The Slipped Disc daily comfort zone (57): When Sinatra sung Tchaikovsky

Adam Stern says:

May I share a bit of expert information? Years ago, a friend mentioned that she’d once read that Frank Sinatra was a big fan of the music of Vaughan Willians. As someone who wouldn’t want to live without either Sinatra or RVW, I was delighted and intrigued by the notion that the one prized the other. In trying to verify the information, I wrote to Mr. Charles L. “Chuck” Granata, identified on one online source as “…one of the world’s experts on Sinatra, [who acted] as the project director/producer for all of his Columbia recordings, and has completed hundreds of interviews with people who worked with Sinatra on his records.“ Here is part of the very informative e-mail that the kind Mr. Granata sent in response to my inquiry:

>> Frank Sinatra had a long, albeit “clandestine” relationship with classical music! By his own admission, he would listen for many hours when he was alone, and as you noted, he often cited Vaughan Williams as a particular favorite. Unfortunately, I can’t recall ever reading about a specific piece that he favored, though I would venture to say that it was likely VW’s standard repertoire that he was exposed to. I make this assumption since as a music industry insider, Frank probably received new releases from various record labels through the years, and all one needs to do is scan the most recorded pieces from the 40s, 50s, and 60s to get a good idea of what he might have been listening to.

>> But, his love for classical music extended far beyond that.

>> In sitting with Nelson Riddle to delineate his thoughts on orchestrations for upcoming recording sessions, Frank often said things such as, “In the beginning, make like Puccini.” Even Riddle wasn’t familiar with the type of instrumentation that Sinatra was yearning for, and he went to the library and pored through some Puccini scores, to learn that what Sinatra admired was the doubling of certain instruments.

Another reason to respect Sinatra’s tremendous and irreplaceable artistry.

Philip Edwards says:

‘Sang’, not ‘sung’. When Sinatra sang Tchaikovsky. Axel Stordahl (of Norwegian parentage) was Sinatra’s arranger in the 1940s. He was married to the lovely popular singer June Hutton.