Episode 141. Chansons d’avril

Episode 141. Chansons d’avril

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Elisabeth Söderström among the lilacs…

This week’s episode is a musical celebration of all things spring. As in all episodes of this sort, it features a wide range of singers in performances recorded over the course of many decades, all singing about the delights (and sometimes the heartbreak) of spring. Artists include Carmen McRae, Beniamino Gigli, Elisabeth Söderström, Helen Morgan, Leontyne Price, Judy Collins, Eartha Kitt, Emma Calvé, Eileen Farrell, Kaye Ballard, Gérard Souzay, Patricia Neway, and Edith Piaf, among many others, singing songs of Tommy Wolf, Fran Landesman, Georges Auric, Hugo Wolf, Lerner and Loewe, Dietrich Buxtehude, Alec Wilder, and Paolo Tosti. A vernal feast for the ears!

RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE

Dietrich Buxtehude: Alleluia (O fröhliche Stunden, BuxWV84). Patricia Neway, Arnold Black, Allegro Chamber Players [Arnold Black, Eugene Campione, William Schoer, Donald Homuth, Herman Chessid] [1953]

Tommy Wolf and Fran Landesman

Tommy Wolf: Here’s to Spring. Tommy Wolf; Monty Budwig, Shelly Manne [1958]

Tommy Wolf, Fran Landesman: Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most. Carmen McRae, Norman Simmons, Victor Sproles, Mundell Lowe, Curtis Boyd [1964]

Georges Auric, Paul Dehn: It’s April Again (Moulin Rouge). Muriel Smith, Orchestra conducted by Lambert Williamson [1952]

Paolo Tosti, Rocco Emanuele Pagliara: Aprile. Beniamino Gigli, Orchestra conducted by Lawrance Collingwood [1939]

Mort Dixon, Harry Woods: You Remind Me of a Naughty Springtime Cuckoo. Helen Morgan, Leslie “Hutch” Hutchinson [1927]

Robert Schumann, Eduard Mörike: Er ist’s (Liederalbum für die Jugend, Op. 79/23). Leontyne Price, David Garvey [1971]

David Garvey

Hugo Wolf, Anonymous Poet: Morgentau. Leontyne Price, David Garvey [1959]

Georges Bizet, Louis Bouilhet: Chanson d’avril. Renée Doria, unknown pianist [1955]

Marguerite Monnot, René Rozaud: Enfin le printemps. Edith Piaf [live Paris Olympia 1955]

Alec Wilder, William Engvick: The April Age. Eileen Farrell, Percy Faith and His Orchestra [1962]

Othmar Schoeck, Nikolaus Lenau: Liebesfrühling (Elegie, Op. 36/2). Arthur Loosli, Theo Hug, Berner Kammerensemble [1967]

Othmar Schoeck, Johann Ludwig Uhland: Frühlingsruhe, Op. 20/4. Sylvia Gähwiller, Othmar Schoeck [1953]

Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: Spring Is Here (I Married an Angel). Buddy Clark [1938]

Ivor Novello: We’ll Gather Lilacs (Perchance to Dream). Stuart Foster, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra [1946]

Beverly Wolff, Donald Gram, Ned Rorem, Phyllis Curtin

Ned Rorem, Gerard Manley Hopkins: Spring and Fall. Donald Gramm, Ned Rorem [1964]

Traditional British: So Early, Early in the Spring. Judy Collins [1965]

Ukrainian Folk Song: Vesnivka [A Spring Song]. Olga Pavlova, Ensemble conducted by Gleb Yellin [1963]

Raul Ferrão, Jacques Larue: Avril au Portugal. Eartha Kitt, Henri René and His Orchestra [1953]

Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner: A Loaf of Bread (The Day Before Spring). Kaye Ballard, Billy Taylor [1956]

Charles Gounod, Jules Barbier: Au printemps. Emma Calvé [1908]

Jerry Herman

Jerry Herman: The Spring of Next Year (Dear World). The “Dear World” Corporation, Orchestra conducted by Donald Pippin [1969]

Frédéric Chopin, Stefan Witwicki: Wiosna [Spring], Op. 74/2. Elisabeth Söderström, Vladimir Ashkenazy [1986]

Reynaldo Hahn, Théodore de Banville: Le printemps. Ninon Vallin; Reynaldo Hahn [1930]

Johannes Brahms, Heinrich Heine: Es liebt sich so lieblich im Lenz, Op. 71/1. Margaret Price; Graham Johnson [1994]

Elaine Strich and James Hurst in Sail Away

Noël Coward: Later than Spring (Sail Away). James Hurst, Elaine Stritch, Orchestra conducted by Peter Matz [1961]

Dalton Baldwin and Gérard Souzay

Francis Poulenc, Maurice Fombeure: C’est le joli printemps (Chansons villageoises, FP 117/3). Gérard Souzay, Dalton Baldwin [1967]

Hans Pfitzner, Richard Volkmann: Ist der Himmel darum im Lenz so blau, Op. 2/2. Friedel Beckmann, Bruno Seidler-Winkler [1939]

George Butterworth, A.E. Housman: Loveliest of Trees. John Shirley-Quirk, Martin Isepp [1966]

Tommy Wolf and Fran Landesman

Tommy Wolf, Wayne Arnold: So It’s Spring. Tommy Wolf, Monty Budwig, Shelly Manne [1958]

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