Actors, Celebrities Who Love Classical Music (Was: Actors as Conductors)
Piotr Kaminski
> 4. Lenin, who, I have read, was very fond of Beethoven's piano music.
This is one of these legends that were built up to make him look more human. He
wasn't, and the Appassionata story (haven't they made a movie about it?) is pure
bullshit. Heard same rubbish about Stalin. And Hitler loved Wagner, of course (I
have always wondered about Hitler sitting through The Twilight, or Die
Meistersinger)...
PK
Owen Hartnett
(The Melsons) wrote:
>Come on, make a list of celebrities who publicly embrace classical
>music - I dare you. Is it any wonder the art form isn't more popular,
>given the paucity of role models who enjoy classical music?
Two that come to mind off the bat:
Jack Benny - in spite of the violin jokes, Benny really did like music and
did lead orchestras, as did...
Phyllis Diller.
-Owen
John Grabowski
>
> The Sunday NY Times had a piece about the Disney Co's. support of less
> mainstream projects, and it mentioned Michael Eisner having some
> epiphany or other at a performance of the Mahler 8th.
"Mahler is singing about God....and that God is......yes, ME!!!!" ;-)
> I know that
> Charles Osgood (CBS Sunday Morning) is an active classical music buff,
> and he frequently guests as a narrator or performer at Boston Pops
> concerts and the like.
Hugh Downes has hosted quite a few classical music specials for PBS and
the like, and seems to have at least a modest knoweledge.
Isn't it scary, though, how few names come to mind....and none under
about age 55 (yet!). This is an interesting question.
John
--
Don't tell me the rules. The rules only rule out the brilliant
exception.
Ed McCabe, copywriter
Matthew B. Tepper
what I'm pondering as follows:
Diller has been known to play the Beethoven Piano Concerto #1 at
benefit concerts.
>-Owen
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/index.htm
My main music page --- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/berlioz.htm
And my science fiction club's home page --- http://www.lasfs.org/
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Matthew B. Tepper
ame...@ix.netcom.com pondered what I'm pondering as follows:
>
>Come on, make a list of celebrities who publicly embrace classical
>music - I dare you. Is it any wonder the art form isn't more popular,
>given the paucity of role models who enjoy classical music?
Walter Matthau is well known to be a big-time lover of Mozart's music,
and occasionally guest conducts the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra.
Mick Jagger is reportedly very fond of, and knowledgeable about,
classical music.
Mr. Mike
Ustinov has some interesting tales in his autobiography about the singing he had
to do as Nero in Quo Vadis (Rozsa's score).
The Melsons
Other than David Ogden Stiers (whose name I couldn't remember on the
related thread listed above) and Tony Randall, can you think of any
actors (or other celebrities outside of the Classical music industry)
who are known for their public support of classical music? I don't
count those actors who hve played musicians (like Richard Dreyfuss,
who has played both a pianist (in "The Competition") and a conductor
("Mr. Holland's Opus") but are not otherwise known as buffs.
In this age when marketing controls everything, celebrities from
actors to politicians who covet public approval don't seem to want to
be associated with an art form that won't deliver big numbers in
ratings/polls.
At least some European politicians (former British PM Edward Heath,
former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt) care about our art form.
Heath and Schmidt have both participated as the the third pianist in
recordings of Mozart's Concerto for Three Pianos.
Come on, make a list of celebrities who publicly embrace classical
music - I dare you. Is it any wonder the art form isn't more popular,
given the paucity of role models who enjoy classical music?
Mark Melson
Marc Perman
mainstream projects, and it mentioned Michael Eisner having some
Charles Osgood (CBS Sunday Morning) is an active classical music buff,
and he frequently guests as a narrator or performer at Boston Pops
concerts and the like.
Marc Perman
Beaver Lad
In a 1978 Time magazine article, Prince Charles said that his favourite
composer was Berlioz.
The late comedian Harold Lloyd (1893-1970) had an enormous sound system in
his enormous home. He had also standing orders with all the record
companies for every new release. His favourite composer was Beethoven, and
he'd sit up late at night, blasting the stereo so loudly that plaster would
shake loose from the ceiling.
The late film director Luis Buñuel (1900-83) was a great music lover (check
out the soundtrack of L'Age d'Or [1930]: Schubert, Mendelssohn, Wagner,
Debussy, Beethoven, Mozart‹most amusingly contrasted with the images!). He
played the violin as a young man, and (according to his sister Conchita)
"even formed a small orchestra; and on important religious holidays,
Perosi's Mass and Schubert's "Ave Maria" thundered down from the choir loft
onto a delighted congregation." Wagner was a huge fave of his (Un Chien
andalou [1929] and Wuthering Heights [1953] especially), but as he grew
deaf in his old age, he ceased to use any music at all in his movies. I
can't resist this quote from Buñuel's autobiography (My Last Sigh; 1982):
"Š I adored Wagner, whose music I used in several films, from
Un Chien andalou to That Obscure Object of Desire. One of the greatest
tragedies in my life is my deafness, for it's been over twenty years
now since I've been able to hear notes. When I listen to music, it's
as if the letters in a text were changing places with one another,
rendering the words unintelligible and muddying the lines. I'd con-
sider my old age redeemed if my hearing were to come back, for
music would be the gentlest opiate, calming my fears as I move
toward death. In any case, I suppose the only chance I have for that
kind of miracle involves nothing short of a visit to Lourdes.
When I was young, I played the violin, and later, in Paris, the
banjo. Beethoven, Cesar Franck, Schumann, and Debussy, to name
just a few, were among my favorite composers. But our attitudes
toward music have changed drastically since those days. For instance,
we usually heard several months in advance when the Madrid Sym-
phony was coming to Saragossa, and we were always beside ourselves
with excitement. In fact, the waiting was decidedly voluptuous. We
made preparations way in advance, counting the days, looking for
scores, humming the melodies; and when the concert arrived at last,
it was an incomparable delight. Today, all you have to do is press a
button and any kind of music you like will instantly fill your living
room. I wonder what's been gained, however. I can't help feeling
that there is no beauty without hope, struggle, and conquest."
===========================================================================
In article <36195fed....@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, ame...@ix.netcom.com
RandyF926
I remember reading something Billy Joel had written about his love for
classical music.
Jerry M. Bank
>
>
> Other than David Ogden Stiers (whose name I couldn't remember on the
> related thread listed above) and Tony Randall, can you think of any
> actors (or other celebrities outside of the Classical music industry)
> who are known for their public support of classical music? I don't
> count those actors who hve played musicians (like Richard Dreyfuss,
> who has played both a pianist (in "The Competition") and a conductor
> ("Mr. Holland's Opus") but are not otherwise known as buffs.
>
> In this age when marketing controls everything, celebrities from
> actors to politicians who covet public approval don't seem to want to
> be associated with an art form that won't deliver big numbers in
> ratings/polls.
>
> At least some European politicians (former British PM Edward Heath,
> former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt) care about our art form.
> Heath and Schmidt have both participated as the the third pianist in
> recordings of Mozart's Concerto for Three Pianos.
>
> Come on, make a list of celebrities who publicly embrace classical
> music - I dare you. Is it any wonder the art form isn't more popular,
> given the paucity of role models who enjoy classical music?
>
> Mark Melson
Dudley Moore.
--
Music is the language of the gods.
Jerry M. Bank
Trenton, NJ
Colin Rosenthal
>
>I remember reading something Billy Joel had written about his love for
>classical music.
Classic CD have a sort of "celebrity playlist" each month. Sometimes it's
somebody already associated with the classical music world, but not always -
Douglas Adams was one of the recent columnists.
--
Colin Rosenthal
High Altitude Observatory
Boulder, Colorado
rose...@hao.ucar.edu
Matthew B. Tepper
rand...@aol.com pondered what I'm pondering as follows:
>
>I remember reading something Billy Joel had written about his love for
>classical music.
In his case, I think it's because he was trying to "move in."
Michael Subotin
> >
> >Come on, make a list of celebrities who publicly embrace classical
> >music - I dare you. Is it any wonder the art form isn't more popular,
> >given the paucity of role models who enjoy classical music?
> Mick Jagger is reportedly very fond of, and knowledgeable about,
> classical music.
Publically -- that's the whole point, isn't it? It's about being
an outspoken proponent of the art. Everyone knows Clint Eastwood is
a jazz buff; Dennis Hopper (?) recently came on the Dennis Miller
show to defend modern art, presenting himself as a connoisseur,
but the only intersections of celebrity with classical music you're
likely to get are washed up rock stars deciding to sit down at
the piano and noodle out a Very Important Masterpiece or some teeny
muzakmeister proudly chirping how they just luuv Mow-zart. Frank
Zappa was telling the kids to quit being good little "pop consumers"
and go listen to some Webern every chance he got. He'd even spell
out W-E-B-E-R-N for them. What has Mick's big mouth ever done for ya,
o vigilant one?
Michael
--
E-mail: mvsst3+@pitt{DOT}edu Replace {DOT} with a dot
na...@alphalink.com.au
ame...@ix.netcom.com (The Melsons) wrote:
>
> Other than David Ogden Stiers (whose name I couldn't remember on the
> related thread listed above) and Tony Randall, can you think of any
> actors (or other celebrities outside of the Classical music industry)
> who are known for their public support of classical music?
I don't know about *public* support, but Daniel Massey, who played
Furtwaengler in a West End production, is a classical music buff in real
life. So is Simon Callow, who played Schickaneder in _Amadeus_. And in a
television interview John Thaw, who plays the lead character in the Inspector
Morse television series, said that love of music was one of the things he had
in common with his fictional character.
In the "actors-as-conductors" category I would like to nominate Edward G.
Robinson as Fritz Reiner.
> At least some European politicians (former British PM Edward Heath,
> former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt) care about our art form.
Also the former (1991-1996) Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating. It was
said to be Keating who convinced Chandos to sign up the Australian pianist
Geoffrey Tozer. More notoriously, the former British government minister
David Mellor, disgraced in a sex scandal with a porn actress, is also a
voracious purchaser of CDs and now spends his spare time writing columns for
UK record magazines.
Naun.
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Leroy Curtis
<ame...@ix.netcom.com> writes
>Heath and Schmidt have both participated as the the third pianist in
>recordings of Mozart's Concerto for Three Pianos.
Edward Heath's participation in Classical music goes far deeper than
this. He is an accomplished organist, and has conducted publicly on a
fair number of occasions. He has recorded the Beethoven Triple Concerto
as conductor with the Trio Zigara as soloists; available on CD on
Pickwick label.
--
Regards
Leroy Curtis
Please replace "nospam" with "baram" in my address if you wish to
reply by Email
Beaver Lad
feb...@ralnig.gomez (Beaver Lad) wrote:
> The late comedian Harold Lloyd (1893-1970) had an enormous sound system in
> his enormous home. He had also standing orders with all the record
> companies for every new release. His favourite composer was Beethoven, and
> he'd sit up late at night, blasting the stereo so loudly that plaster would
> shake loose from the ceiling.
Oops! I meant 1893-1971; 8 March, to be precise. Berlioz too died on 8
March (1869).
Steve
opined that the best way to relax was to sit back in an easy chair with
a cold brewski while listening to Gounod's "Faust". Teammates of Koufax
thought he was weird because he would carry a portable record player and
classical lp's on road trips. Also, he would READ BOOKS!
Steve Wolk
George Murnu
>
> Isn't it scary, though, how few names come to mind....and none under
> about age 55 (yet!). This is an interesting question.
To take the scare away :) let's mention here Spanish actress Penelope
Cruz ( BELLE EPOQUE, JAMON JAMON ) who loves Albinoni, Chopin, etc.
Regards,
George
Matthew B. Tepper
>
>opined that the best way to relax was to sit back in an easy chair
>with a cold brewski while listening to Gounod's "Faust".
My respect for him has just octupled. In fact, I'm now wondering if
he had anything to do with Solti committing "Bear Down, Chicago Bears"
to record. Da Bearssssss!
>Teammates of Koufax thought he was weird because he would carry a
>portable record player and classical lp's on road trips. Also, he
>would READ BOOKS!
Something (the prolific reading part, anyway) he had in common with
another of the greatest players of the game -- Lou Gehrig.
>Steve Wolk
E. Kammin
Leroy Curtis wrote in message ...
>In article <36195fed....@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, The Melsons
><ame...@ix.netcom.com> writes
>
>>Heath and Schmidt have both participated as the the third pianist in
>>recordings of Mozart's Concerto for Three Pianos.
>
>Edward Heath's participation in Classical music goes far deeper than
>this. He is an accomplished organist, and has conducted publicly on a
>fair number of occasions. He has recorded the Beethoven Triple Concerto
>as conductor with the Trio Zigara as soloists; available on CD on
>Pickwick label.
Several other public figures (if not strictly "celebrities") who love, or
loved, classical music:
1. Jimmy Carter, who said that his musical tastes were not those of the
typical Georgia Good Ol' Boy, since his listening preference was for Mozart.
2. Denmark's King Frederick IX was an enthusiastic orchestral conductor,
and even recorded 78s of the "Unfinished" for the Danish Tono label. Does
anyone know if this has ever been reissued.
3. Jan Masaryk, who was the Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia just prior to
the Communist takeover (and was also the son of the founder of independent
Czechoslovakia, Thomas Masaryk). He, too, was an excellent pianist, and
recorded some songs with Jarmila Novotna (re-issed on the Pearl label).
4. Lenin, who, I have read, was very fond of Beethoven's piano music.
Ed. K.
Richard Schultz
: Several other public figures (if not strictly "celebrities") who love, or
: loved, classical music:
: 1. Jimmy Carter, who said that his musical tastes were not those of the
: typical Georgia Good Ol' Boy, since his listening preference was for Mozart.
Also Harry Truman. A lot of people thought that because he was a hick,
he liked stuff like the Missouri Waltz, when in fact, he preferred Chopin.
(There is a story that when he was President, Richard Nixon visited
Truman and played the Missouri Waltz for him, at which point Truman asked
in a loud stage whisper "what was that?")
-----
Richard Schultz sch...@mail.biu.ac.il
Department of Chemistry tel: 972-3-531-8065
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel fax: 972-3-535-1250
-----
"You go on playing Bach your way, and I'll go on playing him *his* way."
-- Wanda Landowska
John Grabowski
>
> Leroy Curtis wrote in message ...
> >In article <36195fed....@nntp.ix.netcom.com>, The Melsons
> ><ame...@ix.netcom.com> writes
> >
> >>Heath and Schmidt have both participated as the the third pianist in
> >>recordings of Mozart's Concerto for Three Pianos.
> >
> >Edward Heath's participation in Classical music goes far deeper than
> >this. He is an accomplished organist, and has conducted publicly on a
> >fair number of occasions. He has recorded the Beethoven Triple Concerto
> >as conductor with the Trio Zigara as soloists; available on CD on
> >Pickwick label.
>
> loved, classical music:
>
> 1. Jimmy Carter, who said that his musical tastes were not those of the
> typical Georgia Good Ol' Boy, since his listening preference was for Mozart.
Jimmy also loves jazz, and I once saw video of him singing "Salt
Peanuts" with Dizzy Gillespie! :-)
John
--
Mr. President, do you want to go on the road with is?
I might have to after tonight!
Dizzy Gillespie and Jimmy Carter
after the Salt Peanuts performance
John Grabowski
>
> E. Kammin (eka...@sympatico.ca) wrote:
>
> : Several other public figures (if not strictly "celebrities") who love, or
> : loved, classical music:
>
> : 1. Jimmy Carter, who said that his musical tastes were not those of the
> : typical Georgia Good Ol' Boy, since his listening preference was for Mozart.
>
> he liked stuff like the Missouri Waltz, when in fact, he preferred Chopin.
> (There is a story that when he was President, Richard Nixon visited
> Truman and played the Missouri Waltz for him, at which point Truman asked
> in a loud stage whisper "what was that?")
Dickie played the piano?
George Murnu
>
> 3. Jan Masaryk, who was the Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia just prior to
> the Communist takeover (and was also the son of the founder of independent
> Czechoslovakia, Thomas Masaryk). He, too, was an excellent pianist, and
> recorded some songs with Jarmila Novotna (re-issed on the Pearl label).
To stay in Czech territory, Vaclav Havel has presided over some "Prague
Spring" festivals. And in Romania quite a few political personalities
are known as music lovers: the president Emil Constantinescu, the head
of the Senate Petre Roman, as well as the King Michael - still alive and
well and good friend with Yehudi Menuhin.
Regards,
George
E. Kammin
Piotr Kaminski wrote in message <36173F26...@imaginet.fr>...
>
>> 4. Lenin, who, I have read, was very fond of Beethoven's piano music.
>
>Heard same rubbish about Stalin.
Actually, I have heard that Stalin disliked classical music, or any sort of
music that was complex or at all intellectually challenging. That was the
main reason "Lady Macbeth of Mzensk" was banned in the USSR. It wasn't only
that the subject was "degenerate", Stalin simply didn't like it.
And Hitler loved Wagner, of course (I
>have always wondered about Hitler sitting through The Twilight, or Die
>Meistersinger)...
But then there was Albert Speer, who, according to his own memoirs at least,
loved classical music, unless he was just trying to promote himself as an
all-around nice guy.
And let's not forget that eminent violinist, Benito Mussolini.
But, in this context, I think about the 1942 Furtwaengler Beethoven 9th,
recorded at a live concert with, supposedly, many of the Nazi hierarchy
there to hear music about the brotherhood of man. I wonder if Hitler was
one of them.
Ed K.
Russ & Martha Oppenheim
>
> And Hitler loved Wagner, of course>
> loved classical music, unless he was just trying to promote himself as an
> all-around nice guy.
>
> And let's not forget that eminent violinist, Benito Mussolini.
Gee, the record companies of the time missed an opportunity to record
Mussolini and the Nazi Reinhard Heydrich in the Bach "Double."
(Heydrich, whose assassination led to the retaliatory massacre at
Lidice, Czechoslovakia, was said to be a fine violinist. His father was
a composer.)
--
----------------------
Russ & Martha Oppenheim
mopp...@ix.netcom.com
----------------------
Michael A. Abelson
once saw him on Sixty Minutes, I think, attempting to play the Mendelssohn Violin
Concerto!
I can't even begin to enumerate the paradoxes and conflicts implicit in this
seemingly innocent act. Does the man believe his own rhetoric?
Mike Abelson
Matthew B. Tepper
mabe...@telerama.lm.com pondered what I'm pondering as follows:
Supposedly, Farrakhan played the Mendelssohn Concerto to show that he
doesn't hate Jews. Yeah, right. I wonder if he was wearing gloves?
(Or if he was even aware that Felix was born into a Lutheran family?)
Cathy and Kip
> Dickie played the piano?
Yes, the Tricky One even wrote music. He was on, I believe Jack Paar's
"Tonight" show once, playing a waltz he wrote over an accompaniment
Jack's bandleader (Joe Piro? I don't really know who it was.) made for
the occasion. Nixon acquitted himself pretty well, although you could
detect a few beads of sweat on his upper lip.
--Kip Williams
D Krause
>I missed the first part of this thread, but has anyone mentioned Louis
Farrakhan? I
>once saw him on Sixty Minutes, I think, attempting to play the Mendelssohn
Violin
>Concerto!
He's certainly not on a professional level, but he can apparently get
through the Mendelssohn on a decent amateur level.
>I can't even begin to enumerate the paradoxes and conflicts implicit in
this
>seemingly innocent act. Does the man believe his own rhetoric?
Farrakhan goes out of his way to point out that this music that he admires
was written by a Jew (by which I suppose he means a "racial" Jew, or some
other genetic descriptor, setting aside the fact of Mendelssohn's childhood
conversion to Christianity). There may be some point he's trying to make,
i.e. he doesn't really hate Jews, etc., which certainly seems at odds with
other statements he's made.
No endorsement of Farrakhan's statements or beliefs is intended here.
John Gavin
complex violin sonata which was recorded in the 1970's along with
another by his violinist/father E. Zimbalist Sr.
Spencer Tracy loved Brahms' Symphonies.
Edward G. Robinson was a close friend of Leopold Godowsky and admired
him tremendously.
Sara Ahlgren
jg...@webtv.net (John Gavin) wrote:
Didn't the composer Stephen Oliver play the part of the conductor Richter
in Tony Palmer's film "Wagner" (that had Richard Burton as Wagner) ??????
Max121587
The commedianne Brett Butler (who also stars in the sticom "Grace Under Fire")
has on several occasions confessed her passion for Italian Opera, particularly
(big guess here) Puccini.
Curtis Croulet
>"Tonight" show once, playing a waltz he wrote over an accompaniment
>Jack's bandleader (Joe Piro? I don't really know who it was.)
I don't remember this particular show. The band leader I remember on Paar's
show was Jose Melles.
Curtis Croulet
>>portable record player and classical lp's on road trips. Also, he
>>would READ BOOKS!
I remember reading a newspaper column about Koufax when he was at the height
of his pitching career -- I think the column was by the late Jim Murray in
the LA Times -- where someone was quoted as saying Koufax liked to listen to
Mendelssohn. Koufax retorted with something in the nature of, "That's
silly! Nobody listens to Mendelssohn anymore."
GregF NC
In the Met Guide to Recorded Opera, Joan Rivers gives her list of 10 favorite
opera recordings. There may be a couple of other celebrities that do
similarly.
Greg F(in North Carolina)
Cathy and Kip
Thanks. If you want to learn a fact on the net, don't ask people to tell
you. Just go out and say something that you know is inaccurate, and
they'll leap out of the woodwork to correct you.
--Kip W.
Cathy and Kip
Another well-known ballplayer (I've forgotten his name, but I know it
wasn't Joe Piro.) appeared on Andy Griffith once. Opie wouldn't practice
piano; he wanted to play ball instead, so Andy had [this ballplayer]
over to the house, where he impressed Opie by playing a Grand Valse
Brillante of Chopin. Not all of it, but he did the repeated notes
section quite nicely.
--Kip W.
Matthew B. Tepper
>
>wasn't Joe Piro.) appeared on Andy Griffith once. Opie wouldn't
>practice piano; he wanted to play ball instead, so Andy had [this
>ballplayer] over to the house, where he impressed Opie by playing a
>Grand Valse Brillante of Chopin. Not all of it, but he did the
>repeated notes section quite nicely.
A few years ago, one of the overpriced sneaker companies aired a TV
commercial with basketball player David Robinson "competing" with
pianist Rudolf Firkusny. The commercial showed Firkusny playing a bit
of a Chopin Waltz with Robinson just watching in awe, and then Firkusny
just standing there looking silly on the basketball court while
Robinson leapt around him to sink a basket.
What was REALLY funny was that I read afterwards that Robinson really
does play the piano, and Firkusny was quoted as saying that he was
pretty good!
Carl Tait
photography. To overextrapolate from a tiny sample of his playing,
he had a good ear for phrasing and a pleasant touch.
--
Carl Tait IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
cdt...@us.ibm.com Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
Edward A. Cowan
> Gee, the record companies of the time missed an opportunity to record
> Mussolini and the Nazi Reinhard Heydrich in the Bach "Double."
> (Heydrich, whose assassination led to the retaliatory massacre at
> Lidice, Czechoslovakia, was said to be a fine violinist. His father was
> a composer.)
According to Bruno Walter's memoirs (_Theme and Variations_, Knopf,
1946), pp.73-74, Heydrich's father was a tenor named Bruno Heydrich who
sang under Walter in the conductor's early years. Walter recalls that
Bruno Heydrich "had a voice that, though robust, was without charm and
no longer quite fresh. He was musically reliable and quite adequate as
an actor." Walter adds that, whenever he had to think of Reinhard
Heydrich, he was reminded of the tenor he had known so long ago...
-- E.A.C.