FREE AND EASY QUINCY JONES 1960 BLUE OPERA Program !

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

FRENCH ORIGINAL VERY RARE program for the HAROLD ARLEN "FREE AND EASY" BLUES OPERA which took place at the Alhambra theater in PARIS from january 1960 untill february 14 and featured QUINCY JONES and his orchestra + singers MARTHA FLOWERS, HAROLD NICHOLAS and IRENE WILLIAMS. program is 36 pages large size glossy paper. has biographies and pictures of all performers + autors, music/libretto writers etc... t are a full page ad on QUINCY JONES records + half page biog and picture. programme is complete and excellent condition although t is a big fold in the middle and some of the inside pages are loose. are some informations i found in french and english about this short lived blues opera: 1960 : Du 15 janvier au 14 février : Le nouveau spectacle du compositeur de Stormy Weather, Harold ARLEN: « Free and Easy » Blues-drama avec notamment Harold NICHOLAS et Quincy JONES et son Free and Easy Orchestra. « ... Le spectacle est une suite d'airs de soliste, de duos ou de choeurs, liés par des récitatifs, le tout mené dans un tempo endiablé. Les musiciens sont épars, aux tables du Casino, sur les marches d'un escalier. Ils comprennent tous les bois et les cuivres, une guitare, un violon, un piano. La percussion se borne à une batterie de jazz. La qualité musicale de la prestation, compte tenu de l'esthétique particulière aux voix nègres, est excellente (on goûtera néanmoins la valeur vocale d'une parodie de grand opéra) ... Les vedettes sont connues des amateurs de disques américains, j'hésite exprès devant le mot Jazz. En tête vient un grand mime - chanteur - danseur, petit par sa taille : Harold NICHOLAS, qui joue le héros principal. Raymond Lyon La Vie Musicale et Théâtrale février 1960. » Free and Easy is a blues opera in two acts with music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and additional lyrics by Ted Koehler. It premiered on December 7, 1959, at the Carre Theater of Amsterdam. It was one of Arlen's most significant accomplishments. For years, he had been dreaming of putting together such a work and he poured his heart and soul into the composition. The score contains dozens of Arlen standards, as well as new pieces and sequences specifically composed for the opera. Inspired by the success of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, producer Robert Breen decided to found a people's opera , called the Everyman Opera Company, and stage contemporary works by American composers. He wanted something in a similar vein to Porgy and Bess and turned to Harold Arlen. They discussed a variety of subjects, including a popular John Henry folk tale and the drama The Madwoman of Chaillot. But they settled on an operatic revision of Arlen's Broadway show St. Louis Woman, which had originally failed. Samuel Matlowsky was brought in to help orchestrate Arlen's lyrics and oversee Arlen's composition of the recitative. During the years of the opera's composition, Arlen was dangerously ill with a bleeding ulcer and continually had to return to the hospital for rest. His personal physician only allowed him to compose one hour a day and in this way, work on the opera progressed slowly from late in 1953 until 1958. While Breen looked for backers, Arlen composed a Blues Opera Suite out of 20 songs and themes from the score. The suite premiered in Minneapolis on August 27, 1957, and in New York's Carnegie Hall later that November. Finally, Stanley Chase, producer of The Threepenny Opera, decided to produce Free and Easy. As work on the production progressed, two jazzmen, Quincy Jones and Bill Byers, were hired to reorchestrate the score in the new jazz idiom. Director Robert Breen placed the orchestral musicians on-stage, making the orchestra part of the drama. The show experienced grave difficulties and production disputes led shakeups in the staff; Breen was demoted and Donald McKayle took his place. Revisions in the book were made and the tryout run opened in Brussels to good reviews. The official opening took place in Paris at the Alhambra Theatre on January 15, 1960. Breen's production was highly praised and Arlen's score was said to be... read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.