{"product_id":"harpo-marx-harpo-speaks-the-riverside-symphony-concert-featuring-peter-the-wolf","title":"Harpo Marx - Harpo Speaks! - The Riverside Symphony Concert featuring Peter \u0026 the Wolf","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"306\"\u003eOn March 20, 1964, legendary American comedian and harpist \u003cstrong data-start=\"59\" data-end=\"73\"\u003eHarpo Marx\u003c\/strong\u003e joined the \u003cstrong data-start=\"85\" data-end=\"107\"\u003eRiverside Symphony\u003c\/strong\u003e on stage at a benefit for the Southern California organization. By then, the comic had been in semi-retirement, and after a series of heart attacks in 1961, he was told to stop working altogether.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"308\" data-end=\"564\"\u003eBut to a lifelong performer, nothing compared to the feeling of being on stage. Benefit shows, he slyly argued, were not technically work, since he wasn’t getting paid. For the next few years, Marx’s wife and doctors grudgingly went along with the pitch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"566\" data-end=\"831\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"566\" data-end=\"612\"\u003eHarpo Speaks! The Riverside Symphony Concert\u003c\/em\u003e, out June 5 from Ramseur Records, captures a considerably remarkable, one-of-a-kind performance: the silent Marx Brother, the one whose trademark persona led many audiences to believe he was actually mute, spoke.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"833\" data-end=\"1112\"\u003eAs Harpo Marx’s first, and last, recorded just six months before his death, live album, \u003cem data-start=\"921\" data-end=\"936\"\u003eHarpo Speaks!\u003c\/em\u003e places listeners in the room, immersed in the swell of the Riverside Orchestra as Marx performs alongside the symphony and leads them in a narration of \u003cem data-start=\"1089\" data-end=\"1109\"\u003ePeter and the Wolf\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1114\" data-end=\"1487\"\u003eIn another unusual move for Marx, he allowed the recording of the show for posterity, though the tapes seemingly disappeared after his death. \u003cem data-start=\"1256\" data-end=\"1271\"\u003eHarpo Speaks!\u003c\/em\u003e is the result of heroic archival work. Recently discovered by longtime \u003cstrong data-start=\"1343\" data-end=\"1360\"\u003eMarx Brothers\u003c\/strong\u003e archivist \u003cstrong data-start=\"1371\" data-end=\"1389\"\u003eJohn Tefteller\u003c\/strong\u003e, he and Marx biographer and expert \u003cstrong data-start=\"1425\" data-end=\"1441\"\u003eRobert Bader\u003c\/strong\u003e set out to restore the long-lost recording.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1489\" data-end=\"1838\"\u003e“The fact that we have a recording is a miracle,” says Bader. “It was not the most professionally recorded thing. It was very haphazard. The work that was done to rehabilitate it is stunning. It’s as if you’ve found something covered with layers of mold and dirt, got it all cleaned off, and now are able to see something brand new underneath it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1840\" data-end=\"2277\"\u003eAcross the recording’s near-43-minute runtime, Marx, alongside the Riverside Symphony, takes the cheering audience through the delightfully lighthearted \u003cem data-start=\"1993\" data-end=\"2007\"\u003eToy Symphony\u003c\/em\u003e and carries them into the softly romantic \u003cem data-start=\"2050\" data-end=\"2063\"\u003eMoon Medley\u003c\/em\u003e, a medley of \u003cem data-start=\"2077\" data-end=\"2097\"\u003eFly Me to the Moon\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem data-start=\"2102\" data-end=\"2121\"\u003eHow High the Moon\u003c\/em\u003e, arranged by his son \u003cstrong data-start=\"2143\" data-end=\"2156\"\u003eBill Marx\u003c\/strong\u003e, alongside his own composition, \u003cem data-start=\"2189\" data-end=\"2200\"\u003eMoon Tune\u003c\/em\u003e, and a rare instrumental performance of his composition \u003cem data-start=\"2257\" data-end=\"2274\"\u003eGuardian Angels\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2279\" data-end=\"2532\"\u003eAnd then the concert’s true highlight: the near 22-minute-long riveting narration of \u003cem data-start=\"2364\" data-end=\"2384\"\u003ePeter and the Wolf\u003c\/em\u003e. For the first time, Harpo reveals his voice: deep, yet soft-spoken, refined, yet still retaining the slightest hint of his New York City origin. And, in speaking, he entertained, getting laughs not just for his physical gags, but for the storytelling itself: the dramatic inflections in moments of suspense, the arch mischievousness, and tongue-in-cheek references to Barry Goldwater, Nelson Rockefeller, and Richard Nixon\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ramseur Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":58054984434009,"sku":"SDZ-45867","price":14.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"12\" Vinyl LP","offer_id":58054984466777,"sku":"SDZ-45868","price":27.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/ORC_20260513_0853_p_Harpo-Marx.jpg?v=1778684751","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/harpo-marx-harpo-speaks-the-riverside-symphony-concert-featuring-peter-the-wolf","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}