FMS: Feature [Waxman Retrospective at MoMA]

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FMS FEATURE...

November 30, 2006
Waxman Retrospective at MoMA
Ute Lemper to perform Dec. 17

Ute Lemper

NEW YORK – As the year-long celebration of Franz Waxman's centennial continues, the Museum of Modern Art has scheduled what may be the most thorough overview of his film career ever assembled.

A 21-film screening series entitled "Franz Waxman: Music for the Cinema" begins on Dec. 16, 2006 and will run through Jan. 17, 2007. All will be shown at the Roy and Niunta Titus Theaters at the Museum's 11 West 53rd Street location.

As the Museum stated in its announcement: "Composer Franz Waxman began his musical career in Europe before escaping from the Nazis to beocme one of the most influential and honored artists in the age of classic Hollywood scoring. This centenary retrospective features works from Germany and France (Scampolo from 1932, Liliom from 1934) as well as a selection of his landmark Hollywood genre scores, including The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Sunset Blvd. (1950) and Peyton Place (1957)."

A special musical event, entitled "A Franz Waxman Cabaret," will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Dec. 17, featuring famed German performer Ute Lemper in a concert drawn from the Waxman songbook. The composer's son John Waxman will be the host.

The series will conclude on Jan. 17 with a symposium, "The Musical Legacy of Franz Waxman," moderated by conductor John Mauceri and featuring authors Royal S. Brown (Overtones and Undertones), Max Wilk (The Wit and Wisdom of Hollywood) and Jack Sullivan (Hitchcock's Music).

The exhibition will also include the New York premiere of the four-minute short film Waxman Prelude ("from Franz Wachsmann to Franz Waxman"), produced and directed by John Goberman; it will screen on Dec. 16, 17 and 29; and on Jan. 6, 11 and 17. Ron Magliozzi, assistant curator, research and collections of the museum's Department of Film, organized the retrospective.

A Waxman Festival and Symposium was held in Cherzow, Poland, Nov. 13-17, including screenings, scholarly papers and the dedication of a commemorative plaque on the theatre in his hometown. Several hundred attended.

The December screening schedule includes: Liliom (1934), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Peyton Place (1957), Dec. 16; Scampolo, ein Kind der Strasse (1932), Dec. 17; The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), Dec. 21; The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) and Mr. Skeffington (1944), Dec. 23; The Nun's Story (1959) and Sunset Blvd. (1950), Dec. 24; Fury (1936) and The Furies (1950), Dec. 27; Taras Bulba (1962), Dec. 29; Sayonara (1957), Dec. 30; Rebecca (1940) and Old Acquaintance (1943), Dec. 31.

The January schedule includes: Objective Burma! (1945), Jan. 4; Crime in the Streets (1946) and Edge of Darkness (1943), Jan. 6; Mauvaise Graine (1934), Jan. 7; Prince Valiant (1954), Jan. 10. Several of the films screening in December will also be repeated in January. A full schedule is available at www.moma.org, and further information is available by calling the museum at (212) 708-9400.