Florence Foster Jenkins?

[Despardo]

Anna Russell was a true genius, starting out as an aspiring musician who was perhaps a mediocre singer at best (though she was an excellent musician on piano and other instruments) who turned that liability into a major comedic career, enjoyed by both classical musicians (except perhaps composer Ned Rorem ) and non-musicians alike. For some of her best lines/anecdotes check out her obituary in The Guardian after she passed at the age of 94 in 2006: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/oct/24/guardianobituaries.obituaries1

 

Ms. Russell brings to mind the great Danish-born classical comedian Victor Borge. I was lucky enough to meet him once at a concert locally when I was attending as a volunteer, helping out the concert venue (and getting to see the concert) as a friend of venue management. Mr. Borge always travelled with a soprano who was a part of his comedy act. I got the duty of going out to get the soprano's young son his dinner, a McDonalds cheeseburger, fries and drink! Here is that part of his act with soprano Marilyn Mulvey:

 

TruHart1

Victor Borge was one of the great comedians of the4 20th Century.

[Despardo]

Yes, Russel and Borge were actually quite accomplished musicians. As a youngster taking piano lessons who grew up on classical music Borge used to crack me up. I recall literally rolling on the floor. I discovered Anna a bit later.

 

Anyone for Jack Benny on violin next... or don't you want to date yourselves!!!

 

(Do I hear P.D. Q. Bach lurking in the distance?)

One of Johnny Carson's wives stated that the only time she ever saw Johnny cry was the day Jack Benny died.

[TruHart1]

For those of us growing up the 70's, we might have not known the name Victor Borge, but we knew one of his routines VERY well as featured on The Electric Company on PBS. In those days before "mouth percussion" was a musical fad, Borge had a bit where he would read something out loud and provide noises for the punctuation. Very funny and, in the context of the PBS reading/language-oriented show, a fun way to learn.

 

Also a fun note on the Edwards. Anyone familiar with the musical The Last Five Years (by Broadway composer Jason Robert Brown, often referred to as simply JRB) will probably know a comic song called "A Summer In Ohio," where the singer chronicles her perfectly awful time doing bad summerstock theatre. At one point in the score, during an awkward downward passage on the piano that feels like it's "falling apart" a little, is the indication "very Jonathan Edwards." But for the sheet music copy available commercially, JRB changed the indication to "clumsy, sloppy." I guess he figured most people wouldn't have any idea who Edwards was. (And he's most certainly right.)

Here's a YouTube of that Electric Company version of Borge's "Phonetic Punctuation" referenced:

 

Yes, Russel and Borge were actually quite accomplished musicians. As a youngster taking piano lessons who grew up on classical music Borge used to crack me up. I recall literally rolling on the floor. I discovered Anna a bit later.

 

Anyone for Jack Benny on violin next... or don't you want to date yourselves!!!

 

(Do I hear P.D. Q. Bach lurking in the distance?)

...so of course, WG, you made me think of my favorite PDQ Bach Cantata, Iphigenia in Brooklyn; for chamber orchestra and bargain-counter tenor:

 

TruHart1

[BabyBoomer]

Allan Sherman

 

"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh"

 

~ Boomer ~

[Lookin]

Anna Russell was the first person I ever heard use the phrase, "I'm not making this up (you know)." As far as I know, anyone who says "You can't make this stuff up." is in her debt.

 

And Jack Benny! If I ever have trouble peeing, I watch his duet with Giselle MacKenzie. http://forums.aaca.org/uploads/emoticons/default_biggrin.png

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3cc0HlO7so

[whipped guy]

Jack Benny... another comedian who had me rolling on the floor as a kid!

 

 

 

 

However this was a bit before my time!

[+ WilliamM]

Anyone for Jack Benny on violin next... or don't you want to date yourselves!!!

 

I was alone with Jack Benny and violin during a very long elevator ride near Wolf Trapp in Virginia. I said hello, Mr.. Benny. Jack Benny seemed sad, and said "I used to be happy until my wife decided we should move; she thought it was for the best." He died six months later.

 

Jack Benny did not look well, perhaps it was easier to talk to a stranger.

[whipped guy]

Regarding Jack Benny.. I could not find the exact quote, but as a kid I recall something like the following from his TV show in response to the fact that he was a cheapskate.

 

I throw my money around... (Pause) Not far... But I throw it around.

 

My parents thought that I was crazy, but I would never miss his show on a Sunday night. It's funny, but I do remember exactly where I was and the person who broke the news to me about his death.

[+ WilliamM]

I would not have mentioned the Jack Benny story, unless Lucille Ball talked about visiting Mr. and Mrs. Benny. She said on national TV or a print interview that Mr. Benny was deeply upset after the move -- he had just died. Mrs.. Benny slept in the master bedroom. Mr. Benny had to sleep in the small maid's room, according to Lucy.

[whipped guy]

This episode Of the Jack Benny Program is obviously one of my favorites! I never enjoyed La Traviata so much as a kid!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkn7_4UJO0g

[TruHart1]

This episode Of the Jack Benny Program is obviously one of my favorites! I never enjoyed La Traviata so much as a kid!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkn7_4UJO0g

From a Florence Foster Jenkins biopic with Meryl Streep starring, to a 1961 Jack Benny program featuring Metropolitan Opera diva Roberta Peters (looking and sounding mighty fine at 31!) Even though Madame Peters is in fine voice here, what they did to poor Giuseppe Verdi with the Traviata bit certainly qualifies it for the classical music comedy theme into which this thread evolved!!!

 

TruHart1

[whipped guy]

From a Florence Foster Jenkins biopic with Meryl Streep starring, to a 1961 Jack Benny program featuring Metropolitan Opera diva Roberta Peters (looking and sounding mighty fine at 31!) Even though Madame Peters is in fine voice here, what they did to poor Giuseppe Verdi with the Traviata bit certainly qualifies it for the classical music comedy theme into which this thread evolved!!!

 

TruHart1

At this point in time as a child while I was into classicsl music, I actually hated opera. An aquaitance of the family shortly before seeing this let me borrow her recording of La Traviata and I thought that it was just a lot of loud yelling and that turned me off. It was the old Decca/London recording with Tebaldi and Del Monico... a recording that as far as Traviata is concerned has not stood the test of time as a classic. They were the two stars in the Decca/London stable and as such they were used whether or not they were appropriate for their roles. So perhaps I had better ears as a child than I gave myself credit for at the time!!!??? In just a few years my opinion of the art form would change, but this very episode did get me wondering if there was not something more to opera that I needed to investigate!

 

So thanks to Jack and Roberta!!!

 

PS: Because I hated her voice in that Traviata recording I thought that Tebaldi should have been named Terribaldi. Heck I was only a kid!

[+ quoththeraven]

I was wondering when someone would bring up PDQ Bach. I forget what the album I heard was called (think I borrowed it from the library and didn't own it), but it didn't include Iphigenia in Brooklyn. Pretty sure it included Eine Kleine Nichtmusik and Concerto for Horn and Hardart.

 

I do, however, remember the bargain countertenor joke. And I've seen a PDQ Bach performance, although I believe it was on TV (PBS), not in person.

 

Piece of trivia: Peter Schickele, the man behind PDQ Bach, was Joan Baez's musical arranger.

[body2body]

My most beloved PDQ Bach piece is The Stoned Guest his Half Act Opera. Anyone who spent time listening to the Met radio broadcasts will understand.

[bostonman]

My most beloved PDQ Bach piece is The Stoned Guest his Half Act Opera. Anyone who spent time listening to the Met radio broadcasts will understand.

 

I never understood how they could hold onto those notes for the entire intermission, lol.

 

Though, I'm actually much fonder of Hansel And Gretel And Ted And Alice (an opera in one unnatural act). Though I think the aforementioned Iphigenia In Brooklyn remains my favorite of the large-scale vocal works all around. The Seasonings is also quite fun.

 

As a longtime PDQ Bach fan, I do have to say that Schickele's biggest weakness is that the consistency of the music in general isn't always very good. The big musical jokes, when they land, are fantastic, but the writing in general sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. A piece like Iphigenia is paced really really well in terms of the comedy, AND the piece in general is pretty spot-on throughout. A lot of the others are a little more spotty. (I think my favorite moment in Iphigenia is the end of the slow movement, with the chord that never resolves. It's one of those jokes that always seems funny even when you've heard it millions of times.)

[whipped guy]

One of my favorite P D Q Bach routines concerns the manner by which his manuscripts are dated. Since P D Q liked to drink he often left imprints of beer steins on his manuscripts. Knowing the types and sizes of the various circles would lead to the type of stein and hence the location and date of the composition.

 

This method was known as the... Steinway...

 

An example:

 

http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/1dcf_german_can-in-stein.jpg

[bostonman]

...and all those adult jokes that I didn't quite get when I was a kid (even thought I knew they were obviously adult jokes lol) - like a description of a PDQ piece that had Latin music influences, that "really lets the Spanish fly."

 

And I should amend my previous criticism by saying that Schickele's humor around the music is often quite winning, even when the music is sometimes a bit too generic. From the outrageous wit of the "Definitive Biography" book to the fun of the catalogue numbers for the pieces ("The Art Of The Ground Round" is labelled Schickele number 1.19/lb, for instance), it's quite clever stuff.

[whipped guy]

Yes, the commentary was often better than the musical inspiration at times, but when he was on a target (and especially when he would parody certain styles and compositions) Schickele could be priceless!

[bostonman]

but when he was on a target (and especially when he would parody certain styles and compositions) Schickele could be priceless!

 

There's a PDQ piano suite called "The Notebook For Betty Sue Bach" (which I played as a kid) which has at least 2 priceless moments - a piece that's modelled after a Bach Invention that has a repeating pattern that continues up the keyboard until the pianist either falls off the bench or continues on "air piano" - and a crafty Bach-like piano fugue that artfully keeps coming back to the melody of the iconic "Snake Charmer's Song" (maybe better known as "There's A Place In France...") - really clever humor, because in every other respect, it sounds like a perfectly normal Bach fugue, just that this familiar silly tune keeps sneaking in...

[+ Funguy]

Regarding Jack Benny.. I could not find the exact quote, but as a kid I recall something like the following from his TV show in response to the fact that he was a cheapskate.

 

I throw my money around... (Pause) Not far... But I throw it around.

 

In real life Jack Benny was NOT a cheapskate in the least. At Halloween he would personally hand out silver dollars to all the trick-or-treaters! But he had an incredible memory for faces/costumes - "Weren't you here about a half hour ago?" And he would still give out that silver dollar.

[Despardo]

In real life Jack Benny was NOT a cheapskate in the least. At Halloween he would personally hand out silver dollars to all the trick-or-treaters! But he had an incredible memory for faces/costumes - "Weren't you here about a half hour ago?" And he would still give out that silver dollar.

"This is a stickup! Your money or your life!"

(beat, beat, beat, beat...)

"Hey, I said, your money or your..."

I'M THINKING!!!

 

I loved Benny's amazing timing. He had the longest takes of any comedian, as in the Si, Sy, Sue routine:

 

[whipped guy]

Gotta post one more Si, Sy, Sue, Etc... That freaking cracks me up!

 

[whipped guy]

One more...

 

[TruHart1]

I never understood how they could hold onto those notes for the entire intermission, lol.

 

Though, I'm actually much fonder of Hansel And Gretel And Ted And Alice (an opera in one unnatural act). Though I think the aforementioned Iphigenia In Brooklyn remains my favorite of the large-scale vocal works all around. The Seasonings is also quite fun...

 

... (I think my favorite moment in Iphigenia is the end of the slow movement, with the chord that never resolves. It's one of those jokes that always seems funny even when you've heard it millions of times.)

There's a PDQ piano suite called "The Notebook For Betty Sue Bach" (which I played as a kid) which has at least 2 priceless moments - a piece that's modelled after a Bach Invention that has a repeating pattern that continues up the keyboard until the pianist either falls off the bench or continues on "air piano" - and a crafty Bach-like piano fugue that artfully keeps coming back to the melody of the iconic "Snake Charmer's Song" (maybe better known as "There's A Place In France...") - really clever humor, because in every other respect, it sounds like a perfectly normal Bach fugue, just that this familiar silly tune keeps sneaking in...

That reminds me of his quote of Dvořák's "Humoresque" in Iphigenia in Brooklyn, which is almost covered up by the laughter of the audience in the recording! He had a way of throwing those musical quotes into the orchestra when you least expect them! The failure of that final resolution of the chord in Iphigenia also makes me laugh every time!

 

TruHart1

[AdamSmith]

What It Was Like to Hear the Real Florence Foster Jenkins Sing, as Told in 1934

 

 

...She was born in 1868 into a wealthy family in Wilkes-Barre, Penn.; her father was a lawyer and a member of the state legislature. When her parents died, she inherited enough money to take voice lessons, put out five recordings and host an annual concert at the Ritz-Carlton in New York City throughout the 1930s and 40s, as well as other performances in Newport, R.I.; Washington, D.C.; and Boston, according to the American National Biography. Founding a Verdi club helped her grow an audience, as did the work of her manager and longtime partner, the actor St. Clair Bayfield (played by Hugh Grant in the film). As the above LIFE magazine photo shows, she hosted recitals at her home in New York City’s Seymour hotel, where she is said to have also kept guests entertained with a bathtub of potato salad and a collection of dining room chairs that she claimed Americans had died sitting in, according to a new biography of the amateur singer released with the film’s script.

 

TIME’s reviews of her performance were just as colorful and uninhibited as the singer herself. As TIME described her 1934 concert at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel:

 

Mrs. Jenkins appeared in flame-colored velvet, with yellow ringlets piled high on her head. For a starter she picked Brahms’

Die Mainacht

, subtitled on her gilt program as “O singer, if thou canst not dream, leave this song unsung.” Mrs. Jenkins could dream if she could not sing. With her hands clasped to her heart she passed on to

Vergebliches Standchen

, which she had labeled “The Serenade in Vain.”

 

The audience, as Mrs. Jenkins’ audiences invariably do, behaved very badly. In the back of the hall men and women in full evening dress made no attempt to control their laughter. Dignified gentlemen sat with handkerchiefs stuffed in their mouths and tears of mirth streaming down their cheeks. But Mrs. Jenkins went bravely on. For a Spanish group she wore a mantilla, carried a big feather fan, undertook a few little dancing steps to convey more spirit. While she was getting her breath, the Pascarella chamber group played Dvorak’s Quintet and cameramen photographed the happy laughing faces in the audience.

 

Sometimes, her concerts were painful in more ways than one, the review noted, not only because she “struggled” with the songs but also because she once literally tossed roses into audience and “in her excitement, the basket slipped from her hand, [and] hit an old gentleman on the head.”

 

In 1941, the magazine described her recording of Mozart’s The Magic Flute as “wild wallowings in descending trills” and said “her repeated staccato notes” sounded like “a cuckoo in its cups.” And as the magazine wrote in 1942: “Critics have long wondered whether Coloratura Jenkins‘ art can be described as singing at all. But she will intrepidly attack any aria, scale its altitudes in great swoops and hoots, assay its descending trills with the vigor of a maudlin cuckoo.”

 

Yet she made it to Carnegie Hall on October 25, 1944, thanks to such practice, practice, practice leaving “dignified gentlemen” with “tears of mirth streaming down their cheeks,” as TIME put it. Her last and most famous concert, it sold out in just two hours, according to the acclaimed music venue.

 

A month later, she died of a heart attack at age 76, and some suggested that the scathing reviews killed her. You can judge for yourself whether they were deserved:

 

 

http://time.com/4439621/florence-foster-jenkins-reviews/?iid=sr-link1