers Conducted by Previn
Above and Beyond [Hugo Friedhofer] 1953
Act of Violence [Bronislau Kaper] 1949
Big Jack [Herbert Stothart] 1949
The Great Sinner [Bronislau Kaper] 1949
I’m Nobody’s Sweetheart Now [various] 1940
Malaya [Bronislau Kaper] 1950
The Secret Garden [Bronislau Kaper] 1949
Three Little Words [Bert Kalmar] 1950
The Way West [Bronislau Kaper] 1967
Broadway Composers Conducted by Previn (on film)
Bells Are Ringing [Jule Styne] 1961
Gigi [Frederick Lowe] 1958
Give a Girl a Break [Burton Lane] 1954
Jesus Christ Superstar [Andrew Lloyd Webber] 1973
Kiss Me Kate [Cole Porter] 1953
My Fair Lady [Frederick Lowe] 1964
Porgy and Bess [George Gershwin] 1959
Silk Stockings [Cole Porter] 1957
Classical Composers Conducted by Previn (on film)
Kismet [Alexander Borodin, adapted by Robert Wright and George Forrest] 1955
The Music Lovers [Peter Tchaikovsky] 1971
One, Two, Three [Aram Khachaturyan, Richard Wagner, others] 1961
Rollerball [Johann Sebastian Bach, Dmitri Shostakovich] 1975
Six Weeks [Peter Tchaikovsky] 1982
Small Town Girl [Nicholas Brodszky, George Frideric Handel] 1953
The Sun Comes Up [Giacomo Puccini, Antonín Dvorák] 1949
The music for the I'M NOBODY'S SWEETHEART NOW film, from Universal in 1940, would, of course, have been conducted by great uncle, Charles Previn, not Andre, who was then only 10 or 11.
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