The Jeff Alexander Choir

[Sam]

As I listened to about fifty more songs on the final two discs of the
"Song Is You" set, I heard many recordings that included the wonderful
Jeff Alexander Choir. They are present for many recordings conducted
by Callinicos and they are most prevalent in Mario's many Christmas
carols. I know little about this group, yet they appeared on many
records and I believe also in movies.

I bring this up because I was wondering what our group thinks of this
choir. Personally, I feel they have a beautiful sound and their
singing goes from the most delicate to the most forceful. And they
have the ability to sound like only a few people are singing, with
their precision.

YET, this sound dates the recordings because we rarely hear this type
of sound anymore. So, what do you guys think?!

[BobD]

Hi again.
To me, the J.A. Choir was a great backing group for Mario on several
of his best recordings. I have heard criticism of them sounding "too
Hollywoody" and not classical enough, but to my ears they typify the
era of great arrangements and good singing. Perry Como had Mitchell
Ayres and his chorus & orchestra. Mario had Ray Sinatra (and
Callinicos) with the J.A choir. An unforgettable moment for me was the
Henri Renee "Deck the Halls" Christmas carol, when the choir came in
with "Fast away the Old Year passes." The pause at the end was
beautifully done. In passing, was it the same "choir" singing on "The
Virgin's Slumber Song," "O Holy Night." "You Are My Love, " "Call Me
Fool," "If You Were Mine" and the beautiful "Song of India.?" These
recordings were listed as just "with chorus." If it was the J.A.
choir, then this omission should be rectified.

[Derek McGovern]

On Jan 31, 11:28 am, BobD <bobdavie...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> In passing, was it the same "choir" singing on "The
> Virgin's Slumber Song," "O Holy Night." "You Are My Love, " "Call Me
> Fool," "If You Were Mine" and the beautiful "Song of India.?" These
> recordings were listed as just "with chorus." If it was the J.A.
> choir, then this omission should be rectified.

Hi Bob: The RCA recording logs simply state "chorus" for those June
1953 recordings -- and nothing at all for the Virgin's Slumber Song &
O Holy Night of 1950. I've always assumed that it was the Jeff
Alexander Choir at both those sessions, but I'd guess the only way to
confirm this would be to track down one of its members. Interestingly,
the logs for Cavalcade of Show Tunes, Lanza on Broadway and some of
the other 1956 material list the names of all the people in the
chorus, two of whom went on to become notable "ghost singers". Marni
Nixon, who provided the singing voice for several film actresses --
including Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and Natalie Wood in West Side
Story -- sang at one session (27 August 1956), and Bill Lee, who sang
for John Kerr in South Pacific and Christopher Plummer in The Sound of
Music, is listed at several sessions. Jacqueline Allen, who provided
the voice of the boy soprano in the Ave Maria scene in The Great
Caruso, was also present in the choir for some of the 1956 sessions.

Actually, it'd be interesting to interview Marni Nixon, in particular.
Not only was she in the Jeff Alexander Choir for one session with
Lanza, but she was also part of the Roger Wagner Chorale (along with
Marilyn Horne) in 1948, and presumably took part in the Halloween
Suite at the Hollywood Bowl that year (along with Mario & others). She
may have some fascinating stories to share! In another link to Lanza,
Ms Nixon, who is still an active performer -- she played Mrs Higgins
in My Fair Lady on stage recently -- is represented by Max Gershunoff,
a one-time trumpeter who performed on Lanza's Great Moments in Music
radio broadcasts in 1945-46. (I tried e-mailing Gershunoff recently,
but he didn't respond.)

I'm not a big fan of the Choir's sound, though I realise it was
typical of that period. While I don't mind them on the Cavalcade album
(in fact, you'd barely know they were there on something like Only a
Rose), at other times they're quite obtrusive, and date the recordings
badly. The RCA Song Angels Sing is turned into pure kitsch with all
that angelic warbling, and it's a shame given that Mario's in
spectacular voice here. I've always wondered what he thought of the
Choir's contributions!

[Shawn]

I've always liked Marni Nixon and was aware of the two screen
"performances" of hers you mentioned (wasn't she also briefly one of
the nuns in "Sound of music?") as well as her recent work- she was
interviewed recently on my local classical station out of
Philadelphia- judging by that interview she has a fine memory so maybe
she would have some interesting stories! I was not aware of her
connections with Mario Lanza, very interesting!

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Shawn: Yes, Marni Nixon did appear as one of the nuns in The Sound
of Music. Apparently, there was initially some nervousness on the film
set as to how Julie Andrews would react to Nixon's presence (given
that she'd sung onscreen the role that most people thought Julie
Andrews should have played), but Andrews, being the professional that
she was, behaved very warmly toward her. Andrews even turned the whole
thing into a joke! When she walked up on to the podium at the Academy
Awards to collect her Oscar for Best Actress that year (for Mary
Poppins), the first thing she said ("with fine English irony", as one
writer put it) was, "My name is Marni Nixon." I love it!

But as far as connections to Lanza go, it's a small world in the film
and music business. For example, Armando sang in an opera in Australia
without realizing that its star, soprano Grace Bumbry, had actually
attended one of Lanza's concerts. Think of all the questions he would
have asked her had he known! (It was only recently that we learned
that bit of info, after tenor Joseph Calleja happened to appear on a
TV show with Bumbry, and afterwards they got talking about Lanza.)
Then there's the actor-dancer George Chakiris (of West Side Story
fame), who as a teenager appeared (uncredited) in The Great Caruso.
(It's interesting that both Rita Moreno & Chakiris -- the two actors
who won supporting Oscars for West Side Story -- appeared in Lanza's
films.)

Sorry to take this thread away from its original subject...

[Shawn]

All very interesting, thanks. I've always admired "English wit." =)

Yes I don't mean to get too off topic but did Bumbry happen to
mention *which* of Lanza's concerts she had attended?

[Derek McGovern]

No, unfortunately, Calleja didn't ask her that question. Presumably,
it was either in 1951 or 1958. What she did tell him, however, was
that Lanza had "a fully bloomed lirico spinto of outstanding quality."
She also confirmed (if confirmation were ever needed!) that it was
definitely not a small voice.

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