🎶 Up A Lazy River – Si Zentner And His Orchestra (1961) 🎶

🎶 Up A Lazy River – Si Zentner And His Orchestra (1961) 🎶

Professor Howdy’s latest musical bouquet is a glowing river of melodies, drifting from stately marches to Parisian romance, from Hollywood tenderness to sunrise over the Grand Canyon. This carefully curated album delights with both familiarity and discovery.

“Up A Lazy River” – Si Zentner And His Orchestra (1961)
We begin with zest and swing! Trombonist and bandleader Si Zentner brings his big band brilliance to Hoagy Carmichael’s classic, a tune that glides along with carefree warmth and jazzy sparkle.

“Pavane” – Humbert Lucarelli, Susan Jolles, Frank Morelli
The lilting courtly dance of Gabriel Fauré’s Pavane is here given new life through woodwinds and harp, performed with refined beauty by Lucarelli, Jolles, and Morelli.

“Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1” – Arthur Fiedler
No one captured pageantry like Arthur Fiedler with the Boston Pops. Elgar’s march has long become a hymn of triumph, pride, and ceremony, here bursting with jubilant grandeur.

“Unchained Melody” (From Ghost) – Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Erich Kunzel
Erich Kunzel, the “Prince of Pops,” leads the Cincinnati Pops in one of cinema’s most tender love themes. The orchestral sweep magnifies the song’s timeless yearning.

Chopin / Douglas Arr.: Les Sylphides – Grande valse brillante, Op. 18 – Philharmonia Orchestra, Robert Irving
This brilliant waltz, sparkling and effervescent, reminds us of Chopin’s genius for grace and lyricism. Under Irving’s baton, the Philharmonia plays with ballet-like elegance.

“Canon in D Major” – Various Artists
The immortal Pachelbel Canon—its gentle layering of voices like ripples on a still pond—remains one of the most beloved pieces ever penned. (Listed simply as “Various Artists,” but its beauty speaks for itself!)

No. 15, Final Waltz and Apotheosis – Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev
Few conductors carry more fire than Valery Gergiev. Here, with the Mariinsky Orchestra, the closing waltz rises to a glorious apotheosis—radiant, sweeping, and majestic.

“Faust: Waltz” – Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hayman
Gounod’s Faust waltz shimmers with high spirits and operatic flair. Hayman and the Slovak Symphony make it glitter like a ballroom chandelier.

“Under Paris Skies” (2016 Remaster) – 101 Strings Orchestra
The 101 Strings bathe this French classic in lush orchestration, conjuring moonlit strolls along the Seine and the perfume of romance in the air.

“The Theme from: ‘The Unforgiven’ (The Need for Love)” – Don Costa
Don Costa, famed arranger for Sinatra, here reveals his gift for cinematic drama and tenderness, blending sweep with sentiment.

“Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 in G Major” – Barry Tuckwell, London Symphony Orchestra
Elgar’s martial splendor returns in March No. 4, triumphant and noble, given full resonance by horn virtuoso Barry Tuckwell and the mighty LSO.

“Rêverie, L. 68 (Arr. for Orchestra)” – The Philadelphia Orchestra
Debussy’s dreamy Rêverie glows under the Philadelphia Orchestra’s velvet sonority, an instrumental sigh that drifts like clouds across a summer sky.

“Under Paris Skies” – The Paris Musette
Here, the chanson returns to its roots, with accordion and French flair—bringing the bustling cafés and cobblestone streets of Paris vividly to life.

“Grand Canyon Suite: I. Sunrise” – Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Erich Kunzel
Ferde Grofé’s masterpiece paints the dawning of day over the Grand Canyon. Kunzel and the Pops capture its majesty, from stillness to blazing glory.

“Under Paris Skies (Sous le ciel de Paris)” – Mantovani & His Orchestra
Finally, Mantovani’s signature cascades of strings close the program, bathing us once more in the romance of Paris—tender, luminous, unforgettable.

This album, with its mixture of marches, waltzes, love songs, and tone poems, is not merely a playlist, but a flowing river of memory, beauty, and joy. Professor Howdy once again proves himself a master of bringing timeless music to the screen, adorned with high-definition visual poetry.