Westport Public Library MOVIE & MUSIC Blog

Jon Nakamatsu, a world-renowned pianist and chamber music artist, was catapulted to fame in June 1997 by winning the Gold Medal in the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In 1998, he was named Debut Artist of the Year by NPR's Performance Today. That achievement was capped with a performance of Rhapsody in Blue at President Clinton's White House. Nakamatsu has appeared with numerous American and international orchestras including the the Boston Pops, Buffalo Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.

Edward Pleasant has been seen as Jim in the New York City Opera production Porgy and Bess as well as the Emmy nominated telecast of it on Live from Lincoln Center. He has acted as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Faith Journey, Ben Ross in Freedom Train, Pompey in The Bloomer Girl and Coalhouse Walker, Jr. in Ragtime.

In 1992, Julie-Ann Whitely Green made her New York solo debut at Carnegie Hall. She has appeared in many cathedral performances cities such as London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, St. Petersburg and Vienna; she has shared the stage with popular stars like Michael Crawford, Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand.

If you cannot make it to the concert, be sure to come to the library for recordings of these works and for biographical and critical analysis of George Gershwin.

Richard Drake Saunders' remarks about George Gershwin in The Musical Courier of 1937 are particularly apt:

"An occasional work of his on a programme is all very well, but an entire evening is too much. It is like a meal of chocolate eclairs."

According to the calendar, spring has arrived. Although we are still experiencing the last vestiges of winter's barren, desolate ways, the light and verdure of spring beckon us. Seasonal music allows us to appreciate, cherish and rejoice at nature's miraculous changes of beauty, coloration and serenity.

Here are a few suggestions from the Library's CD collection:

Bach, Johann Sebastian. Brandenburg Concerto #3

Glazunov, Alexander. "Spring" from The Seasons

Grieg, Edvard. "Morning" from Peer Gynt Suite

Haydn, Franz Joseph. The Creation

Mendelssohn, Felix. "Spring" from Songs Without Words

Rossini, Gioachino. William Tell Overture

Schubert, Franz. Die Schone Mullerin

Strauss, Johann Jr. Blue Danube Waltz

Strauss, Richard. "Spring" from Four Last Songs

Vivaldi, Antonio. "Spring" from Four Seasons

With the 100th Birthday celebration of the Westport Public Library fast approaching, all things having to do with the year 1908 hold a particular fascination for the staff. It was also a landmark year for the future of the movie industry. That year saw the birth of an incredible array of beloved actors. Bernard Lee known to all as M in the James Bond movies was born in London. The world welcomed Robert Cummings, Eve Arden and Fred MacMurray first respected for their roles in the movies and later on TV. Ethel Merman also belted out her first sounds in 1908. In Los Angeles, Olympic medal swimming medal winner Clarence Crabbe (better known as Buster) took his first breath on earth. Later, he would venture into outer space as Flash Gordon, to the delight of movie goers. Distinctive voiced actors Mae Questel who was the voice of both Betty Boop and Olive Oyl and Burgess Meredith are also among those born.

Academy Award winners are well represented including Don Ameche who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his supporting role in Cocoon and Italian actress Anna Magnani who won Best Actress in 1956 for the Rose Tattoo. But if you want to talk star power of the highest power, four of the truly brightest stars are represented. She of the incredible eyes, Bette Davis was born on April 5th just days before the Westport Library’s grand opening on April 8th. Diminutive beauty Carole Lombard who lost her life at age 33 in an airplane crash (she was headed back from a war bond rally) and dapper Rex Harrison graced us in that year as well. Finally, James Matiland Stewart was born in Indiana on May 20th, which is, take it from me, a great day to have a birthday. (Is this why I can’t resist a Stewart movie?) The actor, known for his halting delivery and self-deprecating humor once said, “If I had my career over again? Maybe I'd say to myself, speed it up a little.”

All of these actors are well represented in our film collection. And, you will find several autobiographies and biographies about them in our book collection. Why not salute their birthdays along with the library's while watching one of their films or reading their life history.

Begin with some older films including Odd Man Out (1947) in which James Mason stars as a wounded IRA gunman on the run in Belfast. The Quiet Man (1952) features John Wayne as an American boxer who returns to Ireland to forget his past only to fall in love with the beautiful Maureen O’Hara. Trouble ensues over the payment of a dowry. Angela’s Ashes (1999) is set in pre-war Limerick and is based on Frank McCourt’s memoir of his humble childhood. The movie is imbued with the same heartbreaking scenes and soulful humor as the book.

Look to the rainbow and find the child in you as you smile along with Finian’s Rainbow staring Fred Astaire in his last musical. And yes, that is Petula Clark singing along with Fred. Your family will enjoy following the adventures of a leprechaun as he tires to retrieve a crock of gold from an old wanderer who has taken it to America.

Other notable films include Dancing at Lughnasa staring Meryl Streep, In the Name of the Father and My Left Foot about Irish poet Christy Brown, both staring Academy Award winner Daniel Day Lewis. More recent Irish cinema films in our collection include Once and The Wind that Shakes the Barley.

Whether or not you are indeed Irish, enjoy one of these films.

"It's the song of a merryman, moping mum,
Whose soul was sad, and whose glance was glum,
Who sipped no sup, and who craved no crumb,
As he sighed for the love of a ladye.
Heighdy! Heighdy!
Misery me, lackadaydee!
He sipped no sup, and he craved no crumb,
As he sighed for the love of a ladye."

Arthur Sullivan's memorable melodies beautifully support the lyrics of this work.

This show may be seen from Marchc 14-22, 2008 at St. Luke's Performing Arts Center in New Canaan. For further information about the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, the Library has Caryl Brahms' Gilbert and Sullivan: Lost Chords and Discords, Alan Jefferson's The Complete Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Guide and Geoffrey Smith's The Savoy Operas: A New Guide to Gilbert and Sullivan.

The Hall of Fame recognizes these artists with exhibits, video and interactive presentations and programs. Personal items, a multi-media show that captures defining moments of their careers as well as their signatures engraved on the glass walls of the museum will become part of the permanent collection.

Leonard Cohen's poems and music are represented in the library's collection in Book of Longing, Essential Leonard Cohen, Famous Blue Raincoat and Songs from a Room. The History of the Dave Clark Five is a two CD set of this group's music. Madonna's eclectic interests are quite evident and include The English Roses, Mr. Peabody's Apples, Desperately Seeking Susan, Evita, I'm Breathless and Ray of Light. John Mellencamp's ballads and rock numbers may be sampled in the CD's Big Daddy, John Mellencamp, and Trouble No More. The Ventures guitar rock inspired many in the 1960's especially with the ubiquitous hit “Hawaii Five-O.”

Chuck Berry reflected on the fun and good times in his 1957 song, "Rock 'n' Roll Music"

"Just let me hear some of that
Rock and roll music
Any old way you choose it
It's got a back beat, you can't lose it
Any old time you use it
It's gotta be rock and roll music
If you want to dance with me
If you want to dance with me"

Since 2007, the Westport Arts Center has endeavored to challenge, educate and entertain us via the Composers Project, a series of concerts and conversations that explore 21st century musical compositions. This year's artists-in-residence are the Antares ensemble comprised of cellist Rebecca Patterson, pianist Eric Huebner, clarinetist Garrick Zoeter and violinist Jesse Mills. These musicians have arranged and conceived the seven concert series and will lead the pre-concert talks with a featured composer. Contemporary artists and composers must have stellar interpretative and technical skills as well as the finesse to establish a dialogue with the audience, foster relationships with schools, and elicit support from the community in order to survive and thrive.

The Peabody Trio, winners of the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, will open the Composers Project on Friday, March 7, 2008 at the Seabury Center at 8:00 p.m. with Zhou Long's Spirit of Chimes, Maurice Ravel's Piano Trio and Franz Schubert's Trio in B-flat major. This trio, made up of violinist Violaine Melancon, cellist Natasha Brofsky and pianist Seth Knopp are members of the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. They have performed at various music festivals including the Cape and Islands, Rockport, Skaneateles and Tanglewood as well as radio programs like CBC, Morning Pro Musica, NPR’s Performance Today and Radio-Canada.

Mr. Long will speak about his ideas and creative process with Ms. Patterson of Antares at the pre-concert talk at 7:30 p.m. For those who wish to hear trios by other noted composers, the library offers works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann.

He was born in Sicily on July 24, 1921 and moved to Milan at the age of six; his vocal talents were quickly recognized as he sang in a local choir. After considering a career in the priesthood, he realized that his avocation could become his profession; he studied with baritones Luigi Montesanto and Mariano Stabile until World War II. His voice saved him from serving on the Russian front as he used it to entertain his fellow soldiers and compatriots. With the defeat of Italy, he escaped to Switzerland and pursued an operatic career. In April 1946 he made his debut as Massenet's Des Grieux at Reggio Emilia in Milan. He subsequently repeated this role at the Rome Opera and La Scala with lasting plaudits and glory. EMI engaged him in 1947 as one of their recording stars.

His triumphant February 1948 Metropolitan Opera debut as the Duke in Rigoletto led to a number of noteworthy roles including the title role in Faust, Elvino in La Sonnambula and Wilhelm Meister in Mignon. His rich, expressive tone and impassioned diction were noted in his characterizations as Don José in Carmen, Canio in Pagliacci, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Radames in Aida, Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino and Cavaradossi in Tosca.

His first appearance with the fiery Maria Callas took place in September 1951 in Verdi's La Traviata in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Their celebrated partnership reached its pinnacle in their 1955 performance of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor under Herbert von Karajan where they repeated the famous sextet. Di Stefano's volatile, unpredictable behavior and vocal problems led to a three year banning from the Metropolitan Opera. In later years, he published a book on opera singing, L’Arte del Canto.

His sonorous tones are well captured in the following excerpt "Salut Demeure" from Faust:

I agree with New York Times columnist, Anthony Tommasini that the orchestra should have chosen a piece by a living American composer. In reviewing the Boston Symphony's monumental appearance in the Soviet Union from September 5 - 10, 1956, I noted that the opening program in Leningrad consisted of Ludwig van Beethoven's Third Symphony, Walter Piston's Sixth Symphony and Maurice Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe Suite #2. Piston was a contemporary New England composer and professor of music at Harvard. Surely the Philharmonic could have programmed a 21st century artist like John Corigliano, Aaron Jay Kernis or Lowell Lieberman.

I want to share the comments by Henry B. Cabot, president of the Boston Symphony's trustees, in the July 24, 1955 New York Times.

"We welcome the President's suggestions to help remove the Iron Curtain by a cultural and intellectual exchange with the Soviet Union. The Boston Symphony Orchestra is ready and eager, if the President wishes, to be the first American orchestra to play in Moscow." What I find fascinating in reading this account are the number of famous Russian musicians who greeted the musicians backstage including Dmitri Kabalevsky, Davis Oistrakh, Igor Oistrakh, and Aram Khatchaturian. Let's hope that the Philharmonic's act will lead to a peaceful dialogue between the two nations.