Episode 247. Sarah Pillow Introduces Eileen Farrell
SOCIAL SHARE
SUBSCRIPTION PLATFORM
The American dramatic soprano Eileen Farrell (1920–2002) was one of the finest and most versatile singers the United States has ever produced. Her singing career lasted more than fifty years, and this episode covers the entire chronological range of that career, from her early work as a radio singer in the 1940s to her final pop albums in the 1990s. While the episode focuses on her crossover work (and includes work by, among others, Harold Arlen, Jule Styne, Alec Wilder, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, as heard on two of her lesser-known pop albums with Percy Faith and the late André Previn), we also sample her opera and concert work, with examples from Verdi and Wagner, to Debussy and Charpentier, to Barber and Menotti. A late reunion with her frequent collaborator Leonard Bernstein caps the episode. In all her singing Farrell combines ease of delivery and a relaxed, insouciant response to the words and music with a vocal and interpretive precision that inevitably strikes a bullseye. Bow down to the Queen of Crossover, nay, the Queen of Song!
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
William Lawes, arr. Marc Wagnon: To Pansies; Charles Fox, Norman Gimble: Killing Me Softly with His Song. Sarah Pillow, Marc Wagnon, Tony Green [live San Luis Obispo 2023]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: My Funny Valentine (Babes in Arms). Luther Henderson and His Orchestra [1961]
Richard Wagner: Du bist der Lenz (Die Walküre). Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic. [live 23.V.68]
Robert Katscher, Buddy DeSylva: When Day Is Done. Helen Traubel; Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Milton Rogers [1957]
Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II: Hello, Young Lovers (The King and I). Percy Faith and His Orchestra [1961]
Victor Herbert, Henry Blossom: Kiss Me Again (Mlle. Modiste). André Kostelanetz and His Orchestra [radio broadcast ca. 1943]
Peter DeRose (after Maurice Ravel); Mitchell Parish: The Lamp Is Low. Arranged and conducted by Robert Farnon [1993]
Claude Debussy, Paul Bourget: Beau soir. George Trovillo, piano [1960]
Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer: Out of this World. Percy Faith and His Orchestra [1961]
photographed by Carl Van Vechten, New York, 1954
Harold Arlen, Truman Capote: A Sleepin’ Bee (House of Flowers). Arranged, conducted, and played by André Previn [1962]
Harold Arlen, Truman Capote: I Never Has Seen Snow (House of Flowers). Percy Faith and His Orchestra [1961]
Edvard Grieg: Solveig’s Song (Peer Gynt). Arthur Fiedler, Boston Pops Orchestra [1957]
Gustave Charpentier: Depuis le jour (Louise). Donald Voorhees, Bell Telephone Hour Orchestra [radio broadcast 28 June 1953]
Samuel Barber, James Agee: Knoxville: Summer of 1915 [original version for full orchestra]. Bernard Herrmann, CBS Symphony Orchestra [radio broadcast 19 June 1949]
Gian Carlo Menotti: To this we’ve come (The Consul). Thomas Schippers, The Philharmonia Orchestra [1958]
Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Maria Piave (after Ángel de Saavedra): La vergine degli angeli (La forza del destino). Renato Cellini, Orchestra and Chorus of the New Orleans Opera [live 16.XI.63]
Traditional Irish, arr. Frederick B. Weatherly: Danny Boy. Charles Lichter, Columbia Concert Orchestra [1946]
in a still from the 1960 film version of the musical
Jule Styne, Betty Comden, Adolph Green: The Party’s Over (Bells Are Ringing). Percy Faith and His Orchestra [1961]
George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin: But Not for Me (Girl Crazy). Arranged, conducted, and played by André Previn [1962]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: Where or When (Babes in Arms). Percy Faith and His Orchestra [1961]
André Previn, Dory Langdon Previn: Where, I Wonder. Arranged, conducted, and played by André Previn [1962]
André Previn, Dory Langdon Previn: The Faraway Part of Town (Pepe). Percy Faith and His Orchestra [1961]
Alec Wilder, William Engvick: Everywhere I Look. Arranged, conducted, and played by André Previn [1962]
Alec Wilder, Loonis McGlohon: ’s Gonna Be a Cold, Cold Day. Loonis McGlohan, piano; Joe Wilder, trumpet; Terry Peoples, bass; Greg Hyslop, guitar; Bill Stowe, drums [1989]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: Spring Is Here (I Married an Angel). Arranged, conducted, and played by André Previn [1962]
Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green: Some Other Time (On the Town). Leonard Bernstein, piano [live performance, AMFAR Benefit, Public Theater (New York) 07.XII.86]
