Tony Martin (December 25, 1913 – July 27, 2012) American Pop singer

TONY MARTIN

He was a featured vocalist on the George Burns and Gracie Allen radio program. On the show Allen playfully flirted with Tony, often threatening to fire him. She'd say things like "Oh Tony you look so tired, why don't you rest your lips on mine." In films, he was first cast in a number of bit parts, including a role as a sailor in the movie Follow the Fleet (1936), starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. He eventually signed with 20th Century-Fox and then Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which he starred in a number of musicals. Between 1938 and 1942, he made a number of hit records for Decca. Martin was featured in the 1941 Marx Brothers film The Big Store, in which he played a singer and performed Tenement Symphony, which was written by Hal Borne who became his long-time musical director. He appeared in film musicals in the 1940s and 1950s. His rendition of "Lover Come Back To Me" with Joan Weldon in Deep in My Heart - based on the music of Sigmund Romberg and starring José Ferrer - was one of the highlights of that film.

He also starred as Gaylord Ravenal in the Showboat segment from the 1946 film Till the Clouds Roll By.

NYTImes Obit Martin died on the evening of July 27, 2012, of "natural causes" at the age of 97.



 

British arranger Roland Shaw has died aged 91...

Roland Shaw, born May 26 1920, died May 11 2012...was one of Britain’s most popular and successful arrangers of popular music, working with artists such as Vera Lynn and Mantovani; he also recorded cover versions of music from the James Bond films in the 1960s, when “Bond mania” was at its height. He became an arranger and record producer for Decca Records with his orchestra recording for that label and Phase 4 Stereo. His orchestra performed on the albums Mexico and Westward Ho. In December 1964 his orchestra released an album of cover versions of Themes from the James Bond Thrillers to coincide with the American release of Goldfinger. More | Wikipedia

Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012)

Academy Award winner and Broadway star Celeste Holm died from heart problems and other ailments, according to New York's news station NY1. She was 95. The role that got her the most recognition from critics and audiences was Ado Annie in the flagship Broadway production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! in 1943. Wikipedia

Maria Cole, Singer and Wife of Nat King Cole, Dies at 89

Maria Cole, a jazz singer who performed with Count Basie and Duke Ellington in the 1940s and who was married to Nat King Cole for 17 years until his death in 1965, died on Tuesday July 10, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. She was 89. NYTimes 

Mrs. Cole was also the mother of the Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole

Evelyn Lear, Versatile Soprano, Dies at 86

Evelyn Lear, an American soprano who became a star in Europe in the 1950s and later won acclaim in the United States for singing some of the most difficult roles in contemporary opera, died on Sunday in Sandy Spring, Md. She was 86. NYTimes 


Evelyn Lear (January 8, 1926 – July 1, 2012) was an American operatic soprano. Between 1959 and 1992, she appeared in more than forty operatic roles, appeared with every major opera company in the US and won a Grammy Award in 1966. She was well known for her musical versatility, having sung all three main female roles in Der Rosenkavalier. Lear was also known for her work on 20th century pieces by Robert Ward, Alban Berg, Marvin David Levy, Rudolf Kelterborn and Giselher Klebe. She was married to the American bass-baritone Thomas Stewart until his death in 2006.  Wikipedia

Brigitte Engerer, Concert Pianist, Dies at 59

Brigitte Engerer, a Russian-trained French pianist known for her immense sound, prodigious technique and probing musicality, died on June 23 in Paris. She was 59.

Wikipedia

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Bountiful German Baritone, Dies at 86

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the German baritone whose beautiful voice and mastery of technique made him the 20th century’s pre-eminent interpreter of art songs, died on Friday, May 18, 2012, at his home in Bavaria. He was 86. NYTimes | Wikipedia

Roman Totenberg, Violinist and Teacher, Dies at 101

Roman Totenberg, a Polish-born violin prodigy who came of age in the era of expressive players like Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz, shared their virtuosity and influenced generations of musicians as a teacher, died on Tuesday 8 May 2012, at his home in Newton, Mass. He was 101. Roman Totenberg (1 January 1911 – 8 May 2012) Roman Totenberg was the father of National Public Radio journalist Nina Totenberg NYTimes Obit | Wikipedia

Mort Lindsey, TV Bandleader and Accompanist to Stars, Dies at 89

Mort Lindsey, who led Merv Griffin’s television orchestra, accompanied Barbra Streisand on the piano in Central Park and played with Judy Garland in her celebrated comeback concert at Carnegie Hall, died on Friday May 4, 2012 at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 89. 

Mort Lindsey, (March 21, 1923, Newark, New Jersey – May 4, 2012)

NYTimes Obit 

 

Zvi Zeitlin, Violinist Who Championed Modernist Composers, Dies at 90

NYTimes By MARGALIT FOX
Mr. Zeitlin was an internationally renowned violinist who was closely associated with the work of modernist composers like Aaron Copland and Lukas Foss. Wikipedia

Hugo Fiorato, Conductor at City Ballet, Dies at 98

Hugo Fiorato, a former child prodigy who became the conductor of the New York City Ballet and one of its most enduring influences, died on Monday [23 APR 2012] in Boston. He was 98. NYTimes

Bert Weedon, Guitarist and teacher, dies at 91

Bert Weedon, a British guitarist and recording artist whose popular instructional manual “Play in a Day” taught the instrument to a generation of young hopefuls such as  Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, John Lennon and Paul McCartney — died on Friday 20 April 2012, at his home in Beaconsfield, in the English county of Buckinghamshire. He was 91.      Wikipedia

Lili Chookasian, 90, Contralto

Lili Chookasian (August 1, 1921 – April 10, 2012) was an American contralto who appeared with many of the world's major symphony orchestras and opera houses. She began her career in the 1940s as a concert singer but did not draw wider acclaim until she began singing opera in her late thirties. She arose as one of the world's leading contraltos during the 1960s and 1970s, and notably had a long and celebrated career at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1962 through 1986. She was admired for her sonorous, focused tone as well as her excellent musicianship. She often chose, against tradition, to sing oratorios from memory.

NYTimes Obit | Wikipedia

Jane Taylor, Bassoonist of Dorian Quintet, Dies at 79

Jane Taylor, the founding bassoonist of the Dorian Wind Quintet, one of the premier ensembles to involve that uneasy alliance of flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon, died on Sunday, April 8, 2012 in Manhattan. She was 79.

Retires | NYTimes Obit

Maurice André, Trumpeter, Dies at 78

Maurice André (May 21, 1933 – February 25, 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He died in Bayonne, in southwest France. He was 78. His family confirmed the death to the news agency Agence France-Presse, declining to specify the cause. Mr. André, was esteemed as a trumpeter for his warm, robust tone; lightning technique; and clarion high notes, whose stratospheric reaches could prompt waves of applause from audiences.

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Charles Anthony Dies at 82; Sang 2,928 Times at Met

Charles Anthony Caruso (né Calogero Antonio Caruso, on July 15, 1929 - February 15, 2012), better known by his stage name of Charles Anthony, was an American tenor noted for his portrayal of comprimario characters in opera. Anthony had the distinction of appearing in more performances at the Metropolitan Opera than any other performer. He celebrated his fiftieth anniversary with the company in 2004, and gave his farewell in the role of the aged Emperor Altoum in Turandot, at the Met, on January 28, 2010.

Wikipedia

Dory Previn...(October 22, 1925 – February 14, 2012), American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet has died

Ms. Previn, the lyricist for three Oscar-nominated songs, became famous for her own confessional albums in the early 1970s. During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist on songs intended for motion pictures and, with her first husband, André Previn, received several Academy Award nominations. In the 1970s, after their divorce, she released six albums of original songs and an acclaimed live album. Previn's lyrics from this period are characterized by their originality, irony and honesty in dealing with her troubled personal life as well as more generally about relationships, sexuality, religion and psychology. She continued to work until her death as a writer of song lyrics and prose.

Pop Diva Whitney Houston dead at 48

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. Houston was the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records. Her list of awards includes 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among a total of 415 career awards as of 2010. Houston was also one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos worldwide. Inspired by prominent soul singers in her family, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick, and her godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing with New Jersey church's junior gospel choir at age 11. After she began performing alongside her mother in night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis. Houston released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum or gold certification. On February 11, 2012, Houston was found dead in her guest room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in Beverly Hills, California. On February 13th in 1993, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You'' from the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard'' topped Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart for the 13th week. That ties "End of the Road'' from Boyz II Men as the longest-running No. 1 song of the rock era.




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Camilla Williams, Barrier-Breaking Opera Star, Dies at 92

Camilla Ella Williams (October 18, 1919 – January 29, 2012) was an American operatic soprano, and the first African American to have received a contract with a major American opera company.

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Paavo Berglund, Finnish Conductor, Dies at 82

Paavo Berglund, a Finnish conductor renowned for his commanding interpretations of Sibelius’s symphonies and tone poems, died on Jan. 25 at his home in Helsinki. He was 82.
Paavo Allan Engelbert Berglund (April 14, 1929 – January 25, 2012) was a Finnish conductor.
Born in Helsinki, Berglund studied the violin as a child, and played an instrument made by his grandfather. By age 15, he had decided on music as his career, and by 18 was playing in restaurants. He joined the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finnish RSO) in 1949, unique among the instrumentalists in being accommodated for seating to account for the fact that he was left-handed.

Wikipedia | SHOP: Paavo Berglund