Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)
Harpo Speaks! The Riverside Symphony Concert is the “only official voice recording” of Harpo Marx. Unless I am mistaken, every Marx Brothers movie included an episode in which Harpo gave a solo harp performance; and the closest he ever came to verbal communication amounted to honking a bicycle horn. The concert recorded on this album took place six months prior to his death in 1964.
The vocal side of his performance was the narration for Sergei Prokofiev’s Opus 67, “Peter and the Wolf,” given the subtitle “A Symphonic Tale for Children.” I have lost count of the number of narrators that have contributed to recordings of this composition; but I know that my own first encounter was with Basil Rathbone, who knew just the right way to endow each episode of the story with the right disposition. Nevertheless, since Harpo expressed himself only through mime and music in all of those Marx Brothers movies, this concert album is definitely “one for the books!” He also collaborated with his brother Groucho for their own unique account of the narration.
The program began with a performance of the “Toy Symphony,” which was originally attributed to Joseph Haydn but, according to more recent musicological research, was probably composed by Haydn’s younger brother, Michael. This was followed by a few popular and traditional songs (concluding with Stephen Foster), after which Harpo added one of his own compositions, “Guardian Angels.” Taken as a whole, the album is an engaging one, providing a welcome opportunity to appreciate Harpo’s musicianship.
I get the impression these days that the Marx Brothers are not as appreciated as they were during the second half of the last century. Personally, for the better part of my life, I could not get enough of them! Since I did not even know about Harpo’s Riverside concert when it took place, I have enjoyed making up for lost time in listening to this new album.
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