Hello MMD readers,  On January 1, 2000, I submitted a text on the
topic of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which appears here in the Mech.
Music Digest Archives:
http://www.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/200001/2000.01.01.10.html

There were sample snippets of that work, as conducted by James Levine,
and, back then, I was underwhelmed with the extracts that the Disney
Channel and National Public Radio had presented prior to the film's
initial release.  The musical snapshots seemed to me to be overblown
and heavy-handed at the time.

Months later, after the premiere of the movie in the Imax theaters,
'Fantasia 2000' was offered as a videotape in the VHS format.  A copy
was purchased, but due to the musical extracts I had experienced
earlier, I didn't rush to play the tape.  In fact, it lay on the shelf
for close to a year's time.

I'm happy to report that, while I prefer the earlier "Jazz Band and
Piano" version of this Gershwin composition to the "Orchestra and
Piano" edition which followed, the James Levine presentation wasn't
as bad as I had predicted.  In fact, the animations, based on cartoons
by Al Hirschfeld, did fit the music quite well.  That the bygone New
York City of Harlem and the 1920's Jazz Age were suggested -- in
synchronization -- made the musical experience pleasurable, even though
I still defer to the playful nature of the earlier arrangement (and the
Paul Whiteman acoustic Victor Record which featured that version).

'Fantasia 2000', in spite of the work which went into the total
production, does not capture the vitality and aura of the original
1940 'Fantasia', whether projected in monaural, re-mastered stereo
or the early 3-channel Fantasound process (which I never experienced,
being two years old when the Disney picture was released!).

What's wrong?  First, in 1940 you had the authoritative voice of
composer-critic Deems Taylor plus the visual aspect of Leopold
Stowkowski, whose presence and 'orchestral tone quality' hovered above
all the proceedings.  It was the day of the Red Seal 78 rpm records
($1.50 and up), cities being the center of culture, large department
stores, urban rail transit systems, and a wealth of "excitement", which
today's equivalents fail to generate.  The city was a place of 'hustle
and bustle' up through the 1940s, with movie theaters and stage
productions shining brightly.

By copying the formula of the 1940 movie, the new film released in 2000
does its best using popular stars and celebrities of today (such as
Steve Martin and Angela Lansbury) introducing the various segments.
Some of the cartoons are good, such as the whale sequence set to
Respighi's "The Pines of Rome".  The 'cycle of life' segment using
Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" is also visually stunning.

For me, the worst part had to be Donald Duck in the Noah's Ark
sequence.  The hot-tempered duck doesn't fit that well with religion,
in my opinion, and while I liked the Elgar music, his Biblical garb
and overall lack of amusing sequences were a turn-off for this viewer.
Having grown up with Donald Duck jitterbugging with Daisy Duck, in an
abstract San Francisco Victorian row house setting, this modern collage
of rain, mud and animals is something to fast-forward over if the VHS
tape ever gets played again.

When it comes to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", I'll still take the
old Victor Record (now on tape and CD), a live performance by Masanobu
Ikemiya and his New York Ragtime orchestra (using an arrangement based
on a copy of my Aeolian Hall Demonstration Roll), or the Primo roll
itself on my Studio instruments.

While scored for the Duo-Art, I used it with great success this
past summer at our concerts in Searsport Shores, Maine.  There,
I played part of the "obviously Armbruster" commercial Aeolian edition,
at Tempo 60, and then followed with the complete, undocumented roll
which runs along at Tempo 100.  Even with some of the orchestral parts
missing (this being a duet arrangement, after all), the results on our
1929 Story & Clark Reprotone player brought down the house every time.

(There were several Gershwin musicales scheduled for our 2nd season there,
giving me the opportunity to perform that rare "Gershwin-sounding" roll
on several occasions.  See this illustrated web page for a few details:
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/pianolas.htm )

So, I close by saying that 'Fantasia 2000' wasn't that bad for the
Gershwin's music as I had expected, but overall I prefer the 1940
movie.  The original motion picture captures the spirit of another
time, something which can't be totally recreated in our day.

And, if Disney revises this Imax picture, as they often do with
their re-releases, I think Donald Duck could be pitched, or at least
replaced with that sparkling jitterbug-swing dance cartoon of my youth.
A Ben-Hur fowl he's not!

Regards,
Douglas Henderson
Artcraft Music Rolls, Maine
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/