In my research on the Decca book I am writing with Winston Ma, one of the Decca interviewees mentioned that when Stokowski was recording for Decca (starting near 80 and continuing until he was over 90! he was sometimes depressed over his last divorce. I was curious and looked up his life history and his three marriages. The last one (from 1945 to 1955 - he started recording with Decca in 1961) was with Gloria Vanderbilt, the famous fashion designer and heiress. What I found out is that he was 63 when they married (73 when they divorced) and she was 21! and on her second marriage. Some of you may know that the CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is her son from her fourth marriage.
What was even more interesting was that his first marriage, back in 1911, was to famed pianist Olga Samaroff, who at the the time of their marriage was much more famous than he was. She lobbied successfully for his appointment to be conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he created the famous "Philadelphia Sound" and was there for 30 years. He became the most famous conductor in the world, after Walt Disney chose him to be the star (with Mickey Mouse) and conductor in his movie "Fantasia."
I thought I remembered seeing something with Samaroff's name on it and found this in my tape collection.
Please ignore the LAST sticker - I treat my tapes with the LAST tape preservative. If you want to know how there is a tape of her playing from 1908, she was, like many famous pianists of the time, recorded on a Welte Vorsetzer, a mechanical marvel that could quite accurately record and reproduce the exact key and pedal strokes of a pianist. In the late '60's one of these machines was used with a modern 9' Steinway and the sound was taped by Ampex. Samaroff concertized widely until an injury forced her to stop in 1925. Her real name was not Samaroff, although one of her middle names was Olga.
Quiz: If you know her real birth name and where she was born without looking it up, you get the "Trivial Pursuit" grand prize!
Larry
What was even more interesting was that his first marriage, back in 1911, was to famed pianist Olga Samaroff, who at the the time of their marriage was much more famous than he was. She lobbied successfully for his appointment to be conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he created the famous "Philadelphia Sound" and was there for 30 years. He became the most famous conductor in the world, after Walt Disney chose him to be the star (with Mickey Mouse) and conductor in his movie "Fantasia."
I thought I remembered seeing something with Samaroff's name on it and found this in my tape collection.
Please ignore the LAST sticker - I treat my tapes with the LAST tape preservative. If you want to know how there is a tape of her playing from 1908, she was, like many famous pianists of the time, recorded on a Welte Vorsetzer, a mechanical marvel that could quite accurately record and reproduce the exact key and pedal strokes of a pianist. In the late '60's one of these machines was used with a modern 9' Steinway and the sound was taped by Ampex. Samaroff concertized widely until an injury forced her to stop in 1925. Her real name was not Samaroff, although one of her middle names was Olga.
Quiz: If you know her real birth name and where she was born without looking it up, you get the "Trivial Pursuit" grand prize!
Larry
