This is a short post, but hopefully you will enjoy it. I wanted to share an interview that Basil Rathbone did on the weekly radio program Favorites of the Famous, broadcast in May 1952. Host Wayne Howell, a disc jockey in Dallas, Texas, interviewed celebrities about music, including their favorites. During breaks in the interview, the station would play a portion of the celebrity’s favorite piece of music.
The favorite pieces of music that Rathbone named (and from which excerpts were played in the original program) are:
- Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D
- Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto in B Flat Minor
- Schumann’s Kinderzenen
Rathbone said he was also a fan of the music of Brahms, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, and Beethoven. When asked about musicians in his family, Rathbone said that his daughter Cynthia played the piano, and his mother had played the violin, but he regretted that he had never learned to play an instrument. Yes, that means he was faking it when he appeared as Sherlock Holmes and played the violin.
In addition to discussing music, Basil Rathbone told the audience about his recent Broadway play Jane, which opened at the Coronet Theatre on February 1, 1952, and ran through April 26, 1952. The play also starred Edna Best. The host mentioned that Basil is currently starring in Jane, so the interview must have been recorded while the play was still running, and then broadcast later. The exact broadcast date is unknown; it probably was May 19, but could have been a week later, May 26.
The program was 30 minutes long, and was produced to promote RCA Victor recordings. The recorded interview doesn’t include the music that was played in the original program. The interview portion is 12 1/2 minutes.
Thanks to Ray Faiola and Chelsea Rialto Studios for uploading this radio program to the Internet.
The Baz 
Just at last managed to reestablish a WordPress link (duh!!). I played violin as a kid and it’s difficult; no wonder he preferred sports.
Wouldn’t it be nice if AI could be used to re-create the BR/NB Holmes cast, with the care and respect given to restoration of oldest movies, so we might continue with a bunch of new films set in the same era. Who would be left to get the royalties.
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I also played the violin, for 2 years (between ages 8-10). Took free lessons at my elementary school. Even performed on stage each year with the whole class & did very well (I attended after-school ballet lessons during the same 2 years + performed on stage doing that, too!). My music teacher asked to speak to me privately in his office on the last day of class before Summer vacation (when all the other kids had left) & I assumed he was going to tell me how PROUD he was of my progress…
Instead, he told me he was DISAPPOINTED & scolded me!! Said that I’d basically “wasted his time & the classes’ time” for the past 2 years, because I’d never learned how to read music (always played entirely by ear). He added that I wouldn’t be able to join an orchestra unless I did, so I should just “give-up” & stop taking lessons. He also said I needed to “stick to being an artist”, because that’s what I was “good at”.
OUCH.
Talk about embarrassing. I have ADHD, so it’s always been difficult for me to learn math & other boring stuff, including reading music! (Never could figure out what all those funny dots & squiggles meant.) I’ve had some other teachers treat me like this.
A few months later, on my first day of middle school (6th grade), I was SHOCKED to see the music teacher from my old school & he cheerfully greeted me in the hallway! He’d coincidentally been transferred to my new school (he taught mostly woodwinds & string instruments, but others as well). Boy, was I glad I’d decided NOT to continue to take violin lessons at my new school; I can’t imagine the SHAME I’d feel as he walked into the classroom + having to explain why I hadn’t taken his ‘advice’ to quit!!!
I’d actually wanted to be a concert pianist my whole life–but my parents couldn’t afford lessons (or a piano), so that’s why I took the FREE violin lessons offered at my school…got a used violin for only 50 bucks! Ended-up becoming an artist, after all. 🙂
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That music teacher sounds like a terrible teacher! What an awful way to treat a child trying to enjoy music. I feel for you!
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Thanks….but hey, at least I’m a decent singer & an awesome KAZOO player!! 😉
The above incident was nothing, compared to when I was 6 & my 1st grade teacher punished me for HELPING a developmentally-challenged boy from the special ed class! The boy (Michael) & his family were also from my church. (We went to the same schools from kindergarten until I graduated.) For St. Patrick’s Day, my class invited all the special ed kids to our classroom, to enjoy making a paper Leprechaun art-project together. As my teacher told us each of the steps, I gently whispered the instructions to Michael & showed him what to do, because he was confused. Teach then proceeded to reprimand me for speaking while she gave her lesson! I was told to sit outside by the door with my back against the wall, while everyone else got to finish the project. To top it off, I also had to write a few HUNDRED times that ‘I wouldn’t interrupt the teacher while she spoke’!! When I mentioned how unfair it was to PUNISH me for being kind, she made a point of saying it was still wrong of me to talk during a lesson!
I was the kid who never had friends & was either bullied or ignored by the other kids (from preschool all the way through high school)–so they had extra ammo to laugh at me about, when my teacher made an ‘example’ of me that day. 😡
Luckily most of my teachers were pretty cool, but there’s also been a few jerks.
My first semester at the local community college was even MORE humiliating! When the Spanish language teacher thought I “wasn’t paying attention or trying hard enough” (thanks, ADHD!), she made me sit at HER desk facing her for the rest of the year, so I wouldn’t be ‘distracted’ or talk to other students. On our last day of class, we had a fun Christmas party (with yummy treats + hot cocoa & cider, that everyone brought to share). The teacher called each student up to tell them their final grades. She purposely skipped MY name & when I asked her what grade I got, she said in a snotty tone “What do YOU think??”. I shyly answered “F?” & with an angry scowl, she snapped back “That’s RIGHT!”. She then belittled me for not learning how to speak ANY Spanish during the class & accused me of being ‘lazy’, despite the HOURS I’d spent studying & listening to the tapes each night (thanks again, ADHD!). Told me I’d “wasted her time & the classes’ time” (sound familiar?). She gave me a guilt-speech about how dozens of other (more deserving) students would LOVE to take my place & that several attempt to get into her (amazing) course every year & don’t make it. Whatever.
Felt like I hadn’t ‘earned’ the right to even BE at that happy X-mas party, or to partake of the wonderful foods & drinks with the others. I wanted to disappear & not exist. Good thing no one else there heard the insulting things she’d said to me! Heck, I learned more Spanish while watching Sesame Street as a toddler, than I ever did in HER lousy class! Guess she wasn’t THAT great of a ‘teacher’. 🙂
Extra-Bonus: Because I’d gotten both an F in Spanish & a D- in speech class that semester (my speeches were too LONG–no surprise there!), the community college BANNED me from attending the next semester & put me on ‘probation’. Basically, punishing me for being too dumb to get good enough grades!! (???)
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OMG! I want to give you a hug!
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Aww, shucks. *blush* 🙂
This kind of stuff happens to me ALL the time, so I’m pretty used to it. I STILL get ridiculed, judged, shamed & criticized by others (those who know me, as well as total strangers I randomly meet)…either because they think I’m ‘weird’, or because they don’t like my way of living & enjoy pointing out my faults–just in case I didn’t notice them myself.
It upset me enough that over the past few years, I’ve been typing a ‘story-journal’ about ALL the (many) crummy people & horrible experiences I’ve had to deal with, throughout my life. Maybe I’ll publish it one day (without naming anybody, of course). Broke artists need to make a living, somehow!
I know my private issues have NOTHING to do with Basil Rathbone, but it’s nice to have a place to vent my problems to once in a while…hope ya don’t mind.
Totally off-subject: For some reason, I’m suddenly getting email notifications each time there’s a new post on this blog–since I made my Oct. 25 comments. I never signed-up for this service & tried to unsubscribe several times using the link at the bottom of the emails, without success. WordPress says there’s an error, that the “page isn’t working right now” & to clean my cookies + refresh the page again. I’ve cleaned my history & cookies twice, with no change. Went to their subscription page to “modify my options” & it says I’m NOT subscribed. What now? I don’t want to delete all these emails whenever someone posts on here! Also, what if this occurs EVERY time I make a comment, from now on??
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I’m afraid I can’t explain the quirks of WordPress. I actually dislike using it. Nevertheless, I am working on a new post, which I will publish in a few days!
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Thank you for this. Interesting that Basil didn’t bristle at the Sherlock Holmes question. Never knew that Basil’s family play piano and violin.
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Wonderful! What a great voice Mr. Rathbone had.
Thanks for posting this.
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