[ "So in Love" plays ] ♪ Strange, dear ♪ ♪ But true, dear ♪ ♪ When I'm close to you, dear ♪ ♪ The stars fill the sky ♪ ♪ So in love with you am I ♪ Interpreter: It all started in 2007 when conductor Dirk Baert recorded a "Great American Songbook" CD with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, featuring songs by various American composers.

One of them really stood out for me -- Cole Porter.

Singing that particular song -- "So in Love" from the musical "Kiss Me, Kate" -- was such a phenomenal experience that it made us want to browse his entire oeuvre.

We've reached 325 songs so far.

Van den Brande: ♪ So taunt me ♪ ♪ And taunt me ♪ ♪ And hurt me ♪ ♪ And hurt me ♪ ♪ Deceive me ♪ ♪ Deceive me ♪ ♪ Desert me ♪ ♪ Desert me ♪ ♪ I'm yours, till I die ♪ ♪ So in love ♪ ♪ So in love ♪ ♪ So in love ♪ ♪ So in love ♪ ♪ So in love ♪ ♪ So in love ♪ ♪ With you ♪ ♪ Am ♪ ♪ I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] [ Indistinct conversations ] Van den Brande: The name Cole Porter immediately conjures up an image of Broadway.

I boldly set off for Manhattan to talk about an ambitious project -- mapping Porter's work because that has happened far too little to date.

In New York, I meet Robert Kimball, the foremost Broadway music theater authority of the United States, who edited the complete lyrics of Cole Porter and also dedicated a stunning biographical photo book to him, the ultimate reference for Porter.

Robert is also artistic advisor to the Cole Porter Trust.

At the Cole Porter Trust, high up in the UBS-Building on the Avenue of the Americas, I meet Trustee Peter Felcher and tell him about my plans to record a great number of Porter songs with a symphonic orchestra.

I've had a talk already with him two years ago.

He showed me around, showed me...

I ask him whether he thinks it odd for a classical singer to take on Cole Porter.

I said it took us a while to get used to a different way, and I always say to that is there's no one way to sing Cole Porter.

Absolutely.

This is a book, "Titles and Ideas."

It was Cole Porter's diary for lyrics and music phrases.

This was actually sort of in one of his more fallow periods.

So...Wow.

Yeah.

This is too much for me.

This is too much.

Now, that's... Van den Brande: We go looking for Cole's roots and head to Peru, a small town in Indiana, the midwest of the USA.

Porter's grandfather was among Indiana's richest men.

Mother, Kate, married somewhat below her station to Samuel Porter, who played the guitar so beautifully.

Porter: ♪ You're such a ne plus ultra creature ♪ Van den Brande: The house where they initially resided has now been transformed into the Cole Porter Inn, a bed-and-breakfast -- the perfect base from which to discover Porter's hometown.

We bought the place in January.

You bought the place.

So this is your house?

Yep.

Yep.

People would stop in because of Cole Porter.

Some people stopped because they're staying here.

Yes.

But the majority of them are people who are interested in Cole Porter.

And you don't realize how much his music is still around and sampled in so many -- so many TV shows, so many commercials, so many different things.

It's just unbelievable.

And he's from right here in Peru.

Porter: ♪ From left hooks by Dempsey ♪ ♪ To Braddock's uppercuts ♪ ♪ From Jericho to Kokomo ♪ ♪ Not to mention from soup to nuts ♪ ♪ From journal until mirror... ♪ So... Well, you know, you talk about the history and the life of Cole Porter.

That is why we did not want to see that home destroyed.

It was scheduled for demolition.

Van den Brande: Was it?

Well, it is a meth house.

That was the last use.

The windows were out of it.

Curtains were flapping outside.

The foundation was starting to fail.

The roof was in bad shape.

The plumbing was bad.

Restoring the home was -- was a history lesson.

We did the best we could with the tools we had.

Had a lot of volunteer labor.

♪♪ ♪♪ I mean, this is probably the best thing they could have gave to "Night and Day."

Probably his most popular song, arguably.

Van den Brande: Yeah.

No, absolutely.

I mean, even U2 covered "Night and Day."

Sure.

Bono did it as well.

U2, the band did it.

Yeah.

Oh.

That's what I was saying.

I misinterpreted it.

Yeah.

That's a -- that's a -- That's one of the worst U2 songs, unfortunately, that... No, it's not good, because... Kirk: I was told they tried to replicate this as the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

So you're like -- you're -- you're there, staying there.

So they have here the New York skyline and then they have "Anything Goes."

That's actually painted.

That's not a poster.

It's painted on the wall.

It's beautiful.

All the stuff is musical in here.

And it's all -- it's all towards Cole.

And then the -- the artifacts around.

Everything was donated.

I mean, it's whatever was donated.

Everything was donated?

Everything was donated here, so some of it doesn't -- isn't all coordinating, but it's all -- it's all period and it's all...

So this is where Cole's cradle would have stood.

This is what we believe to be the room where he -- where he stayed.

Yeah.

Walker: Rumor had had it that in his bedroom, there was some writing on the wall and it says, "I do not want to be a lawyer.

I want to be a songwriter."

There's the words -- not composer, a songwriter.

Signed Cole Porter, age 10.

We never found that.

Oops.

Okay, now we have some light.

But we did have some fun with it one day when we were in the room and some of the construction guys were doing work.

Said, "Boy, I wish I could find that."

So they left the room for a little bit.

So I'm normally right handed, but left handed, I wrote, "I do not want to be a lawyer.

I want to be a songwriter.

Signed Cole Porter, age 10, to make it look like a kid would write.

I said, "Oh, my gosh, guys, we found it."

They come -- "Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my gosh."

I couldn't -- You know, I had to tell them.

Van den Brande: Mr. Mayor, I think we have to cut this because that is falsification of history Man: ♪ From Jericho to Kokomo ♪ ♪ Not to mention from soup... ♪ So tonight the rehearsal is going to be here?

Yes, they're gonna -- They had the piano set up here and they're -- they're gonna do the Cole Porter Revue rehearsal here tonight.

We've had a lot of individuals that come to Peru and stay, especially when we do the Cole Porter days, because every year, we do a Cole Porter festival to make sure that people do.

♪ From Alpha to Omega, you're mine ♪ Okay.

And then... [ Speaks indistinctly ] That's what you do.

Okay.

And then we're doing the refrain... Schintler: Well, every year we do -- We take a bunch of Cole Porter songs.

We try to put them in either a modern context or we put them into a genre that usually you wouldn't think about.

This year we're going -- doing a big leap.

We're taking Cole into outer space, and it's called "Cole in Space."

It's basically Buck Rogers gets thrust into the future into -- combined with "Star Trek," "Star Wars" and just about every sci-fi cliché.

Your frame of reference seems a bit dated.

Just how old are you?

Sing with me, Eve.

I feel like I'm a novice, and we've done 120 different songs and yet I feel like I'm just now starting to learn Cole Porter.

It's exciting because you take this moment to appreciate this genius who just happened to, you know, happen to be born just a few blocks from my house, you know?

[ Laughing ] ♪♪ ♪ From Alpha to Omega, you're mine ♪ [ Both laughing ] [ Indistinct conversations ] Van den Brande: Is this the item of...

This is our grand Cole Porter piece.

It's a 1955 Fleetwood Cadillac.

Red leather.

Van den Brande: Can I -- Can I just try?

Smell?

Yes, you can smell.

That's about as close as you can get to Cole Porter.

Wow.

C.P.

So another unique thing we have here is the reproduction of Cole Porter's Yale diploma.

Computer voice: Turn right, then turn left.

[ Speaks indistinctly ] Interpreter: So this is Yale?

Fantastic.

Here we are.

Yale University School of Music.

♪♪ Van den Brande: The thorough education of mother, Kate, with plenty of culture and classical music, brings Cole to Yale University in 1909, where he studies English literature.

He stays at Vanderbilt Hall, just above the gate's arch.

Cole is a member and later president of the University Glee Club.

He writes over 300 songs for all kinds of revues, among others, for the Whiffenpoofs.

As a cheerleader, he composes songs that spur the football team, songs that are still high up on the repertoire today.

♪♪ ♪ Way down, way down in New Haven Town ♪ ♪ Lives Mr. Yale ♪ ♪ Old Eli Yale ♪ ♪ No one ever cares to come around ♪ On a stone's throw from Yale lives the USA's foremost music theorist, Professor Emeritus Allen Forte, who has a great love for Cole Porter.

♪ Goes back tied up in black ♪ ♪ Because when that old... ♪ Men: ♪ Bulldogs, Bulldogs ♪ ♪ Bark!

Bark!

♪ ♪ Bow, wow, wow ♪ ♪ Eil Yale ♪ ♪♪ [ Cheers and applause ] His plans to dedicate a last magnum opus to Porter were not realized.

His condition is not too good.

The book is currently being written by a team of scholars of whom many were once trained by him.

♪♪ Forte: What I'm working on today is the life and music of Cole Porter, best-known American composer of his era and far beyond.

I've had a long interest in that because of playing his music since I was a kid.

I kept up with his repertoire ever since and enlarged it.

♪♪ The reason I returned to Cole Porter's music is essentially that I never really left it.

It's music that I've always been interested in.

I don't low rate it in any sense with respect to classical popular music.

It's the music of America.

It's an internationally acclaimed music.

If you go to France and ask people to name an American composer, they will almost always say Cole Porter.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Van den Brande: In 1917, after the major flop of his first Broadway show, "See America First," Cole Porter moves to Paris.

Behind the front lines, Porter performs charity work and becomes a member of the Foreign Legion, for which the only prerequisite was standing on a scale.

Porter: ♪ Whether soft be her tears ♪ Van den Brande: In Paris, Porter is at home in many different worlds.

The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Alba are family friends.

Porter is a welcome guest at the Ritz on the Place Vendôme.

He spent time at the classical music salons hosted by the Princesse de Polignac, Winnaretta Singer, who enjoys spending the inheritance of the Singer sewing machines on compositions by Stravinsky, Poulenc, de Falla or Milhaud.

At the request of his friend Darius Milhaud, Porter even writes a classical ballet.

Porter also frequents the opera, score in hand.

Porter: ♪ Every moment ♪ ♪ Every moment of the year ♪ Van den Brande: Then there's also the Paris of jazz, in which Porter is best buddies with Black musicians.

In Bricktop's nightclub, the parties go on till the wee small hours of the morning.

Paris is also the artistic center of the world.

Porter is friends with Scott Fitzgerald, Jean Cocteau, sojourns in the circles of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and is often a guest at the famous café Le Boeuf Sur Le Toit, where among Bach, Stravinsky and Poulenc, his music is also regularly performed.

♪♪ Porter: ♪ I love Paris ♪ Van den Brande: In 1918, Porter befriends a beautiful, most interesting fortune divorcée who is eight years his elder, Linda Lee Thomas.

They marry a year later.

Linda becomes Cole's finishing school and introduces him into a fascinating world of intellectuals, politicians and artists.

Porter: ♪ Because my love ♪ ♪ Is here ♪ Well, he wanted to be at one point.

Van den Brande: At one point.

Yeah.

But I think at the time, in the early years of the '20s, yeah, he was studying at the Schola Cantorum, he wasn't thinking about Broadway, he was thinking about possibly being a serious composer.

He wrote songs, yes, but I think it was unclear where he was going.

Van den Brande: We did know where to go next -- to Brighton to interview an expert on early 20th-century French music, a man who sheds an interesting new light on the classical background of Cole Porter, Professor Robert Orledge.

In 1923, Porter writes a classical ballet at the request of his friend Darius Milhaud.

Within the quota, it joins Milhaud's ballet, "La Création du Monde," on the bill.

The French composer Charles Koechlin orchestrates Porter's piano score.

Within the quota was supposed to be a sort of curtain raiser for "La Création du Monde."

And of course, it ends up finishing the program.

Somebody realized along the way how important it was.

The first American ballet by an American.

Because I also wondered why the piano score within the quota is done for three pianos.

It probably comes from [indistinct] I'm sure.

There's a lot of cross influence.

I think so.

I think so.

Cole Porter would have known Stravinsky's music, I'm sure.

Oh, yes.

He was an ardent -- He was an ardent Stravinsky fan.

Yes.

There's a letter from Winnie de Polignac, actually from Stravinsky to Winnie de Polignac complaining about this arrogant Cole Porter.

Oh.

Oh.

Yes, yes, he says, "Well, Cole came up with the contract because I was willing to teach him."

And then he said, "Well, you can alter still in the contract whatever you would like."

Stravinsky doubled the amount he was going to ask and then called Porter, by lawyer sent another letter.

"Well, I -- I decline your offer then to teach me."

And Stravinsky was very upset.

Then you get Koechlin, who was always short of money, normally charging 20 francs a lesson, but charging Cole Porter 100 francs a lesson...

I see.

...for his 13 lessons.

It was very helpful being able to see his daily diaries and to see exactly what happened with Cole Porter.

And I think it all -- it all came through Milhaud, really, who was sort of a catalyst for everybody.

He got work for Satie with famous people, with Diaghilev, and he helped Koechlin a lot finding new pupils.

And -- and I suppose Cole Porter was the prize catch because he actually had -- had money and that sort of thing and Koechlin was always, as I say, short of it.

So in June, he had -- he has dinner with Milhaud at Cole Porter's house on the 5th of June, and they meet together and he listens to [indistinct] that evening.

He didn't actually like jazz very much.

Not in the way that Poulenc and Satie did.

He didn't think, like, Satie was beautiful and real in inverted commas.

He thought it was rather a nasty sort of popular noise that came from it.

But he was given this ballet to orchestrate.

Orledge: So what Koechlin records in his diary is when he meets Cole Porter and records the orchestration lessons at the Ritz.

And on the 26th of September 23, 10:00, Cole Porter arrives by car, presumably with a driver... Van den Brande: Absolutely.

...to Villers-sur-Mer on the Normandy coast where Koechlin has a villa.

And they go through the orchestration of within the quota, which Koechlin has done over the last about five days, seven days.

I suppose.

He was a very quick orchestrator, but there's a little passage in here where parts have been added for muted trumpets and muted trombones -- avec sourdine.

So when you come to look at this, it's actually got three different hands on it at least.

None of them is Koechlin's curiously.

And so somebody at some stage has added these extra notes and I think Cole Porter started it out just to show how it should be.

And he's also noticed that Koechlin has missed a note up there in the horn part.

And then Cole Porter, I think, writes up to there so that it meets Koechlin's next entry on trumpets and trombones.

That gives you a greater consistency of sound.

That's the only evidence I've got of Cole Porter doing anything orchestral in this.

♪♪ Van den Brande: In 1923, Porter's grandfather passes away.

Mother, Kate, shares the inherited millions with her son, and Cole is able to fulfill a childhood dream -- living in a palace on the Grand Canal in Venice.

In the next five years, the Porters spend the summers in Venice and rent at the Palazzo Barbaro, the Papadopoli and the Ca'Rezzonico, the place where Porter's favorite writer, Robert Browning, passed away.

Porter: ♪ ...lying there and sit... ♪ Van den Brande: Porter hosts resplendent parties where guests are received by hundreds of gondoliers, torch in hand.

Cole organizes Charleston lessons on the Lido Beach and is the first to roar across the canal in a speedboat.

Porter: ♪ Getting the latest in regard ♪ ♪ To Elsa Maxwell and Lady Cunard ♪ ♪ Thrilled Little Scampi ♪ Kimball: He would -- If he got to know you, Wilfried, he would write a song about you.

Now, you're laughing.

People have told me that.

He would come up with a quatrain, a couplet or something about the person he was with.

And it was usually quite funny.

You know, a song like "The Tale of the Oyster" is a perfect example.

It started out as "The Scampi," you know, and it's about Princess Jane, San Faustino, and he's having fun with -- with these people.

Porter: ♪ The Princess Jane said to her hostess ♪ ♪ I was such a pain ♪ ♪ Don't be cross ♪ ♪ But I think I shall ♪ ♪ Go for a gyro in a side canal ♪ Van den Brande: In the Palazzo Contarini, where his friend Winnaretta Singer lives, Cole, opera diva Mary Garden and writer Ezra Pound rediscover the music of Antonio Vivaldi.

Porter: ♪ From side to side ♪ ♪ They tossed about ♪ ♪ Till that poor young scampi ♪ ♪ Found that his quarters were much too crampy ♪ ♪ Eek comes the scampi ♪ Van den Brande: Nowadays, the Ca'Rezzonico is a museum dedicated to 18th-century Venice.

Porter: ♪ Back once more ♪ Van den Brande: In the enormous palazzo with Tiepolo frescoes, Porter writes songs for his friend Fanny Brice, or receives Noel Coward, Richard Rodgers, Larry Hart.

Porter: ♪ A great princess has had a taste of me ♪ ♪ Wise little scampi ♪ Van den Brande: So this is the grand ballroom where all the parties were held.

Imagine Arthur Rubinstein playing the piano surrounded by Sergei Diaghilev, Boris Kochno, Stravinsky, the Princesse de Polignac, Winnaretta Singer.

So this is the place where "Weren't We Fools?"

was written.

Cole Porter was proud as a peacock to be here, which isn't very surprising.

♪ Every time I see you, dear ♪ ♪ I think of days when you were near ♪ ♪ And I held you close to my heart ♪ ♪ Life was like a perfect dream and yet so real ♪ ♪ It didn't seem ♪ ♪ That we two could ever drift apart ♪ ♪ I know that all you said to me was true ♪ ♪ And you love me still as I love you ♪ Porter: ♪ Weren't we fools ♪ ♪ To lose each other ♪ ♪ Weren't we fools?

♪ To say goodbye ♪ ♪ Though we knew ♪ ♪ We loved each other ♪ ♪ You chose another ♪ ♪ So did I ♪ ♪ If we'd realized ♪ ♪ Our love was worth defending ♪ ♪ Then the story's broken threads ♪ ♪ We might be mending ♪ ♪ With perhaps a different ending ♪ ♪ A happy ending ♪ ♪ Weren't we fools ♪ ♪♪ Van den Brande: Porter's extravagant lifestyle isn't applauded by everyone.

Boris Kochno, assistant of Sergei Diaghilev, writes about his mentor's resentment when Porter invited Black musicians such as Bricktop and Les Hutchinson to stay in Venice.

"We finally managed to escape all that terrible jazz.

And now Porter decides to invite these..." Boris Kochno was the love of Porter's life.

Interpreter #1: So it was like death in Venice on the beach.

Interpreter #2: Beautiful movie, by the way.

Interpreter #1: He wasn't gay, though, was he?

Interpreter #2: Sure, he was.

Interpreter #1: Oh, so that's why he was on the beach.

Interpreter #2: His marriage was a mariage blanc.

His spouse was a woman who was eight years his elder.

She was as rich as Cole, and they got along perfectly.

It was a good marriage, but without consummation, as far as we know.

Eventually, Cole Porter had to flee Venice because they were looking for the chiavi, the key, down the trousers of the police commissioner's son.

♪ Find me ♪ ♪ A primitive man ♪ ♪ Built on a primitive plan ♪ Interpreter #3: Cole Porter was married to someone who knew very well what was going on.

♪ I don't mean the kind that belongs to a club ♪ ♪ But the kind that has a club that belongs to him ♪ ♪ I could ♪ Interpreter #3: He accepts her.

She accepts him.

They went through a bit of a rough patch when he was being too flamboyant.

Van den Brande: It was difficult in Hollywood, where Cole was too upfront.

♪ J'ai besoin d'un bel animal ♪ ♪ Pour chauffeur ♪ ♪ Mon chaffage centrale ♪ ♪ Et l'homme qui me veut pour capitane ♪ ♪ Devrait reveiler mon sang tzigane ♪ ♪ Trouve moi un homme primitif, vif ♪ ♪ Trouve moi un homme primitif ♪ I think that the crucial thing that happened in Porter's career I have written about was when Berlin told E. Ray Goetz, who had been his brother-in-law.

At that time, Goetz, Ray Goetz, was married to the great singer Irène Bordoni, and he was looking for a vehicle for her for on Broadway.

And he thought about it, and he told Goetz, "Hey, go find Porter.

He's in Venice.

He's probably on the Lido or somewhere.

Ask him to do it."

The result was the score for "Paris," "Let's Do It" and the beginning of Porter's career and the show played at Berlin's theater, The Music Box.

[ "Let's Misbehave" playing ] ♪♪ ♪ It's getting late and while I wait ♪ ♪ My poor heart aches on ♪ ♪ Why keep the brakes on?

♪ ♪ Let's misbehave!!!

♪ ♪ I feel quite sure un peu d'amour ♪ ♪ Would be attractive ♪ ♪ While we're still active ♪ ♪ Let's misbehave!

♪ ♪ You know my heart is true ♪ ♪ And you say you for me care... ♪ ♪ Somebody's sure to tell ♪ ♪ But what the heck do we care?

♪ ♪ They say that bears have love affairs ♪ ♪ And even camels ♪ ♪ We're merely mammals ♪ ♪ Let's misbehave!!!

♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Interpreter #3: And then you have his lyrics.

We haven't really talked about it yet.

But no one wrote more eloquently about love than Cole Porter.

When he writes "Love for Sale," appetizing young love for sale, I think he knows exactly what he's talking about.

It expresses a craving and a yearning that are inherent to people who are in love with...love.

Interpreter #4: Here's the downside of talking to a composer.

They'll always analyze music rather than letting it soak in.

Although I must say that the latter actually did happen to me when listening to a number of Porter songs.

They're such great songs with a spontaneous appeal.

On the other hand, you'll immediately examine the score to look at what stands out.

For example, you have the intro of "Love for Sale," which you might find interesting.

Let me just play the opening sequence.

What is so intriguing here is that the tonality is A-flat, A-flat major, whereas he starts off with this chord.

So while this is the tonality, you first have this chord.

Right off the bat, you have a chord that is not at all obvious.

From this chord, he goes to this chord.

This is extremely fascinating because you essentially have a tritone, an augmented fourth, something a contemporary composer or a 20th-century composer will use very often.

So he immediately starts off with a progression... [ Piano notes playing ] ...followed by a chord that is extended even further -- a 13th, which sounds like this.

♪♪ And this chord then eventually dissolves into the key of A-flat Major.

That's when the first chorus starts.

♪♪ ♪ When the only sound in the empty street ♪ ♪ Is the heavy tread of the heavy feet ♪ ♪ That belong to a lonesome cop ♪ ♪ I ♪ ♪ Open shop ♪ ♪♪ ♪ When the moon so long has been gazing down ♪ ♪ On the wayward ways of this wayward town ♪ ♪ That her smile becomes a smirk ♪ ♪ I go to work ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Love for sale ♪ ♪ Appetizing young love for sale ♪ ♪ Love that's fresh and still unspoiled ♪ ♪ Love that's only slightly soiled ♪ ♪ Love for sale ♪ ♪ In the roaring traffic's boom ♪ ♪ In the silence of my lonely room ♪ ♪ I think of you night and day ♪ ♪ Night and day ♪ ♪ Under the hide of me ♪ ♪ There's an, ooh, such a hungry yearning ♪ ♪ Burning inside of me ♪ ♪ And its torment won't be through ♪ ♪ Till you let me spend my life making love to you ♪ Interpreter #5: I must say it captivates me right away.

Not just the music, although the music plays a big part.

The rhythm within the choreography.

But the texts are wonderful as well.

I really admire his internal rhymes like the ones in "It's De-Lovely."

[ Speaking native language ] Interpreter #5: Of course, his writings aren't always that edifying.

But it's the simple style of life with ordinary feelings and a great amount of empathy.

Perhaps most importantly, when you listen to Cole Porter, worries disappear.

Life is good again.

Woman: ♪ Land on land ♪ ♪ n olden days a glimpse of stocking ♪ ♪ Was looked on as something shocking ♪ ♪ But now God knows ♪ ♪ Anything goes ♪ ♪ Good authors to ♪ ♪ Who once knew better words ♪ ♪ Now only use four letter words ♪ ♪ Writing prose ♪ ♪ Anything goes ♪ Interpreter #5: I think the song of all songs is "Begin the Beguine."

As soon as you hear that song, you're reminded of the optimism of America.

Even when you're down, there's a future for the land of hopes and dreams.

I think it's a -- it's a fantastic [indistinct] of a song.

It's a whole thing about, "Oh, don't make me remember that.

It was so painful."

"Oh, yeah.

Bring it on.

I need to remember it."

You know, it's quite a -- it's quite a progression.

He really wrote wonderfully passionate songs.

Every time I've ever heard or sung "Begin the Beguine," the audience hears it start and goes, "Ahh, I love that song."

I don't think there's anybody that doesn't love that song.

♪ What moments divine ♪ ♪ What rapture serene ♪ ♪ Till clouds came along ♪ ♪ To disperse the joys we had tasted ♪ ♪ And now when I hear people curse ♪ ♪ The chance that was wasted ♪ ♪ I know but too well what they mean ♪ ♪ So don't let them begin the beguine ♪ ♪ Let the love that was once a fire remain an ember ♪ ♪ Let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember ♪ ♪ When they begin the beguine ♪ ♪ Oh yes, let them begin the beguine, make them play ♪ ♪ Till the stars that were there before return above you ♪ ♪ Till you whisper to me once more ♪ ♪ "Darling, I love you!"

♪ ♪ And we suddenly know, what heaven we're in ♪ ♪ When they begin the beguine ♪ ♪ When they begin ♪ ♪ The beguine ♪ Listen, any man that could write "Begin the Beguine," "Night and Day" and "I Get a Kick Out of You" has something serious to say.

You know, those three songs alone put him smack dab in the middle of the firmament of the stars in the "American Songbook."

[ Sirens wailing ] [ Whistles blowing ] Van den Brande: We're back in New York.

The prestigious Waldorf Towers were Porter's home from the mid-1930s until his death.

Cole and Linda each had an enormous apartment in this hotel of shahs and presidents.

But aside from a few original photographs, not much remains of the famous interior by architect Billy Baldwin.

After Porter's death, Frank Sinatra moved into the apartment.

But any of Ol Blue Eyes' personal touches are also far gone.

Even the shower doors with his initials did not survive.

Man: Society parties and events... Van den Brande: Absolutely.

...took place here at the hotel.

That's the man.

Yeah.

Again.

[ Snapping fingers ] A happy coincidence brings me to a suite just below Porter's.

You don't get any closer to history than this.

C'est magnifique.

♪ ...I go ♪ ♪ Take the glass from the shelf ♪ ♪ And locate myself ♪ ♪ I'm a gigolo ♪ Wonderful, isn't it?

I'm sure he must have lived in a place like this.

A very fancy gigolo.

[ Computer chimes ] [ Telephone rings ] Ah, just now.

Oh, I see.

Yeah.

Okay.

I asked you if I could pick up another 100 tickets if that is possible.

[ Man speaks in foreign language on radio ] Interpreter #6: A Belgian at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York.

It doesn't happen all too often.

This honor has fallen to Belgian opera singer Wilfried Van den Brande.

Interpreter #7: You've recorded an 82-song CD box, which is not the entire oeuvre.

Interpreter #1: Not yet, no.

The entire oeuvre consists of over 800 songs, so that's a lot.

They aren't all published, though.

Woman: Mr. Kimball.

Yes, ma'am.

A Belgian guy that will perform Cole Porter.

What a surprise was that to you when he came first with the idea?

I was happy and surprised and delighted.

He's such a good salesman.

And he came over and convinced us very quickly.

And then he showed us what he was doing.

And we were -- we were impressed and enthusiastic.

Van den Brande: Then we're off to New York's musical Mecca.

[ Siren wailing in distance ] You know, it's American music sung by a Belgian.

Well, it is American music, but it's been influenced by the entire European music tradition.

And he brings a sensibility that, of course, involves classical music, which is essential for Porter and a real understanding of the American vernacular.

Interpreter #7: Not only did Wilfried get permission to go to work with the entire oeuvre, the managers of Cole Porter's musical legacy selected the prestigious Carnegie Hall for him to present it to an American audience.

♪ Night and day ♪ ♪ Night and day ♪ ♪ Under the hide of me ♪ ♪ There's an, ooh, such a hungry yearning ♪ ♪ Burning inside of me ♪ ♪ And it's torment ♪ He'll one day call me and say, "I've recorded every Cole Porter song written," and I would not be surprised.

He can do -- He can do it.

♪ Night and day ♪ In 1937, disaster strikes in Porter's life.

Both his legs are shattered in a horseback-riding accident.

Interpreter #3: The accident of those crushed legs -- that must have had a tremendous impact on a man who cared so much for his appearance and his freedom... ...as well as the sheer physicality of his sexual experiences, of course.

I imagine it changed him quite a lot.

Van den Brande: The constant pain left a mark on Porter.

His physician, Dr. Moorhead, suggested that there was but one possible remedy -- work, work, work as never before.

The life of dandy Cole changed severely.

From 1934 onwards, Porter collaborates with his favorite interpreter, Broadway diva Ethel Merman.

If he had a muse, it was her.

And so he wrote five great scores in the Ethel style.

And there's so much wonderful material there that usually isn't done terribly, terribly a lot.

"Anything Goes" is done a lot, but most of the others are not.

I love "Make It Another Old-Fashioned, Please," because it's, you know, it's a woman saying, "I really need a drink.

In fact, just give me straight whiskey because my love life isn't going so well."

And -- and it's, you know, I'm sure Ethel did it in a very funny way, but it's not really a comedy song, but it does have amusing things in the lyrics, but also quite sad things that you can really, you know, everybody's been through a heartbreak somewhere in their life, and so everybody can relate to it and, you know, a heartbreak enough to make them say, "I just want a drink.

I want a drink to get over this."

♪ But there are moments, sooner or later ♪ ♪ When it's tough, I got to say ♪ ♪ Love to say ♪ ♪ Waiter ♪ ♪ Make it another old-fashioned, please ♪ ♪ Make it another double old-fashioned, please ♪ ♪ Make it for one who's due ♪ ♪ To join the disillusioned crew ♪ ♪ Make it for one of love's new refugees ♪ ♪ Once I owned a treasure, so rare, so pure ♪ ♪ The greatest of treasures, happiness safe and secure ♪ ♪ But like ev'ry hope too rash ♪ ♪ My treasure I find is trash ♪ ♪ So make it another old-fashioned, please ♪ ♪ Leave out the cherry ♪ ♪ Leave out the orange ♪ ♪ Leave out the bitters ♪ ♪ Just make it a straight rye!

♪ [ Cheers and applause ] Van den Brande: Between 1944 and '47, most of Porter's productions flop.

Various biographers argue that after the accident, Cole lost his talent in addition to his legs.

I think that it's refutable.

You could maybe argue that he had more great songs before the accident.

I think you could make that case, but I don't think you can say that he lost his talent and I don't think you could even come close to saying that.

Van den Brande: Oh, absolutely.

And I feel that that that's a simplistic attempt to say something, but I don't think it really -- I don't think it adds up.

It was camouflaged.

The shows remained successful.

The scores -- maybe not so wonderful.

There are some good score songs.

He never lost his touch totally.

There are lots of reasons for a show not to be successful, and it isn't always that the score isn't very good.

Quite often it's the director wasn't very good or the star was the wrong person, or the director didn't get along with so-and-so.

I mean, there are so many reasons why things -- Or there was a radio strike.

Yeah, there are so many -- Exactly.

There are so many reasons why things don't succeed that you can't just assume the score isn't very good just because the show wasn't as big a success as some of the others.

You know, most people's memory or awareness of these kinds of songs is because if Ella Fitzgerald recorded it or if Frank Sinatra recorded it or any of those '40s and '50s people who did sort of jazz recordings of kind of standard songs, that will be the version they know.

[ Piano playing "Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye"] Man: Okay.

♪ Every time we say goodbye ♪ ♪ I die a little ♪ ♪ Every time ♪ ♪ We say goodbye ♪ ♪ I wonder why a little ♪ ♪ Why the gods above me ♪ ♪ Who must be in the know ♪ ♪ Think so little of me ♪ ♪ They allow you to go ♪ ♪ When you're near ♪ But no one expected anything like "Kiss Me, Kate."

That's one of those just totally great scores that you don't -- I mean, you maybe write once in your career.

[ "Where Is The Life That Late I Led?"

playing ] ♪♪ ♪ Since I reached the charming age of puberty ♪ ♪ And began to think of feminine curls ♪ ♪ Like a show that's typically Shuberty ♪ ♪ I have always had a multitude of girls ♪ ♪ But now that a married man at last am I ♪ ♪ How aware of my dear departed past am I ♪ And sometimes you have a perfect blending of both art forms, as in "Kiss Me, Kate."

I mean, that's half an opera, that's half -- Half opera, half music theater.

I mean, that's just -- That's why it's probably such a great piece.

Well, exactly, and it's also based on a Shakespeare play.

There's a -- There's a fair amount of -- There's a lot of pure Shakespeare in it.

True.

You know, so it's really a melding of different forms and -- and a very successful one.

It's one of the -- It's probably his biggest hit, I'd say.

♪ Where is the life that late I led?

♪ ♪ Where is it now?

Totally dead!

♪ ♪ Where is the fun I used to find?

♪ ♪ Where has it gone?

Gone with the wind!

♪ ♪ I've oft been told of nuptial bliss ♪ ♪ But what do you do ♪ ♪ At quarter to two ♪ ♪ With only a shrew to kiss?

♪ ♪ So I repeat what first I said ♪ ♪ Where is the life that la-a-a-a-a-a-te ♪ ♪ I le-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-d ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] [ Speaking foreign language ] Interpreter #4: What makes it so interesting is that you can tell an entire story about the song, its creation and its reception about the social commitment of an artist such as Cole Porter.

That's one side of the coin.

But then there's also the sheer musical quality of the song.

That's what makes someone great.

That's what makes someone fascinating.

The fact that it's not at all superficial, but that there are so many layers to explore.

Van den Brande: In Flanders House at "The New York Times" building, I meet eminent musicologists Susan Weiss and Don Randel.

I think Cole, in and of himself, bridges the gap because people in the serious business of music like Allen Forte, were writing about it.

The first dissertation on Cole Porter, one of the earliest dissertations on Cole Porter was Lynn Lightman's at CUNY.

Of course, Cole Porter is an absolute genius at fitting words and music together.

And of course, in much popular song of the time, the music may have been written first and the words were made afterwards.

But with Porter, the intricacy of the relationship is really quite extraordinary.

Biographers Schwartz and McBrien venture to say that Porter didn't harmonize his songs himself, that his editor, Doc Sirmay, took care of that.

We know that's not true because -- because Porter was writing before Doc Sirmay came into the picture.

And we have -- we have "See America First."

We have a lot of his manuscripts where he does -- And then the exercises, the counterpoint and all that where he's written it, it's in his hand.

So clearly he could do it.

He was just -- not lazy, but so anxious to get the words and the melody out that I think he -- he did this kind of shorthand with letters.

So he would have the A, B, C, and his arrangers, like Sirmay and others, knew what to put there because he would play it and then they would take it down.

I mean, there were maybe tweaks that Sirmay suggested, but then he even himself would say, "I liked it the way you wrote it.

You're too hard on yourself.

You know, it's perfect."

You'll notice on the manuscript that Porter writes on three staves here, leaving an empty stave above, staff above.

Instead of writing out the repetition, he puts the letter names A, B, C, and D up here, which is a traditional way of doing things.

So it's a lovely example of Porter's harmonic usage and his wonderful rhythmic sense.

Van den Brande: In 1954, Linda dies just two years after Mother Kate.

Cole is devastated.

The great George Gaynes, who was George Jongejans, in "Out of This World" became George Gaynes for a wonderful time, was the son of a woman named Iya Abdy, Lady Abdy, who was a very good friend of the Porters.

And it was George who said that, at the funeral, his mother reported to him that Porter was in tears throughout.

He was so shaken by Linda's death.

They were very, very close.

And, you know, a lot of people say, "Oh, no, it can't be, it can't be true.

It's homosexual..." [ Mumbling ] No, you know, they were very, very close.

He loved her very much.

So, yeah.

She had a huge influence on his life.

Porter: ♪ What you require is the proper... ♪ Van den Brande: In the last years of his life, Porter withdraws into himself more and more.

After the amputation of his right leg in 1958, he won't write another note.

Look, he suffered plenty -- Porter.

And he was able to use his suffering, I assume, indirectly, to shape his art.

[ Speaking foreign language ] Interpreter #4: He had a wonderful life, which he expressed through writing, traveling and laughter.

He always did so with the obligatory oysters and champagne.

And in spite of some very dramatic moments, he was a man who made the most out of life.

And, you know, I know that he cared about Peru because he chose to be buried here.

Van den Brande: Absolutely.

He could have been buried in Paris, France.

He loved Paris.

He could have been born in New York or wherever.

And he chose to come back home.

Van den Brande: ♪ That's all, that's all ♪ ♪ That's all ♪ Alright.

I'll answer your question.

Even though I said I wouldn't.

My personal favorite of all Porter's songs is "I Get a Kick Out of You."

The recording by Merman, the arrangement, everything about that song.

It's the greatest opening number in the history of Broadway.

Let's go eat lunch.

♪ My story is much too sad to be told ♪ ♪ But practically everything ♪ ♪ Leaves me totally cold ♪ ♪ The only exception I know is the case ♪ ♪ When I'm out on a quiet spree ♪ ♪ Fighting vainly the old ennui ♪ ♪ And I suddenly turn and see ♪ ♪ Your fabulous face ♪ ♪ I get no kick from champagne ♪ ♪ Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all ♪ ♪ So tell me why should it be true ♪ ♪ That I get a kick out of you ♪ ♪ Some get a kick from cocaine ♪ ♪ I'm sure that if I took even one sniff ♪ ♪ That would bore me terrifically too ♪ ♪ Yet I get a kick out of you ♪ ♪ I get a kick every time I see you ♪ ♪ Standing there before me ♪ ♪ I get a kick though it's clear to me ♪ ♪ You obviously don't adore me ♪ ♪ I get no kick in a plane ♪ ♪ Flying too high ♪ ♪ With some guy in the sky ♪ ♪ Is my idea of nothing to do ♪ ♪ Yet I get a kick ♪ ♪ Out of ♪ ♪ Yo-o-o-o-o-o-o-u ♪ ♪ Yo-o-o-o-o-o-o-u ♪