Strauss Fantasy

Strauss Fantasy (1954)

*** (out of 4)

Oscar-nominated short from MGM has their Symphony Orchestra, led by Johnny Green, plays various waltzes composed by three members of the Strauss family. "Pizzicato Polka," "Tales from the Vienna Woods," "Vienna Life," and "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" are among the songs performed here in an edited form. I must admit that I wasn't too familiar with the Strauss family or their work but I did enjoy this brief, ten-minute concert that shows off some of their highlights.

La Gazza Ladra Overture (1954)

*** (out of 4)

MGM's Symphony Orchestra, led by Johnny Green, go through Rossini's overture "La Gazza Ladra", just as the title says. Once again I'm new to this series of shorts with Green but so far I'm very impressed with their quality. The 1.85:1 aspect ratio, new to the shorts format as well, is nicely used here and makes for a very pretty picture to look at as well as listen to. I'm not overly familiar with the overture here but Green does a very good job with his 80-man orchestra and makes for an entertaining 10-minutes.

A medley is a group of tunes arranged as a single piece. That's what we have here: Johnny Green conducting the MGM Orchestra is a medley of tunes by Johann Strauss Senior, and his sons, Johann Jr. And Joseph.

We often forget that besides having leading departments for cameraworks and directors, the major producers also had a lot of musical talent on staff. There were all those movies to score. It wasn't just musicals, but by the middle of the 1930s, almost every move at MGM had a score, with an attributed composer, and Johnny Green as the man in charge of doing the actual conducting most of the time. It's good to see him at work, and with such a lovely piece of music.