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Postcards from Paris

  1. Paree! (Ca c'est Paris!)
  2. Autumn Leaves (Les Feuilles Mortes)
  3. Pigalle
  4. Under Paris Skies (Sous le Ciel De Paris)
  5. Valentine
  6. All My Love (Bolero)
  7. Merry-Go-Round (La Ronde)
  8. If You Love Me (Hymne A L'Amour)
  9. Symphony
  10. Two Loves Have I (J'ai Deaux Amours)
  11. Speak To Me Of Love (Parlez-Moi D'Amour)
  12. Beyond The Sea (La Mer)
Ferrante & Teicher: Postcards from Paris  (Westminster)
About this album: 

This album was recorded in 1955 or 1956 (Scott's discography shows it as 1955). The copyright on the back of the Westminster Lp says 1956 which would likely correspond to the year the album was released.

Availability: 

Lp (mono): Westminster WP-6001
Lp (mono): ABC-Paramount ABC-430
Lp (simulated stereo?): ABC-Paramount ABCS-430

Liner notes: 

Notes from the original Westminster Lp:

Paris, Thursday

Dearest M------:

Encore! Ca c’est Paris! Undoubtedly if you were with us you would check our abandoned enthusiasm somewhat with your prudent common sense; and quite wisely, for it’s not as if we’d never been to Pairs before although it always seems that way.

In spite of the fact that we’re on a tour d’affaires we never manage to get any sleep. Yes, you warned us about the staying up all night fever, but it can’t be helped. We’ve been seized by the songs of Paris and can’t get away from them. Of course we have heard them before but maybe we weren’t listening as carefully as we should have or perhaps we were flustered by getting on the wrong metro which, as you know, is unfortunately one of our practiced habits. Anyway – Monday it was the Moulin Rouge, Tuesday over to Le Boeuf sur le Toit, Wednesday Lapin Agile in the Rue des Saules, Montmartre. You would love Lapin’s; they site you down – artist-style – on hard benches, as though you didn’t have a cent in the world, and serve you brandied cherries which you spear from the center of your table with much-chewed toothpicks. All around you on the walls hang countless pictures left by the artistic clientel in payment for long-standing bills; we guess that some of the pictures must by now be worth more than the whole cabaret itself. Here everyone is invited to join in the singing; you are not merely entertained but you also entertain yourself. Which reminds us of an embarrassing but amusing incident which occurred around the corner at Madame Patachou’s. The arrangement there is much the same as at Lapin’s – pictures, candles, and benches – except that at Patachou’s everyone, absolutely everyone, must join in with the singing on pain of having his necktie clipped off. You know how Louis is about singing; he would rather be shot than serenade in public. At first he devoted himself to earnestly sipping his drink, then he tried to appear to be absorbed in some imaginary practicing, but Madame, who is by the way a very delightful and friendly woman, wasn’t in the least fooled. Over she came: Monsieur ne chante pas? – I can’t, stuttered Louis and snip! off comes his necktie, his hand-painted one at that. Everyone applauded until, with much courage, Louis stood up and announced that although he couldn’t sing we would play, which we did, and so out of urgent necessity was born the idea of arranging some of our favorite Parisian songs for twin pianos so that you and everyone else might enjoy them too.

We can’t wait until we’ll be able to play them for you, for of all the souvenirs we might bring you from Paris, surely her songs are the best. With all the many moods which rise from life in her streets, she sings of her love of men and their love for each other. Under Paris skies it seems impossible not to fall in love, although so far we have managed to avoid this catastrophe. The little tables in the cafes or the park benches are dotted with lovers in twos or fours and if there is a lone person to be seen, he or she looks sad and quite neglected as though the magic of the city has passed him by or momentarily deserted him. Yes, Paris sings a perpetual Hymn to Love and perhaps, after all, we have caught the excitement: we are in love with Paris.

By the way, Madame pinned Louis’ tie up on the café wall where you will be able to see it if we can persuade you to come over with us next year; but meanwhile, we’ll do our best to left you see and hear this wonderful city through our postcard melodies.

Au Revoir. With our love,

What other duo-pianists can boast that they have played together since the age of six? Arthur Ferrante and Louis Teicher were fellow prodigies of New York’s famous Juilliard School of Music, and even while students they were appearing as a team. After graduation they gave a few joint recitals, then decided they should take time out to prepare a really distinctive repertory. Together they returned to Juilliard, this time as fellow members of the faculty, and spent all their spare hours for the next year or so working over the standard pieces and cleansing them of every hackneyed cliché.

The next time they hit the concert circuit, the public and the press left no doubt whatever about their future. Since 1947 they have been criss-crossing the country annually, winning laurels everywhere for what The New York Times called their “prodigious technical feats.” Radio and television audiences know them for their guest stints on Piano Playhouse and the Firestone, Telephone and Carnation Hours among other network shows.

The have played with symphony orchestras in New York City, Rochester, Chicago, Detroit and other centers in addition to their hundreds of duo appearances. Their gift for blending the classic with the modern and the “heavy” with the “light,” their extraordinary sensitivity, their technical perfection—these are only a few of the reasons why one stern Manhattan critic, echoing the national consensus, called Ferrante and Teicher “the most exiting piano team of our time.”

THE RECORDThis recording is processed according to the R.I.A.A. characteristic from a tape recorded with Westminster’s exclusive “Panorthophonic”® technique. To achieve the greatest fidelity, each Westminster record is mastered at the volume level technically suited to it. Therefore, set your volume control at the level which sounds best to your ears. Variations in listening rooms and playback equipment may require additional adjustment of bass and treble controls to obtain NATURAL BALANCE. Play this recording only with an unworn microgroove stylus (.001 radius). For best economical results we recommend that you use a diamond stylus, which will last longer than other needles. Average playback times: diamond—over 2000 plays; sapphire—50 plays; osmium or other metal points—be sure to change frequently. Remember that a damaged stylus may ruin your collection.

Doug's comments: 

Ferrante and Teicher: Postcards From Paris [ABC/Paramount reissue]This album was originally released on Westminster with the cover photo above. It appears to have been reissued in "stereo" after Westminster Records was acquired by ABC-Paramount Records (pictured right).