Comic Musicians: Anna Russell
Who was she?
Anna Russell, née Anna Claudia Russell-Brown (1911-2006), was an English–Canadian singer and comedian. She studied music at the Royal College of Music, and later gave many concerts in which she sang and played comic musical sketches on the piano. Among her best-known works are her concert performances and famous recordings of The Ring of the Nibelungs (An Analysis) – a humorous 22-minute synopsis of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen – and (on the same album) her parody How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Opera....Russell became known for her deadpan humour, including her disbelieving emphasis of the absurd in well accepted stories and her mockery of pretension. For example, in her humorous analysis of Wagner's Ring cycle, she began by noting that the first scene takes place in the River Rhine: "In it!!" -- Wikipedia
Materials in Fondren Library
- The Anna Russell album? [sound recording] Introduction to the concert (by the Women's Club president) (8:09) --How to write your own Gilbert and Sullivan opera (16:06) -- Coloratura aria "Canto dolciamente pipo" from the opera "La cantatrice squelante" (8:16) --British-pure but dull : "I love the spring" (3:43) -- Russian folk song : "Da, nyet, da, nyet" (2:54) -- For loud singers with no brains : "Ah, lover!" from the operetta "The prince of Philadelphia" (3:40) --For singers with tremendous artistry but no voice : "Schlumph ; Je n'ai pas la plume de ma tante" (5:47) --For the dramatic soprano : "Schreechenrauf" (6:46) -- "The ring of the Nibelungs" : an analysis (21:40).Call Number: CD 208-5751 (Library Service Center)Publication Date: MDK 47252 Sony Masterworks
- Anna Russell again? A practical banana promotion: Eta banana ; Come let's sing ; Alas, what should I do -- Dripping with Gore -- A square talk on popular music or the decline and fall of the popular song: Feeling fine ; Red-hot mamma ; Chloryphil solly ; End of the line ; Two time man ; Maladjusted ; Please Santa Claus ; Mad -- Noisy neighbors -- Survey of singing from madrigals to modern opera: Let us hang the holly ; Come lovely death ; Wir gehen in den Automaten ; Yesteryear ; O gentle bird with feathered breast ; Anaemia's death scene ; Aria from "The psychiatrist" -- Miserable.Call Number: CD 309-4393Publication Date: SFK 60317 Sony Music Entertainment
- Anna Russell [videorecording] : crown princess of musical parody. pt. 1. The Ellis Island summer festival (1964) -- pt. 2. The Clown princess of comedy (1976) -- pt. 3. An hilarious interview with Anna Russell (1977).Call Number: DVD M1977 .H7 A56 2005
- The first Anna Russell farewell special [videorecording] How to become a singer -- Wind instruments I have known -- On pink chiffon drag -- A Gilbert & Sullivan operetta -- Wagner's "Ring" cycle -- "Jolly old Sigmund Freud" and other folk tunes.Call Number: DVD M1977 .H7 F57 2001
I'm Not Making This up, You Know. by Call Number: ML 420 .R925 A3 1985ISBN: 0826403646Publication Date: 1985- Anna Russell in darkest Africa [sound recording] Hamletto, or Prosciuttino, by Russell-Verdi -- Backwards with folk song -- How to enjoy your bagpipe, from the series Wind instruments I have known.Call Number: LP .R83 3 (Library Service Center)
- A square talk on popular music : or, The decline and fall of the popular song ; Survey of singing, from madrigals to modern opera [sound recording]Call Number: LP .R83 1 (Library Service Center)
- Anna Russell's guide to concert audiences [sound recording]Call Number: LP .R83 2 (Library Service Center)
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