You cannot say you've really lived until you haven't listened to Bernard Herrmann's "Psycho" music in the Milanese church where Verdi once premiered his Requiem (Opera Chic actually has, and you haven't -- and she has the video evidence to prove it).
Opera Chic hopes against hope that Lot 198 at Bonhams (we hope it's no relation to the late unruly Led Zeppelin drummer) will eventually get bought by an American institution, leaving this precious material available to the public -- that Psycho suite is among the post-WWII era most recognizable works of American music, and rightly so.
O O what a feelin'. OC took a break from the fashion shows & shook it over last night to Milan's Basilica di San Marco for a symphony concert blasted by l'Orchestra da Camera di Milano. Six on the set list and two bis, OC freely admits that she went for the novelty of hearing Bernard Herrmann's Psycho Suite, as promised on the program. Live. In a church. LIAC. The same church right next to which a young Amadeus Mozart lived for three months in 1770; the same church that held the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem (on May 22, 1874 to honor the one year anniversary of Manzoni's death), chorus piled-up to the ceiling. No offense to the great Bernard Herrmann, the late American composed of over forty film scores (Citizen Kane, Taxi Driver, North by Northwest), who worked with cinematic luminaries such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, François Truffaut, and Martin Scorsese. Herrmann was bf4e with OC's much-admired Glorious John Barbirolli, and was chief conductor of the CBS Symphony.
In addition to the awesome Psycho Suite, Barber's Adagio ranked as a sublime addition to the mix, Henry Cowell's Hymn and Fuguing Tune Number 10 was perky, and Copland's Slowly and Expressively was carefully executed, especially via clarinet soloist Dimitri Ashkenazy's liquid money moves. Maestro Amedeo Monetti was full of big, nervous movements almost as big as his white coif, but led L'Orchestra proficiently.
omg can we just talk about Bernard Herrmann's Psycho Suite? Well known to the world (aside from cinefiles) by Busta Rhymes's grimy remix of "Gimmie Some Mo", Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller is memorable for so many things -- Janet Leigh in a bra getting all nasty with her boyfriend in a hotel room, Tony Perkins in drag going all stabby on the great Martin Balsam, the shower thing, yes, but also the famous and instantly recognizable score.
Now here’s a little video of the chaos...yes yes y’all & u don’t stop. Fast forward to 5:15 for the famous stabby part...