John Charles Thomas, John Charles Thomes, Robert Merrill, Alexander Kipnis, Ezio Pinza, Florence Foster Jenkins, Jack Barnett, Earl Cahn Sammy / Brent, Felicien David, Leo Delibes - Florence Foster Jenkins & Friends: Murder on the High Cs

The amazing singing career of Florence Foster Jenkins...it's more like the score from a Marx Brothers movie...

The review of mr. Pollock, who rated this product only one star, got me thinking. Yes, I like a good laugh as much as the rest of you and yes: Mrs. Florence Foster Jenkins's musical offerings are so g*dawful bad it is almost unbelievably funny but....
But there is also the fact that the gormless creature herself apparently sincerely and steadfastly believed she possessed loads of talent! She really was convinced that she was Maria Malibran, Giuditta Pasta, Jenny Lind and Dame Nellie Melba, all rolled into one.
It seems she truly and honestly never noticed or even suspected how cruelly her leg was being pulled by her "adoring audience". Tickets to her few annual "recitals" in the foyer of the New York Ritz hotel were highly sought after.

This fact makes always makes me a bit uncomfortable when listening to Mrs. FFJ. On the one hand I can't help wincing and laughing to myself at her preposterous attempts at "diva-dom" and yet there's also that ever so slight frisson of guilty embarrassment of laughing at someone behind his, or in this case her, back. Which mostly isn't actually all that funny, but rather cheap and easy.

Someone close Mrs. FFJ ought off course to have had the balls to tell her to stop making such a silly spectacle exhibition of herself. No one ever did and she happily lived on in her self-created and self-funded (thanks to inheriting a whopping great fortune) charade. It must have been very drôle to hear her and to watch her, for during her recitals this portly and middle-aged lady dressed up in the most incredibly stereotypical and over-the-top Opera costumes. The audience was treated to a parade of fantastic, beached whale-like Carmens, Brunhildes, Queens-of-the-Night-from-the-Magic-Flute, Greek godesses, Vestal virgins, Warrior Queens and so on, complete with sceptres, crowns, tiaras, spears, shields and swords and horned helmets.

Still, I do wonder: didn't anyone in the audience find it the slightest bit painful or embarrassing, to make fun of the silly old moo?
On the other hand, she was fully compos mentis and willingly chose to make such a caricature of herself for more than 30 years. She payed it all out of her own money and she did nobody any harm with it. Indeed, the proceeds of her appearances were generously donated to various good causes, along with hefty amounts of her own money!!
In the end one has to admit that mrs. FFJ did what few of us can do or dare to do: she lived out her dream of being a diva. Good for her!

Mrs. FFJ reminds me of those characters the great Margaret Dumont used to play in those 30s and 40s Marx Brothers films, you know the type: the rather stout, benign, rich, none too bright, hoity-toity dowager and socialite, who falls victim to the most relentless piss-taking by Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Sleepy, Dopey, Doc and Bashful.

So enjoy this but spare a thought for Mrs. FFJ. People applauded her in her face, but laughed at her behind her back. Not very nice that. I deducted one star for that. February 28, 2008

Must be heard to be believed

Even the brilliant Judy Kaye in the recent play "Souvenir" about Ms. Jenkins couldn't quite match the unique sound of this singer, although she came close. For those who like this sort of thing, this is the real thing. The sound on this Naxos CD is superior to RCA's "Glory of the Human Voice??" which covers most of the same territory. The Naxos CD also restores the piano intro to the Bell Song and the heretofore rare Valse Caressante of which only a few pressings are known to exist.

That said, the rest of the (non-Florence) cuts are mostly forgettable. More kitch than camp. Annoying music abounds but the in the realm of the truly, stupendously awful Florence Foster Jenkins remains in a class by herself. No one can really compete with Ms. Jenkins on her own camp grounds and there is no sense in trying. The one exception being the sung "Blue Danube" with Josephine Tumminia and the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra which falls in the "what could they have been thinking?" department.

Personally a little of this sort of thing goes a long way. The Faust Travesty on the RCA set holds a bit more interest (but not all that much). I think a more interesting compliation would consist of "straight" renderings of the various arias and pieces contrasted with Madame Florence's so the listener may fully savor what she achieves in these performances.

Florence gets five stars but the rest of it gets a minus one, so it ends up with four. April 9, 2006

This is the definitive FFJ!

A fellow reviewer has not paid close attention to the contents of "Murder On The High C's": this release actually contains every recording that FFJ made. She recorded 9 arias and released them on 5 78's (the fifth, "Valse Caressante", was split), all of them gathered here for the first time. What this album omits from the previous cd release ("The Glory??? of the Human Voice") is the arias by an almost equally incompetent baritone. "Murder..." more than compensates for this with the inclusion of some unbelievably tragic recordings by artists who could actually sing but found themselves saddled with shockingly bad material; it's an absolute feast for those who love outsider music. The 'nursery rhyme' songs provoke bewilderment, the swing version of "Blue Danube" must be heard to be believed, and the excellent liner notes accurately describe Lauritz Melchior's valiant performance of "Please Don't Say No" as "the single worst recording of anything ever made by an opera star who should have known better". "Murder On The High C's" is an insanely delirious treasure. January 9, 2005

Sounds Like A Vacuum Cleaner Ingesting An Owl

Florence Foster Jenkins was a socialite who enjoyed singing in vast disproportion to her musical talent. This CD has some of her greatest works (so to speak) although the disc pales in comparison to her masterwork "The Glory (????) of Human Voice." (In fact several of the songs on this CD are available on that recording.) Particularly ear-shattering are "Musical Snuff Box" (watch out for that last note if you have pets, they will seriously dislike it), "Bell Song" which is essentially a series of a cappella pentatonic scales by and large, and finally the unique rendition of "Valse Caressante" (which was actually released as a single!) which will leave any listener in a near delirium.

In short, these rare Jenkins masterworks are amazing and hilarious. I can't recommend them highly enough to anyone even mildly curious about outsider music. Why the three star rating? It is certainly not due to Florence's participation, rather due to the packaging. The cover boasts "Florence Foster Jenkins and Friends." Little will most people suspect that the "friends" make up about half of the CD, and are totally unrelated to Jenkins except for possessing no musical talent. Some of the songs are merely boring (like the Jimmy Durante selections), and some are quite laughably funny like the dreadful "The Fireman's Bride," and "Please Don't Say No." Finally there is the real puzzler from the "what were they thinking?" file, "Little Jack Horner," an operatic retelling of the classic children's tale. The other reason I only give this disc three stars is because four of the nine Jenkins' songs are available on "The Glory (????) of Human Voice." I had expected different material on this CD.

The bottom line is that this CD is for Florence Foster Jenkins completists. (Ponder that.) People who want more exposure to Florence should buy her delightful "The Glory (????) of Human Voice," which I can't recommend highly enough.

October 15, 2004

comedy classic

In the summer of 2003, I had the luck of hearing Florence's recordings. Even though no one is quite sure whether she meant to be funny or not, listening to her cds always puts me in the best mood. Hearing her try to reach those high notes and missing terribly is the funniest thing in the world!! My family and I love Florence!!! May 27, 2004

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