Ferrante of Ferrante and Teicher has died?
Mr. Mike
substantiation of this in Google News at all...
---
From: FERRANTE <manthony...@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: alt.binaries.sheet-music
Subject: Ferrante of Ferrante and Teicher has died
Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:57:41 -0500
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 20, 2009 Contact: Scott
W. Smith, F & T�s Personal Mgr.
(NOTE: Photograph attached. Art Ferrante is STANDING on the left.
Lou Teicher is seated on right)
RENOWNED RECORDING/CONCERT ARTIST, ART FERRANTE OF FERRANTE & TEICHER,
DIES
Longboat Key, FL Art Ferrante, half of the popular piano duo,
FERRANTE & TEICHER, that provided the world with Top 10 hits of huge
theatrical movie themes, died September 19th,2009 of natural causes at
his home in Florida, said Scott W. Smith, Ferrante & Teicher�s
personal manager. He was 88. Mr. Ferrante was preceded in death by
his piano partner, Lou Teicher, in August 2008.
Mr. Ferrante formed his musical partnership as a child with Lou
Teicher, both child prodigies, who attended and attained all of their
musical education at The Julliard School Of Music in New York City.
Upon graduation Ferrante served brief stints as piano accompanist for
professional dancer Paul Draper and as a prot�g� of Irving Berlin in
Hollywood, CA. His idea of becoming professional duo-piano partners
with Lou Teicher brought him back to New York City.
Faculty instructors by day at The Julliard and performing posh night
clubs in NYC by night, the team built their legitimate classical
repertoire and their popular encores. The team of Ferrante & Teicher
debuted in 1947 at NYC�s Town Hall as a classical duo. However, their
encores were their own fiery arrangements of Gershwin, Porter, Kern
etc. Touring annually to more than 160 cities throughout North
America and Europe, F & T�s stage careers spanned nearly five decades
having performed more than 5,200 concerts�booked 2-3 years in advance.
During the 50�s F & T recorded 20 albums of popular and classical
works for Columbia, Westminster and ABC Records. Most notably F & T
recorded a series of �Space Age� pop albums using their twin gimmicked
Steinways. Creating the most avant garde and bizarre sounds, Art &
Lou would laden their pianos with rubber mutes, strips of metal,
cotton balls, cardboard and plucking, pounding and strumming of the
strings�all off chutes of their muted �G� note during their
performance of Ravel�s �Bolero.� Both F & T survived to see these
recorded works revived by today�s retro-hip audiophiles! To this day
their secret �Effect X� was only known to them and their engineer!
�It only took 13 years to become an overnight success,� recounted
Ferrante. In 1960, encouraged by their producer, Don Costa, the duo
headed in to NYC�s Bell Studios with a full orchestra and chorus to
record The Theme from �The Apartment.� Somewhat skeptical, Ferrante
told Don Costa �Two pianos? It�ll never sell!� However, �The
Apartment� would nearly top the charts on both Billboard and Cashbox
earning the duo their first gold single. F & T were quickly dubbed
�The Movie Theme Team� in 1961 after their rapid-fire succession of
hit themes, �Exodus� a number 1 hit (becoming their largest selling
single�some 6.5 million copies), �Tonight� from West Side Story, �The
One-Eyed Jacks� and �Goodbye Again.� Other charted movie themes were
those of �Lawrence Of Arabia�, �Cleopatra�, �Mutiny On The Bounty� and
several others. In 1969, F & T would again hit Top 10 with their
million-selling Theme from �Midnight Cowboy.� During the 60�s and
70�s F & T would chart some 34 albums. Before creating their own
record label, Avant-Garde Records, in 1983, the duo recorded more than
150 albums, now selling over 90 million copies and earning 22 gold and
platinum records.
Ferrante & Teicher would make some 200 television appearances
including Ed Sullivan, The Tonight Show, Dean Martin, Perry Como,
Dinah Shore, Ernie Kovacs, American Bandstand, Bell Telephone Hour,
Mike Douglas, Hollywood Squares, Entertainment Tonight, Evening At
Pops and many more. Also frequent White House guests of Kennedy,
Nixon and Reagan.
Ferrante & Teicher�s beginnings were not easy. �We were not wealthy
kids from wealthy families,� explained Ferrante. �We acquired a small
fleet of trucks to hull our Steinways in. We drove the trucks,
unloaded the pianos, attached the pedals, hammered in the legs�once we
had moved them on to the stage. We tuned the pianos and practiced.
Then we came back and performed a two hour concert. Afterwards we
took the pedals off�.you know the rest!� �Sometimes one of us would
nap on the piano�s curved side while the other drove!� �The F & T
Tour could cover 200,000 miles in ONE year, via car, rail and air,�
said Scott W. Smith
From his home in Encino, CA pianist Roger Williams issued the
following statement: �The world has lost THE premiere two-piano team
in history�.how we all loved these two�and how they will be missed.�
�The twin-pianos of Ferrante & Teicher were amongst the most riveting
acts in all of show business, the likes of which will never be seen
again. Absolutely mesmerizing and pure genius! Purveyors of
beautiful music they were�but far from an �easy listening� act,�
acclaimed Scott W. Smith, F & T�s personal manager.
Before his death in 2006, Ferrante & Teicher�s longtime friend and
conductor, Nick Perito, stated: �In listening back to almost all
1,200 F & T recordings, each and every one was a miniature CONCERTO un
to its self. Virtuoso twin-piano performances and orchestral
arrangements. �
�It�s ironic how BOTH Lou & I retired to �keys� in Florida� said
Ferrante. In recent months as his health declined he personally
stated, �I must live to be 88�that�s one year for every note on the
piano!�
Arthur Richard Ferrante was born September 7, 1918 in New York City,
NY.
Mr. Ferrante is survived by his wife, Jena, his daughter and son
in-law, Brenda & Dale Eberhardt and twin granddaughters, Ashley &
Allison.
Dontait...@aol.com
> The following appeared in some other newsgroup, but I can't find any
> substantiation of this in Google News at all...
>
> ---
>
> Newsgroups: alt.binaries.sheet-music
> Subject: Ferrante of Ferrante and Teicher has died
> Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:57:41 -0500
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 20, 2009 Contact: Scott
> W. Smith, F & T’s Personal Mgr.
>
> (NOTE: Photograph attached. Art Ferrante is STANDING on the left.
> Lou Teicher is seated on right)
>
> RENOWNED RECORDING/CONCERT ARTIST, ART FERRANTE OF FERRANTE & TEICHER,
> DIES
>
> Longboat Key, FL Art Ferrante, half of the popular piano duo,
> FERRANTE & TEICHER, that provided the world with Top 10 hits of huge
> theatrical movie themes, died September 19th,2009 of natural causes at
> his home in Florida, said Scott W. Smith, Ferrante & Teicher’s
> personal manager. He was 88. Mr. Ferrante was preceded in death by
> his piano partner, Lou Teicher, in August 2008.
>
> Mr. Ferrante formed his musical partnership as a child with Lou
> Teicher, both child prodigies, who attended and attained all of their
> musical education at The Julliard School Of Music in New York City.
> Upon graduation Ferrante served brief stints as piano accompanist for
Sad news. Thanks for posting this.
Don Tait
number_six
> The following appeared in some other newsgroup, but I can't find any
> substantiation of this in Google News at all...
>
I didn't find confirmation either. The biographical outline looks
accurate, but I hope reports of his death are exaggerated. I really
enjoyed their records as a kid (parents had a copy of Midnight Cowboy
which had Windmills of Your Mind, Little Green Apples, etc) and I got
to see them play in the early 70s. Good showmen, good arrangers, fine
performers.
GP49
<http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-arthur-
ferrante21-2009sep21,0,5788034.story>
GP49
flossie
> The following appeared in some other newsgroup, but I can't find any
> substantiation of this in Google News at all...
>
> ---
>
> Newsgroups: alt.binaries.sheet-music
> Subject: Ferrante of Ferrante and Teicher has died
> Date: Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:57:41 -0500
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 20, 2009 Contact: Scott
> W. Smith, F & T’s Personal Mgr.
>
> (NOTE: Photograph attached. Art Ferrante is STANDING on the left.
> Lou Teicher is seated on right)
>
> RENOWNED RECORDING/CONCERT ARTIST, ART FERRANTE OF FERRANTE & TEICHER,
> DIES
>
> Longboat Key, FL Art Ferrante, half of the popular piano duo,
> FERRANTE & TEICHER, that provided the world with Top 10 hits of huge
> theatrical movie themes, died September 19th,2009 of natural causes at
> his home in Florida, said Scott W. Smith, Ferrante & Teicher’s
> personal manager. He was 88. Mr. Ferrante was preceded in death by
> his piano partner, Lou Teicher, in August 2008.
>
> Mr. Ferrante formed his musical partnership as a child with Lou
> Teicher, both child prodigies, who attended and attained all of their
> musical education at The Julliard School Of Music in New York City.
> Upon graduation Ferrante served brief stints as piano accompanist for
Wikipedia on Ferrante & Teicher said one thing, but on Ferrante
suggested he was still living, but a Google News search shows an
obituary from the Los Angeles Times, so I would guess thta
unfortunately it's true.
Nice to see some music on this group for a change though, regards to
all
Flossie
Mr. Mike
<andyra...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>Wikipedia on Ferrante & Teicher said one thing, but on Ferrante
>suggested he was still living, but a Google News search shows an
>obituary from the Los Angeles Times, so I would guess thta
>unfortunately it's true.
This announcement about Ferrante's death is very fishy.
The only obit you can currently find through Google News is the Los
Angeles Times one. Among other things, this article cribs from the
Wikipedia article about how F&T experimented with "prepared pianos,"
which is not substantiated through some further reference.
The Wikipedia article itself (which anyone can edit) does not yet give
a date for Ferrante's death.
There is currently no Associated Press obit for Ferrante that I can
find.
Mr. Mike
<cybe...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I really
>enjoyed their records as a kid (parents had a copy of Midnight Cowboy
>which had Windmills of Your Mind, Little Green Apples, etc) and I got
>to see them play in the early 70s.
Me too, I still have a couple of their LPs of movie themes which
included their versions of pieces by Miklos Rozsa among others.
William Sommerwerck
> a date for Ferrante's death.
I just checked, and it currently does.
Kip Williams
> Nice to see some music on this group for a change though, regards to
> all
I see little besides music comments on this newsgroup. No actual music,
since it's an ASCII medium.
One word: filters.
Kip W
Kip Williams
> The only obit you can currently find through Google News is the Los
> Angeles Times one. Among other things, this article cribs from the
> Wikipedia article about how F&T experimented with "prepared pianos,"
> which is not substantiated through some further reference.
What wasn't substantitated? That they used prepared pianos? I have some
of those recordings, so you probably mean something else, but I'm not
getting what; sorry.
Kip W
William Sommerwerck
Planet" on it.
My memory is that they did "manipulate" their pianos in some way. But I
could be wrong.
MiNe 109
"William Sommerwerck" <grizzle...@comcast.net> wrote:
The usual term is "prepared piano." Here's the link I found, though
everyone seems clear on the process:
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Prepared_piano
This cites 'Hi-FiReworks' by F&T from 1953 which contains mostly pop
titles.
Stephen
Matthew�B.�Tepper
letters to be typed in news:svKtm.182378$O23....@newsfe11.iad:
Last Friday after work I went to Record Surplus on Pico Boulevard and got a
couple of piano CDs. One of them was Christopher O'Riley's Stravinsky disc,
which had the Three Pieces from "Petrushka," and the pianist's own
arrangements of "Apollo" (!) and a suite from "L'histoire du soldat." In the
Tango in the "Soldat" selection, he has prepared his piano to sound like the
tom-toms the percussionist plays at that point. It's very effective.
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
Read about "Proty" here: http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/proty.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of my employers
Mr. Mike
Mr. Mike
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