Danish comedian and pianist Victor Borge gives every impression of having been asked to play a duet with someone whom he not only doesn’t know, but doesn’t particularly like. Forced to come up with a mutually agreeable way of sharing the musical workload, he settles on the most difficult route possible.
It’s not clear why two pianists were needed for this performance of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, S.244/2. I think that they did it just for the fun of it. The result is hilarious.
They’re not the only ones to tackle Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 as a piano duo. We also have these guys:
• 1829 ~ Alfonse Charles Renaud de Vilback, Composer
• 1832 ~ Alexander Charles Lecocq, Composer
• 1841 ~ Eduardo Caudella, Composer
• 1844 ~ Emile Paladilhe, Composer
• 1849 ~ Francois de Paule Jacques Raymond de Fossa, Composer, died at the age of 73
• 1858 ~ Julius Reubke, Composer, died at the age of 24
• 1867 ~ Bela Anton Szabados, Composer
• 1868 ~ Lvar Henning Mankell, Composer
• 1872 ~ Heinrich Esser, Composer, died at the age of 53
• 1875 ~ French composer Georges Bizet died at the age of 36, the same year his “Carmen” was first produced. It caused a scandal at first but went on to become one of opera’s most popular works.
More information on Bizet
• 1887 ~ Roland Hayes, American tenor
• 1887 ~ Emil Axman, Composer
• 1888 ~ Cark Reidel, Composer, died at the age of 60
• 1890 ~ Henryk Oskar Kolberg, Composer, died at the age of 76
• 1893 ~ Assen Karastoyanov, Composer
• 1898 ~ Nikolai Afanisev, Composer, died at the age of 77
• 1899 ~ Johann Strauss Jr., Viennese conductor and composer of waltzes including “The Blue Danube”, died at the age of 73.
More information on Strauss
• 1906 ~ Josephine Baker, American-born French jazz singer and dancer
• 1907 ~ Antonio Emmanvilovich Spadavecchia, Composer
• 1911 ~ Come Josephine in My Flying Machine hit #1
• 1913 ~ Josef Richard Rozkosny, Composer, died at the age of 79
• 1922 ~ Ivan Patachich, Composer
• 1926 ~ Carlos Veerhoff, Composer
• 1926 ~ Janez Maticic, Composer
• 1927 ~ Boots Randolph, American saxophonist (Yakety Sax)
• 1931 ~ The Band Wagon, a Broadway musical, opened in New York City. The show ran for 260 performances.
• 1932 ~ Dakota Staton (Aliyah Rabia), Jazz singer
• 1939 ~ Beer Barrel Polka hit #1 on the pop singles chart by Will Glahe
• 1942 ~ Curtis Mayfield, American rhythm-and-blues singer, songwriter, producer and guitarist Grammy Award-winner, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, March 15, 1999
• 1944 ~ Mike Clarke, Musician, drummer with The Byrds
• 1946 ~ Ian Hunter, Singer, songwriter with Mott the Hoople
• 1949 ~ Stephen Ruppenthal, Composer
• 1950 ~ Suzie Quatro (Quatrocchio), Singer
• 1951 ~ Deniece Williams, Singer
• 1952 ~ Frank Sinatra recorded the classic Birth of the Blues for Columbia Records
• 1959 ~ Ole Windingstad, Composer, died at the age of 73
• 1961 ~ Charles Hart, Lyricist: Phantom of the Opera
• 1961 ~ “Wildcat” closed at Alvin Theater NYC after 172 performances
• 1964 ~ The Hollywood Palace on ABC-TV hosted the first appearance of the first U.S. concert tour of The Rolling Stones. Dean Martin emceed the show. One critic called the Stones “dirtier and streakier and more disheveled than The Beatles.”
• 1971 ~ Yehudi Menuhin performed on a 250-year-old Stradivarius violin at Sothby’s auction house. It sold for $200,000.
• 1978 ~ Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams combined their singing talents to reach the number one spot on the nation’s pop music charts with Too Much, Too Little, TooLate.
• 1986 ~ Arthur Charles Ernest Hoeree, Composer, died at the age of 89
• 1994 ~ Hub Matthijsen, Violinist/bandmaster, died at the age of 52
