GG: Wagner/Mitch/F&T

["Junichi Miyazawa" <walkingtune@bigfoot.com>]

Questions on GG Wagner transcription (linernotes).

GG refering to Mitch Miller:

>KH:  Well, now, before you wrote out your transcription
>[of Meistersinger Prelude, which contains too many
>voices in the last three minutes], how did you navigate
>that segment in performance at home?
>
>GG:  By the simple expedient of leaving out one or
>other of the principal voices and adding 
>a Sing-along-with-Mitch-style descant.
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>KH: Of which there is already quite enough on your 
records as they stand, if I may say so, Mr. Gould!

I learned last night that Mitch Miller (b. 1911) is a 
conductor and had an NBC TV program 
"Sing Along With Mitch"in 1960-64 and released 
various records with the same "sing along with" title.

Q1.  Would anyone explain what was the program like?
What does the "sing-alone-with-Mitch style* mean?

----

GG refering to Ferrante & Teicher:

(After confessing that GG did over-dubbing recording
for the Meistersiner Prelude)

>KH: . . . But did your three minutes of *primo-secondo*
>over-dubbing persuade you that the "Meistersinger"
>*Vorspiel* can work *in toto* on the piano?
>
>GG: That, sir, is not for me to say.  But given the
>nightmare of endeavoring to sync to my own rubato,
>it proved conclusively that Ferrante and Teicher, I'm not.

I learned also last night that 
Ferrante & Teicher (b. 1921 & 1924) are pianists as a duo.
They did two things: experimantal performance with the
so-called (John-Cage-like) prepared pianos; and
standard easy listening music.
I understand they were famous and popular in the 1960's,
weren't they?

Q2.  Anyway, please check my paraphrase:

The dubbing session of Meistersinger was 
a nightmare.  It was very difficult to 
synchronize the secondo piano to the primo 
on the rubato parts.
So, in conclusion, I found I could not be 
Ferrante & Teicher even with the help of 
recording technology.

(Does GG refer to F & T as a virtuosic and romantic 
piano duo of easy listening?)

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Junichi

****************************************
  Junichi Miyazawa, Tokyo 
  walkingtune@bigfoot.com
  (alias for: farnorth@mbc.sphere.ne.jp)
****************************************
  http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/3739