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vinyl LP front cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
The evocative characteristics of the music of Alexander Borodin made possible the adaptation of his compositions in the 1953 musical Kismet, notably in the songs Stranger in Paradise, And This Is My Beloved and Baubles, Bangles, & Beads.
Alexander Porfirievich Borodin ~ Kismet
original cast recording
vinyl LP front cover
photo by Styrous® Kismet was adapted by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis from the 1911 play of the same name by Edward Knoblock, with lyrics and musical adaptation (as well as some original music) by Robert Wright and George Forrest, plus the music of Borodin.
The musical was first produced on Broadway in 1953 and won the Tony Award for best musical in 1954. It starred Alfred Drake in the lead role of The Poet with Doretta Morrow as his daughter and Richard Kiley as the Caliph in supporting roles.
photogrpaher unknown
Kismet was commissioned by Edwin Lester, founder and director of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. Lester had previously produced Song of Norway, with the same composing team, adapting the melodies of Edvard Grieg. For Kismet, the writers seized upon the music of Alexander Borodin, which they felt had a suitable exotic flavor and lush melodies.
This recording is from the soundtrack of the film version of the musical which was filmed in CinemaScope and Eastmancolor and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli, produced by Arthur Freed and released on December 23, 1955, sixty-five years ago next month. YIKES!!!!
In this fourth movie version of Kismet, Howard Keel sings the Alfred Drake role of the Poet, Hajj; Ann Blyth is his daughter, Vic Damone assumes the romantic role of the young Caliph, Sebastian Cabot is The Wazir and his wife is Dolores Gray.
Kismet is an Arabic-Turkish term for fate or destiny; each word has a distinctive connotation. In Islam, kismet refers to the will of God (Allah). The original meaning of the Arabic word qismah, qismat, was distribution; later it came to mean lot, portion; in the third stage, which is a Turkish adaptation, it received the specific meaning of the lot that is destined for every man.
It is popularly used to refer to something that one believes was “meant to be”—or the reason why such a thing happened.
It is popularly used to refer to something that one believes was “meant to be”—or the reason why such a thing happened.
detail photo by Styrous®
I have two favorite songs from this show; the first, Sands of Time, for its sheer beauty of the music and the message it conveys. The second, Rahadlakum (Virtue), for its joyous fun, abandon and double entendre.
My number one favorite song from the musical, Sands of Time, was based on the Borodin work, In the Steppes of Central Asia. It is sung by Alfred Drake in the musical and Howard Keel
in the film. To me the tempo/beat must be like the loping stride of a camel crossing endless deserts. With minor key modulations, it is a beautiful, slow, wistful but dramatic at times
treatise on the passage of time and the swift fleeting of man's life.
Not stated, but I feel implied, only love transcends time.
Sands of Time
Princes come,
Princes go,
An hour of pomp and show they know;
Princes come and over the sands,
And over the sands of time they go.
Wise men come,
Ever promising the riddle of life to know,
Wise men come, Ah,
But over the sands.
The silent sands of time they go
Lovers come,
Lovers go.
And all that there is to know
Lovers know;
Only lovers know.
Princes come,
Princes go,
An hour of pomp and show they know;
Princes come and over the sands,
And over the sands of time they go.
Wise men come,
Ever promising the riddle of life to know,
Wise men come, Ah,
But over the sands.
The silent sands of time they go
Lovers come,
Lovers go.
And all that there is to know
Lovers know;
Only lovers know.
One of the best versions of this song I've ever heard is by opera singer, Samuel Ramey who had a remarkable vocal range (link to all songs below).
detail photo by Styrous®
As
with most musicals there are great numbers that are a lot of fun, some
with a bite of irony, some just plain raucous humor. In the former
category is Gesticulate sung by the Poet (Keel). The intro is based on the Aria of Khan Konchak from Prince Igor and the rest of the body of the song on the Symphony No. 1, Movement 4.
Howard Keel as The Poet ~ Gesticulate
My second favorite song is in the raucous/irony category. Rahadlakum (Virtue) is an uproarious song. The word is actually a
bastardization of the Turkish term “rahat loukoum,” whose literal
translation is “rest for the throat” (who knows WHAT this means?) but is
more commonly known as Turkish delight, a confection based on a gel of starch and sugar. A line from the song is, "Virtue is its own reward!" Obviously, the song has nothing to do with sweets! Or does it?
Speaking of raucous! Eartha Kitt made a killer entrance on a TV special in 1978. She used music from Kismet including the song, Rahadlakum (Virtue) (links below). She stretches double entendre out of shape!
The song is not a Borodin adaptation; it was written by Robert Wright and George Forrest.
It is sung by Keel and Gray and is a bouncy song with a syncopated beat and because of its double entendres made for a perfect strip vehicle for Marilyn, one of the girls I worked with at the Hungry i on Broadway (link below).
detail photo by Styrous®
Not Since Nineveh is not really in the strip song category but Marilyn (link below) was doing a harem set so she used it along with Rahadlakum (Virtue); Nineveh is based on one of the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor and sung by Dolores Gray.
Also based on one of the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, in the romantic category is Stranger In Paradise sung by Blyth and Damone. The Gliding Dance of the Maidens, from the Polovtsian Dances is the basis of this song.
The song was recorded by Artie Shaw in 1940 with different lyrics. It was coverd by Tony Bennett 1953. It was also covered by The Four Aces, Tony Martin, Bing Crosby, Billy Eckstine with the Hal Mooney Orchestra, Mose Allison, Sarah Brightman, Sammy Davis, Jr., Percy Faith, Al Hirt, Engelbert Humperdinck, Gordon MacRae, Johnny Mathis, Keely Smith, Ray Conniff, Curtis Counce, Isaac Hayes, the Ink Spots, Jack Jones, Mantovani, Martin Denny, Wes Montgomery, André Rieu, Saint Etienne, George Shearing, Sun Ra, the Supremes and Toots Thielemans are among the other artists who have recorded cover versions.
In 1965, the Ventures released their version of the song, renamed The Stranger and Ten Seconds To Heaven.
In 2011, Tony Bennett rerecorded the song as a duet with Andrea Bocelli for Bennett's album Duets II.
There is a really interesting video treatment of the song by Sierra Boggess & Julian Ovenden on YouTube (link below).
Stranger In Paradise has been used in many films including Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens by Russ Meyer, Breakfast of Champions based on the book of the same name by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. in 1999 and the anime series RahXephon.
detail photo by Styrous®
Also in the romantic vein are Night Of My Nights, an adaptation of the Serenade from the Petite Suite, sung by Damone; and from the String Quartet No. 2, Movement 2, And This Is My Beloved, also sung by Damone with Keel and Blyth joining in.
detail photo by Styrous®
There are two songs on the subject of "Fate" and "Destiny". Fate
deals with, "Fate"(DUH). It starts slow and quiet with what I imagine would be the rolling stride of
a camel across desert sands but gets tempestuous and dramatic; it is
based on the Symphony No. 2, Movement 1. In a more gentle mood, the subject of "Destiny" is pondered by The Poet Hajj (Keel) in The Olive Tree, from the Act III trio from Prince Igor. Both tunes are sung by Keel.
In 1954, Alexander Porfirievich Borodin was posthumously awarded a Tony Award for Kismet. The asteroid previously known by its provisional designation 1990 ES3 was assigned the permanent name (6780) Borodin, in honor of Alexander Borodin. (6780) Borodin is a main-belt asteroid with an estimated diameter of 4 km and an orbital period of 3.37 years.
detail photo by Styrous®
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 – Howard Keel - Fate
A2 – Dolores Gray - Not Since Nineveh
A3 – Ann Blyth - Baubles, Bangles, And Beads
A4 – Ann Blyth, Vic Damone - Stranger In Paradise
A5 – Howard Keel - Gestiuculate
A2 – Dolores Gray - Not Since Nineveh
A3 – Ann Blyth - Baubles, Bangles, And Beads
A4 – Ann Blyth, Vic Damone - Stranger In Paradise
A5 – Howard Keel - Gestiuculate
Side 2:
B1 – Vic Damone - Night Of My Nights
B2 – Dolores Gray - Bored
B3 – Howard Keel - The Olive Tree
B4 – Howard Keel, Dolores Gray - Rahadlakum
B5 – Howard Keel, Ann Blyth, Vic Damone - And This Is My Beloved
B6 – Howard Keel - Sands Of Time
Companies, etc.
Credits:
Conductor – André Previn
Notes:
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Theatre Aficionado at Large ~ Earth Kitt ~ How to Make Rahadlakum…
YouTube links:
Alexander Borodin ~
Prince Igor ~
Symphony No. 1, Movement 4 (Gesticulate)
Kismet ~
Kismet (movie trailer)
Sierra Boggess & Julian Ovenden ~ Stranger In Paradise
Ann Blyth ~ Baubles, Bangles, And Beads
Ann Blyth & Vic Damone ~ Stranger In Paradise
Vic Damone - Night Of My Nights
Dolores Gray ~ Not Since Nineveh
Howard Keel ~ Fate
Howard Keel ~ Gesticulate
Howard Keel ~ The Olive Tree
Howard Keel ~ Sands of Time
Howard Keel & Dolores Gray ~
Johnny Mathis ~ Sands of Time
Samuel Ramey ~ Sands of Time
Eartha Kitt ~
Timbuktu!, In the Beginning Woman (1978) (TV)
“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”
~ Omar Khayyam
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