Gershwin at 80; Part 3

<v Radio Host>"Song of the Flame" is a dramatic operetta with a Russian background, with book and <v Radio Host>lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. <v Radio Host>The score is a curious collaboration between George Gershwin and Herbert Stothart, <v Radio Host>later the celebrated musical director of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. <v Radio Host>In those days, Stothart was musical director for producer Arthur Hammerstein and <v Radio Host>was the frequent collaborated with composers like Vincent Youmans and Rudolf Friml when <v Radio Host>they were writing for Hammerstein. <v Radio Host>Although "Song of the Flame," Gershwin's only operetta is usually forgotten <v Radio Host>by most historians, it lives vividly in the memory of its leading lady, Tessa <v Radio Host>Kosta. <v Miles Kreuger>"Song of the Flame" fascinates me because uh when one thinks of Gershwin, one thinks <v Miles Kreuger>of a man concerned with jazzy rhythms and that sort of thing. <v Miles Kreuger>And "Song of the Flame" is really so very melodic. <v Tessa Kosta>Well, it was uh- is- he really considered it his masterpiece. <v Tessa Kosta>Because he said to me, I never shall forget when we headed out of town in Baltimore. <v Tessa Kosta>And uh- uh I said, "Well, George, are you pleased with what <v Tessa Kosta>you saw this afternoon?" And he said, "Oh, yes." He said, "I think

<v Tessa Kosta>my dream is coming true.". <v Tessa Kosta>Hm. But now there is a curious aspect of "Song of the Flame" that has <v Tessa Kosta>always intrigued me, and that is the fact that there is a credit of mu- uh for the <v Tessa Kosta>musical collaboration with Herbert Stothart, and of course, Stothart is a man who was <v Tessa Kosta>always involved in operettas. And I'm curious to know what you feel is the relationship <v Tessa Kosta>between the 2 and how they work. Do you think they actually influenced each other or did <v Tessa Kosta>they divide up the score, and Stothart do some and Gershwin do some. <v Tessa Kosta>Or did they work on the same songs, do you know? <v Tessa Kosta>I think they collaborated to a certain extent and I think Stothart <v Tessa Kosta>didn't like the ensembles and- and uh those things, rather than <v Tessa Kosta>the individual songs. <v Miles Kreuger>Did you tend to rehearse some with Stothart and some with Gershwin? <v Tessa Kosta>No. We- we um uh went through at least <v Tessa Kosta>I did with George to get uh- I think I <v Tessa Kosta>said, well I don't mind. He said, "I've got- I've got uh C's, high C's and stuff." And <v Tessa Kosta>I said, "Well, don't worry about that because I've got them, too!" [laughs].

<v Miles Kreuger>That's convenient. <v Tessa Kosta>But um uh Hammerstein had uh a lot of trouble with Stothart. <v Tessa Kosta>Stothart oh was a - excuse the expression - he was a devil, <v Tessa Kosta>really. <v Miles Kreuger>In what way? <v Tessa Kosta>Uh. A. Well, the thing is he had before I came into the picture <v Tessa Kosta>and not- not with my particular play, but other plays before <v Tessa Kosta>and even after, but mostly before, he'd <v Tessa Kosta>just ruin the singers. <v Tessa Kosta>And when I was engaged, I said to myself, I said, <v Tessa Kosta>I don't care what he does with his orchestra, I'm going to sing <v Tessa Kosta>the way I was taught to sing. <v Tessa Kosta>And I am not going to follow him or anything else. <v Tessa Kosta>He's going to follow me. I made that a point with myself. <v Miles Kreuger>In what way would he ruin the singers? <v Tessa Kosta>By featuring the orchestra. <v Miles Kreuger>Oh, it was an imbalance in other words. <v Tessa Kosta>Oh!

<v Miles Kreuger>I see. <v Tessa Kosta>He would have the brasses all over the place. <v Tessa Kosta>And it was just terrible. <v Tessa Kosta>Just awful. You would drown them out. <v Tessa Kosta>And 2 or 3 of the singers, previous years, had been just faded <v Tessa Kosta>out of the picture. They had got nodes on their chords and things like that by trying <v Tessa Kosta>to out-sing uh Herbert's uh orchestra. <v Miles Kreuger>Uh huh. <v Tessa Kosta>Well, I decided not to do that. <v Tessa Kosta>And so I just sang with ?the hand?. <v Tessa Kosta>Well, as a consequence, people in the fifth row couldn't hear me! <v Tessa Kosta>I got ?wind of that? and I told that to- to George and I- I really <v Tessa Kosta>got ?so? that I avoided Stothart. <v Tessa Kosta>I didn't want any argument with him anyway. <v Tessa Kosta>And then 1 day Hammerstein came down from <v Tessa Kosta>[inaudible] out front and he came backstage and he- he said, <v Tessa Kosta>"What the hell are you doing, Herbert? <v Tessa Kosta>If I can't hear Costa, I can't hear anybody!" <v Miles Kreuger>Hm.

<v Tessa Kosta>"Now you just muffle the brasses." Well, of course, he didn't <v Tessa Kosta>like that. So from that day on, he never spoke to me. <v Miles Kreuger>What was the Russian art-choir like? Well, they really were authentic Russians, weren't <v Miles Kreuger>they? <v Tessa Kosta>Just marvelous, beautiful voices. <v Tessa Kosta>Just wonderful. Really- well, they-they deserved. <v Tessa Kosta>And they did. They stopped the show every night. <v Miles Kreuger>They sang folk songs, didn't they? <v Tessa Kosta>Yes. ?and think?, but of course, the Russian ones, I mean, they didn't attempt to speak <v Tessa Kosta>English.[laughs]. <v Miles Kreuger>It's interesting that the lyrics were written by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein- <v Tessa Kosta>That's right. <v Miles Kreuger>At a time when Ira Gershwin was already writing with George. <v Tessa Kosta>Well, uh yes, but they had different viewpoints of that. <v Tessa Kosta>They think, well, anyway, it was- it was- it was very interesting. <v Tessa Kosta>And as a consequence, I went through the show and stayed to the bitter end, <v Tessa Kosta>and that was that. <v Radio Host>Here is Tessa Kosta with the Russian art-choir to sing the <v Radio Host>"Cossack Love Song.". <v Speaker>[Tessa Kosta sings "Cossack Love Song"]

<v Radio Host>Gertrude Lawrence was the embodiment of all that was glamorous in the 1920s.

<v Radio Host>For Ms. Lawrence, George and Ira Gershwin wrote two shows: "Oh, Kay!" in 1926 <v Radio Host>and "Treasure Girl" in 1928. <v Radio Host>From "Oh, Kay!" Gertrude Lawrence now sings three selections: "Someone to Watch <v Radio Host>Over Me," "Do, Do, Do," and "Maybe," joined on the last 2 by her London <v Radio Host>leading man, Harold French. <v Speaker>[Gertrude Lawrence sings "Someone to Watch Over Me"] <v Speaker>[Gertrude Lawrence and Harold French sing "Do, Do, Do"].

<v Speaker>[Gertrude Lawrence and Harold French sing "Maybe"].

<v Radio Host>From the 1926 score of "Oh, Kay!" we have just heard Gertrude Lawrence sing "Someone to

<v Radio Host>Watch Over Me," "Do, Do, Do," and "Maybe," with Harold French on the last 2 numbers. <v Radio Host>The 1927 musical "Funny Face" may have had book troubles, but its score marks <v Radio Host>a great improvement over "Lady Be Good" in both music and lyrics. <v Radio Host>Recorded in London the following year, here are Fred and Adele Astaire to sing the <v Radio Host>title song and "The Babbit and the Bromide.". <v Speaker>[Fred and Adele Astaire sing "Funny Face"].

<v Speaker>[Fred and Adele Astaire sing "Babbit and the Bromide"].

<v Radio Host>As brother and sister, the Astaires each required other players to appear as romantic <v Radio Host>companions. In London, Adele's beau in "Funny Face" was Bernard Clifton, <v Radio Host>with whom she now sings "S'wonderful." <v Speaker>[Adele Astaire and Bernard Clifton sing "S'wonderful"] <v Radio Host>In 1926 and again in 1928, George Gershwin visited Paris.

<v Radio Host>He returned to the states with the completed manuscript for his next concert piece, "An <v Radio Host>American in Paris." Walter Damrosch conducted the New <v Radio Host>York Philharmonic at the Carnegie Hall premiere on December 13th, 1928. <v Radio Host>Nathaniel Schilkret then arranged for its radio debut and on February 4th, <v Radio Host>1929, its recording by Victor. <v Radio Host>Although there is no piano passage and "An American in Paris," the composer is heard on <v Radio Host>this recording, briefly playing the celeste, not quite halfway through the work. <v Radio Host>Unlike later, more self-important versions of the piece, this original version bristles <v Radio Host>with the exuberant, jaunty, sprightlyness that George must have felt when setting out to <v Radio Host>compose it. This is the first complete recording of a Gershwin concert work <v Radio Host>and easily the most fully realized version of "An American in Paris" on records.