Poet and Peasant Overture (1955) User Reviews

Von Suppe

[boblipton · 7/10 · 16 January 2024]

Alfred Wallenstein conducts the MGM Orchestra in von Suppe's Overture to THE POET AND THE PEASANT.

Wallenstein was a cellist, composer, and from 1943 through 1956, conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The MGM orchestra was part of the vast array of musicians that MGM kept on hand and on call to perform the scores for their many movies. Towards the end of short story production, in the middle of the 1950s, MGM produced three shorts with the orchestra performing, usually under Johnny Green. They were shot in Technicolor and a wide aspect ratio, to show off their technical proficiency, and the sound was definitely stereophonic.

Bravo!

[evening1 · 5/10 · 3 November 2019]

Nice little performance under the vigorous conducting of a dapper Alfred Wallenstein.

From the previous reviewer, I learned that this brief film was one of five shorts released by MGM, in order to showcase its in-house orchestra, between 1953 and 1955.

According to Wikipedia, Wallenstein was a cellist, which may explain his choice of this work, which not only contains some pleasingly familiar passages but also spotlights the instrument. (Indeed, Wikipedia relates that the overture, composed by Austrian Franz von Suppe, contains "an exact match" of the "I've Been Working on the Railroad" ditty one minute into the beginning of the cello solo!)

I've begun attending performances of the New York Philharmonic of late and thus was more open to this viewing this short than I might have been until recently. TCM aired it following a stunning French thriller from 1963, "L'Aine des Ferchaux."

Good Cinemascope Short

[Michael_Elliott · 1 May 2011]

Poet and Peasant Overture (1955)

*** (out of 4)

Between 1953 and 1955, MGM released five shorts showing off their orchestra. Alfred Wallenstein leads the MGM Symphony Orchestra as they perform from the Franz von Suppe operetta Poet and Peasant. It should go without saying that there's really not too much to judge via your eyes as this here is certainly meant for your ears only. I've seen a couple of these shorts and there's no question that the MGM band had some terrific musicians who were more than able to handle their parts. The music certainly jumps right out at you and as someone not familiar with the original work, I found the job to be quite impressive. The film also uses the new CinemaScope to try and show everything off but I think this is the weakest aspect of the movie. The director gets all the band members spread apart and this really doesn't have much impact and the way he simply lets the camera roam around doesn't help either. If you're a fan of music then you'll want to check this out as it shows up on TCM a couple times each year.