My
Meeting with Leonard Slatkin!
(9/15/2019)
Maestro Slatkin graciously shared
over an hour of his time with me on the day after he conducted the
Houston Symphony Orchestra in their 2019 Opening Night Concert.
I enjoyed our conversation about music
in general and specifically about the Felix Slatkin
website. Leonard also autographed my copies of his two
books and two of his compact discs.
Here are a few of the things that I
learned during our conversation:
TV and FILM APPEARANCES BY FELIX
SLATKIN (and Eleanor Aller)
(NOTE: If anyone has
more information about these films, or knows of others not listed here,
please email me!)
- More
Slatkin home movie footage is included in a BBC Four television program
about the film music of Miklos Rozsa.
- The 20th
Century Fox Orchestra was featured in a film short that was shown in
theaters.
- In another
theatrical film short, Borodin's "Polovtsian Dances" from Prince Igor
was performed by the orchestra and chorus.
- In another
theatrical film short, Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony was performed by the
orchestra in period costume.
- In the
introductory section of the 1953 movie "How To Marry A Millionaire",
Felix Slatkin is seen playing the violin, with Alfred Newman conducting
"Street Scene."
See
a
slide show of screen shots from this film. Felix Slatkin is in
the concertmaster chair.
- The
Hollywood String Quartet appeared in a special television program in
the 1950's.
- Felix and
Eleanor were part of the orchestra for Danny Thomas' "Make Room For
Daddy" TV program in the mid-Fifties.
- Apparently
no film exists of Felix Slatkin conducting an orchestra.
Although Felix and Eleanor were very
familiar with the music of both Korngold and Delius, the Hollywood
String Quartet did not perform any string quartets by those composers.
The Hollywood String Quartet did some
radio broadcasts from the Los
Angeles Museum of Art. Transcription discs of those
broadcasts may
exist. If you have any information on those recordings,
please email
me.
Composer Cindy McTee (Leonard's wife)
has
transcribed some of Felix Slatkin's orchestral arrangements so that
the scores can be performed in concert. As of 2020 she has
reconstructed the arrangements for "Carmen's Hoedown", "Fisher's
Hornpipe", and "Wistful Haven."
Leonard Slatkin and the Slatkin family were featured in an "MSM
Icons" concert at the Manhattan School of Music on October 18,
2019. Concert
and
ticket
information
The performers included Leonard Slatkin,
Fred Zlotkin, Daniel Slatkin, Cindy McTee, Sir James and Lady Jeanne
Galway, and Alec Baldwin (as narrator for "The Raven")
A complete video recording of the concert is available through a
link on Leonard Slatkin's Facebook page. Facebook
link
Reviews of the Houston Symphony
Orchestra concert conducted by Maestro Slatkin on 9/14/2019:
Texas
Classical
Review
Houston
Chronicle
My other
Leonard Slatkin links
Back to the
Felix Slatkin Page