September 21, 2022 • 29 mins
We're getting classy with our two tremendously talented contestants on today's episode! Maria Tallchief stops by with a new game to share.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, look at you be, all dressed up for today's show. Well,
pardon me, Elliott, but where are my rose pedals and
where is my root beer float? I sent specific instructions
on what was to be waiting for me when I
got here, and I am disappointed. You're fired. Why are
you behaving like this? Be well, I wanted to behave
like one of our historical figures. Mozart was writing music
(00:21):
by the time he was five, so that ship is sailed.
So I'm being like our other figure, Maria tall chief,
by being a Prima Donna and acting very extra B
Maria wasn't a Prima Donna, which is like a diva,
she was a Prima Ballerina, which is the most important
member of a ballet company. Maria and Mozart were both
hard working artists, not demanding meanie's. Okay, point taken. I'll
(00:43):
stop acting like a jerk as long as I get
to keep wearing my two TU. How will that be
different from any other show we do, because you're also
wearing a two Tu? To Touche Eric, please play the
theme song food. You know about the greats from this store.
(01:04):
The game is on. To get some energy and buckle
up your brain, because it's time to play the wost podcast,
because it's time to play books. Who Live from tongue
the land, or so called, so call Los Angeles. Welcome
to who was, the history quiz show that gives contestants
(01:24):
the chance to win mega prizes and podcast glory. I'm
your announcer, B and, in honor of all the classical
music in today's episode, I'm gonna be sharp. And here's
your host, the man who inspired the Oxford Comma. It's
Elliott Kaylin. Thank you, be and welcome everyone to the
WHO was podcast. This show is like jeopardy, only with
(01:46):
surprise guests, silly games and better gift banks. Our contestants
were sent who was books about two great figures from history.
Now they're here to show off their knowledge in the
hope sub winning fantastic prizes, prizes. Today we're staying classical
when we discussed Prima Ballerina Maria tall chief and wonder
kid composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But before we learn all
(02:10):
about them, let's learn all about our contestants today. Alright.
First up we have Grayson. Grayson, please introduce yourself. Hi,
my name is Grayson one thing you should know about
me is that I can nave all the U S
presidents oral flies and say flies while I was five.
Oh Wow. So Elliott has a lot of opinions about presidents. Um,
(02:34):
but I'm going to ask you, Grayson, who is your
favorite president? My favorite presents probably Abraham Lincoln. Great President. Yeah,
that's the best one. There's no there's no better ones
than that. All right, and we also have on the
show today Owen Owen, please introduce yourself. Hi, my name
is Owen and Um, I love to play piano, just
(02:56):
like Mozart. Oh my goodness. What's your favorite kind of
music to play on the piano? Um, the classical, classical. Okay.
And do you have a favorite composer within that? I don't.
You like them all. What a classical answer? m M.
probably like a probably billy, Joel. I'M gonna guess it's
(03:18):
call your favorite classical composer on the piano. No, no, shaking, okay,
I don't shaking heads. No, okay, I understand. Well, so
there's a lot. There's a lot that our contestants have
in common with our subjects today. That's amazing. Thank you
both so much for being here I can't wait for
this game and thank you to Eric, our musician, for
providing that lovely live meet the contestants music. So that's
(03:39):
who is. Now let's find out who was. Maria TAL
chief with four fast facts. Maria Tul chief lived from to.
Maria was America's first Prima Ballerina. Maria's father was part
of the O sage nation and she grew up on
the o sage reservation in Oklahoma. A statue of her
(04:02):
and four other native American ballerinas, known as five moons,
stands on Ancestral Muskogee land in Oklahoma prospects. Alright, so,
graceon and Owen, we've talked a little bit about music,
because Owen U is a piano player as well. Um,
but I want to ask you what do you think
(04:23):
about when you think about the ballet? Like, what is
the first thing that comes to your mind when I
say the Word Ballet? Owen, what do you think about?
I think about performance, acting, all the stage stuff. I
just ballerina just comes to me like a huge performance
with like a bunch of dancers dancing like two twos.
(04:46):
Have you ever seen a ballet? No, okay, and what
about you? Grayson, have you ever seen a ballet before?
I have. I saw the first half of the cracker.
Oh okay, now, why only the first half? Because the
place I was showing it was on only shows. It's
a tradition. They only show the up two when the
(05:08):
store of Clara shrinking and walking through the world trying
all the fun creatures there. I didn't mean the prints.
I see. And do they show you all the dances
from the different countries that represent different candies? Because a
lot of the second half of the nutcracker is just
one dance after another. There's no story, it's just candy dances. Yeah,
(05:29):
there's just there's a bunch of there was a lot
of the scene before that was candies. So it sounds
like it sounds like they played a fair amount of
the nutcracker. They danced it. I my family growing up.
We went to see the nutcracker at the New York
City ballet every year at holiday time and I grew
up really loving the ballet and I was always amazed
(05:50):
at how the ballet dancers seems so graceful and when
I tried it at home I would fall down a
lot and make a lot of noise and they just
seemed to not do that, so I always wondered how
they did it. Yeah, but Elliott Um falling down a
lot and making a lot of noise. That's like modern
dance and that's the kind of thing. Yeah, so there
is a place. There is a place for all kinds
(06:11):
of dancers. Oh, that's fantastic. Well, finally I can live
my dream of being a dancer falls down a lot,
makes a lot of noise. That's the most inspiring episode
of who was podcast? Yet I love it. Don't come
for me, modern dancers. I know you're listening. Thank you
for those, for those candid ballet opinions. I think it's
time to move on to our first game. It's a
ballet themed game. Because this is Maria Tal chief. It's
(06:31):
called Swan fake. In this game, you will each have
thirty seconds to get through as many true or false
statements about Maria Tal chief as possible. If the statement
B says about Maria's life is true, say firebird, after
(06:52):
Maria's starmaking role in the ballet of the firebird. If
it's fake, say Swan fake. Maria also danced in Swanley.
If you don't know the answer, say pass which is
a dance move, and then we'll move on. So if
it's true, say firebird. If it's fake, say Swan, fake,
and if you don't know and you just want to
go the next one, say pass a. h okay, Elliott
(07:13):
is going to time and producer Jane will keep score,
and each answer you get correct is worth one point,
because this is our first game. Okay, Grayson, Europe first.
Are you ready? Okay, alright, Elliott, get that time. Are
Ready and let us know when to go. Okay, getting
the time already, and on your mark, get set dance.
(07:35):
Maria was named Princess of two worlds by the O
s age nation. Sure, Maria was named woman of the
Year in N Swan. Fake Maria was the choreographer Balanchine's goose. Swan. Fake.
Maria famously at once asked dance legend Fredis stare. So
you think you can dance? And that's thirty seconds. Nice job.
(07:57):
You got through a lot of statements there. Okay, Owen,
now it's your turn. I'm going to reset the timer. Okay,
and remember, Owen, it's now it's your turn. On Your Mark,
get set dance. Maria had a younger sister, Marjorie, who
was also a dancer. Firebird Maria's father suffered from alcoholism.
firebird Maria was also a talented musician. Fire Maria was
(08:20):
the inspiration for the dream ballet in the musical Oklahoma.
Sat Fake Maria was a dancer in one of Judy
Garland's movies. Um, firebird Maria was instrumental in establishing the
New York City Ballet. And that's thirty seconds a right.
Both of you were blazing through those answers, and that's
(08:42):
the end of Swan fake. Thank you both so much
for playing an incredible round. We'll have producer Jayne itally
up the scores right after this short break. Erica, please
play us some firebird music that birds on fire. Welcome
(09:13):
back to the WHO was podcast, where today we're finding
out who was Maria Tal Cheese and who was Mozart.
And now back to your host, Elliott Kalin. Thank you,
be we just got through an exciting game between Grayson
and Owen. Now let's dance over to producer Jane to
find out the scores. Jane, Please, what are the scores?
Oh boy, Grayson got two points and then Owen sped
(09:36):
ahead with five. Fantastic playing on both of you and
noticed that I didn't make a musical pun off of
the word scores. I think I deserved some credit for that.
Thank you, Elliot, for not doing that. And let's keep
the show going as we find out who was Mozart
with four fast facts. Facts. Mozart was born in seventeen
(09:57):
fifty six and died in in Austria. Mozart started composing
music at the age of five. He wrote over six
hundred pieces of music. Mozart had a musical mind and
could retain pieces of music even after hearing them only once.
I know we were saying earlier. So, Grayson, you have memorized, Um,
(10:20):
all of the presidents of the US, and it sounds
like you and Mozart sort of have that in common,
like having this like great um sort of memory. Um.
But what comes to your mind when we say like
Mozart or classical music? What do you what? What do
you think of when we say that? Grayson, I think
of this songs, Rondo, Turkey Piano Chart in twenty one.
(10:43):
I don't know that. And what's the what's the what's
the is there a particular classical song that you like,
even not just to play but to listen to? No,
I don't really like to classical music. So what kind
of music do you like to listen to? You like
to play classical but you like to listen to other music. Yeah,
I kind of like country pop, like sort of stop.
All right, who, who are your top artists? What about
(11:05):
the most country pop person I've ever heard of, which
is a Taylor Swift? Are you a swift? Eh? Yes, okay, Great.
I wanted to mention there's two classical songs. There's one
classic Song I listened to whenever I need to get
really energized, and there's one classical song I listened to
when I need to calm down. And the classical song
I like, I listened to when I need to energize,
is the twelve overture. You know it. It's one that
goes that boom, that boom boom. There's real cannons in
(11:32):
the song. It's bonkers. And then the song I need
to listen to when I calm down is I listened
to Venus by Gustav Holst, from the planet's symphony, and
it's a very calm song and I like to listen
to it at the end of the day when it's
time for me to go to bed. and Venus is
the gause of love, and soothe thinks exactly. So the
songs makes sense. Jupiter is like big, it's like bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bomb, bump, bump, bomb,
(11:58):
and Neptune, I don't know how that was. So I
think the Nepton one is like under the sea. All right,
we got keep moving because they're getting into copyright issues.
Now let's get to know more about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
In this next game it's called Hashtag history, Hashtag, Hashtag, history, Hashtag, Hashtag.
(12:26):
In this game we will read to a Hashtag Mozart
would have used during his life if there were social
media at the time, and you will tell us what's
that Hashtag all about? What's that tweet all about? And
because this is our second game, each question is worth
two points. So, Owen, this first question is for you.
You've heard of wordle but growing up, my family and
I called my sister by this nickname. Hashtag, sister, sister, Hashtag.
(12:49):
It's all relative. What was Mozart's sister's nickname? Was it
a Naneral or be strue soul. I'm so sorry. The
anser was a Nanaal Maria, Anna, Mozart's older sister, was
also a musician. It's okay, there's lots more points opportunities
coming up. She performed with Mozart when they were very young.
She helped him notate his earliest symphonies and she composed
(13:12):
her own music. But NANARAL was expected to get married
and raised children, not pursue a career of her own.
Eighteenth Century, the better eighteenth century. Next question is for Grayson.
Take it away. Be met someone today. She's the queen
of my heart. Hashtag woman crushed Wednesday. Hashtag. Let them
eat wedding cake, Maria, they did. Let me, let me
(13:33):
do the options. Yes, it was about raising you got it.
The six year old Mozart was performing for the Queen
of Hungary. A six year old Marie Antoinette helped him
after he fell and he proclaimed he would marry her.
This was hilarious to everyone there because at six she
was already engaged to the future King of France, lose
the sixteenth, and destined to be the next queen of France.
You know, typical six year old stuff. Come on, eighteenth
(13:53):
century next question. Let's go back to Owen. Records haven't
been invented yet, but my father insists I go after
those royalties. Hashtag will never be royals. Hashtag yes, Queen.
Is this about a Mozart trying to be employed as
a concert master in the court of a King or Prince?
or Be Mozart spending too much money on wigs and clothing?
(14:15):
That's right. The answer is a an artist like Mozart
to make a living at that time he needed the
help of wealthy patrons and the aristocracy. His father harked
on the importance of this in his many letters to Mozart.
It also brings up the idea of class distinction in
the white male exclusivity associated with classical music. It's a
topic we'd love one of our listeners to do a
ten part podcast about. I would love to listen to it.
(14:35):
Please put it out there. And this last question is
for Grayson. You're invited to the wedding. A lot of
wedding singers, but no bocae Toss Hashtag wedding craft shirts.
HASHTAG romantic overtures. Is this tweet referring to a Mozart's
marriage to his wife Costanza or be his hit opera,
the marriage of Figaro. There is a Figaro. That's right,
(14:58):
it's the marriage of figure it's a huge success for
Mozart helped him establish his name as a musician. He
went on to write three other beloved operas before his
death at just thirty five. You know, the opening of
Marrija Figro is very famous. It goes like this. Oh
(15:19):
my goodness, Bravo, Bravo, Elliott, you're a tenor. Wow, yeah,
but that performance was more of a twelve, if I'm
being honest. Okay, I like. I like the magic flu.
Al Baldo's essay. The magic flu was also a beautiful opera.
Amazing job to both of our contestants. You did great
at Hashtag history, history, and now let's go to producer
(15:46):
chain with the musical scores. That's it, I did it.
I made a musical score joke. I couldn't resist. I'm sorry. Wow. Well,
Owen has seven, but Grayson is sliding right up behind
the six points. This game is so close. Thank you, Jane.
And now, before we move on to our final game,
we have a very special guest. It's America's own Prima
(16:08):
Bell Rena, herself Maria Tulchief. Hello, I'm thank you for
having me. Of course, Maria joined us via the WHO
was that? That's right, I took the liberty of choreographing
a dance to the jingle. May I perform it? That
would be incredible. A five, six, seven, twelve. Who was
wandering in the first Oh wow, that was beautiful. Elliott,
(16:39):
are you crying a little bit? I have that effect
on people. I heard the former leader of the USSR,
Chrius Cheff, wept when he watched me perform in the
Soviet Union in the nineteen fifties. We have no way
to verify, but that tracks. Maria, love brings you here today.
You all have so much fun playing games on this podcast.
(17:00):
I brought a game of my own to share. It's
called rounds of applause. Sounds Fun. Yes, B was supposed
to tell you about it so you could prepare. Wait beat.
What cool, Elliott. It'll be fun. I love dancing and
(17:23):
I love the applause that tame with it. I became
something of an applause expert and can recognize where applause
is from when I hear it. So in this game,
B will play applause and Elliott and I will try
to name what it's from. Nobody, nobody doesn't not want
to hear this game. Let's go. Maria's up first. Here
is your round of applause. That's a golf clack. I
(17:49):
think it's from the seventy masters, where Jack Nicklaus won
his thirteenth major title. Correct, Elliott. This next round is
for you. This feels unfair. Uh, is that from like
the musical wicked? Wrong, I'm going to steal. That's when
(18:10):
I danced the sugar pump ferry from the nutcracker at
the Bullshoy theater in nineteen sixty. I was the first
American to dance at the Bullshoy, which is Russia's most
prestigious theater. Correct, Maria to this next round of applause
is for you. That's from Elliott's high school play. You
can detect just a hint of resentment from the audience
(18:33):
for having to pretend he did a good job as
Danny Zuko in Greece. I did do a good job, Maria,
is correct. My Mom said I did a good job. Okay,
last round of applause is for Elliott. Uh. Is it
from the musical wicked? Nope, Maria, for this deal. Dancers
(18:56):
will often perform short scenes from ballets at dance shows.
That applause was from when I danced pizzicato from the
ballet is Sylvia at Jacob's pill dance theater. Correct. Wow.
That's the end of round of applause and now to
(19:18):
producer Jane with the scores. What Jane? You knew about
this too. That's right, Elliott in the biggest victory we've
ever seen on who was. It's Maria with four points,
Elliott with zero. Oh my, that was marvelous. Thank you
for having me and things again. who was up? Well,
(19:43):
I'M gonna go try and recover from that defeat and
we'll be back with the final game after this short break. Eric,
can you please play us some surprise me with a game.
I wasn't ready for music. Jum Sally, who was asked
same one. Marie Curie. You may remember me from winning
(20:04):
multiple Nobel Prizes, or perhaps from my episode of the
WHO worst podcast where I played myself. I wanted to
take a moment to read one of my favorite reviews
about the WHO was podcast. This is from Shaken Bay
and it reads loved this. Me and my little sister
love this show more, please. Our faith is Arie Toman.
(20:28):
If you want to hear your review right on the air,
make sure to subscribe, like and review to the worst
podcast in the I heart radio up or wherever you
get your podcasts. REVOIR, or should I stay Abbia? We're
back on the WHO was podcast. When we last left,
(20:49):
Brason had six points and Owen had seven points. And
now back to your host, Elliott Daylen. Thank you me.
It's a close game. Let's see what happened in this,
our last game. It's called converge of greatness. What beautiful music.
(21:14):
I think Mozart wrote that. No, was Eric. In this
multiple choice game we'll explore how the lives of Maria
Tal chief and Mozart connect, overlap or converge. And because
we're in the third round, each question is worth three points. Ready,
the first question goes to Grayson B. Take it away.
Both Maria Tal Chief and Mozart had important relationships with artists.
(21:36):
Maria and the choreographer George Balanchine were life and artistic
partners and created the New York City Ballet. Mozart was
friendly with this classical composer. Was it a Johann Sebastian Bach? B,
Joseph Hyden or C A DUA LIPA? That's right, the
answer is be. The composer Joseph Hayden was a mentor
(21:58):
and friend to young most art, and Mozart dedicated six
quartets to him. You know, my favorite hide and Quartet
is the hide and go seek. Yes, we did it,
we did it. We made a hide and joke. Okay.
The next question is for Owen. Mozart and Maria both
had close calls with their health at different points in
their lives. While Mozart was able to recover from smallpox,
(22:22):
Maria almost missed her big debut due to this illness.
Is it a infected tonsils, b Shin splints or see
dance fever? Hey, that's right, the answer is A. Maria
almost missed her debut in the firebird because she was
very sick. She had to have her tonsils removed and
(22:42):
had only two days rest before she took the stage
and brought down the house with her incredible tonsilness performance.
Next question Grayson. Maria's relationship with her father was complicated.
She says she idolized him in many ways, but his
alcoholism made him unreliable. Bol Mozart also had a difficult
relationship with his father Leopold, and much of their correspondence
(23:06):
focuses around this issue. A Leopold's wish that Mozart give
up music and get a real job, B leobold begging
Mozart to put him in an opera or see. Leopold
was upset with Mozart over the way he spent money.
It's I guess in it's money. That's right. The answer
(23:29):
is seeing. Leopold was very supportive of Mozart having a
career in music and taught him how to play instruments,
but he was him quote, not mad, but disappointed, unquote,
at the choices Mozart made with his money. Maybe Mozart
should have listen to his dad a little bit. At
the time of his death, he was very deep in debt.
And now it's time for the last question. This is
for Owen. Mozart wrote the fantasy like opera the magic flute,
(23:52):
where the hero of the story is given a magic
flute to help him on his quest. In the firebird
Maria danced the part of a fire a bird who
tells a young man she will help him if he
calls her using this magical object. Is it a a
messenger bird, be a super sick muscle car or see
(24:12):
a magic feather? Um, let's see the magic feather. The
answer yes, it's see a magic feather. The story of
the firebird is based on a Russian folk tale, but,
unlike many other operas at the time, the magic flute
was not based on a pretty existing story, but a
collaboration between Mozart and an Austrian theatrical troupe, a lot
of cooks in dust kitchen, which may explain why the
(24:33):
story of magic flute is charmingly bonkers. And speaking of Bonkers,
can you believe that was the final game? Like all
great ballets and symphonies, our show must at last come
to an end, to a standing ovation. Oh thank you, everybody.
(24:54):
Sit down. Sit Down, you don't need to do well,
maybe a little bit. Okay, let's find sit down. But first,
while producer Jane Tally's our all scores, I'd love to
hear from our contestants. Uh Owen Grayson, is there something
that you found out about Maria Tal chief or Mozart
that really surprised you? Um, something that stuck out to
me about Murray Tal chief was her loved ones just
(25:14):
kept dying and then like ten years later, after her
divorced husband died, then she died herself. Yeah, it's it's
sad how often people can achieve great things and yet
have such tragedy in their personal lives and they have
to push through it, I guess, and you know you can't.
You can't dance out of sadness, although I guess it's
(25:35):
ballet you kind of can. I mean a lot. Yeah,
a lot of ballets are about tragic subjects. Uh, maybe
you know she brought that into her work. Yeah, I
hate to spoilers for everyone listening. He hasn't Seen Swan Lake.
Things do not work out great for the Swan what.
I'm sorry, Jane, I didn't want you to find out
this way. Grayson, was there anything that stuck out to
you particularly about Mozart, or Ria Tal Chief, something that
(25:56):
you'd like to talk about? Well, I was, Willie, interested
that the fact that, uh, for the anniversary of Navave
and they played the modes are for four Um for
twy four hours. Yeah, it's amazing how Mozart wrote that Song,
you know, hundreds of years ago, but it's still it's
(26:18):
still so powerful that it still affects people and it
can still speak to us when things happen in modern times.
I guess that's the power of great art, is that
even if it's written in one time, it kind of
lives on forever and it still makes people laugh or cry,
or cry from laughter or dance or maybe sit down
and say that's interesting. Lots of different reactions, I guess. Yeah,
(26:38):
in a word, timeless. Yes, timeless. That's a great one
word way to say what I was saying. With lots
of words be you've shown me up again. Well, thank
you both so much for sharing your thoughts with us.
Those are great. And now it's time for the big moment. Jane,
Please announced our winner. Well, it was a squeaker, isn't that?
Isn't that what a Mozart's lesser known symphonies? Squeaker, the squeaker. Yes, squeaker.
(27:04):
Cohen had thirteen points and Grayson right behind them with twelve. Ohen,
you've won. What a close game. You've both played amazingly well. Congratulations, Oh,
and on your victory, and this one you have ten
seconds for shout out. Still for it. Who would you
like to thank today? Um, I would like to thank
my parents, for setting you up with this whole podcast.
(27:25):
I didn't think of doing it, but they pushed me
to do it, so I'd like to thank them. That's
very nice. Thank you, parents for pushing your children. Our
winner and their library of choice will be receiving a
selection of who was books, and I'm going to give
a shout out to intern Zach, to Jane, to Eric
and be and a big thank you to both of
our contestants, who played an amazing game. Thank you at home.
(27:46):
So much for listening. Next week join us as we
find out about two more amazing people from history. Until then,
this is Elliott Amadeus Klin saying we are history. Thank you. Goodbye, everybody.
Great playing contestants. Yeah, got a question for any of
our famous figures? Send us a voice memo at the
WHO was podcast at GMAIL DOT com. It might just
(28:07):
end up on the show. The WHO was podcast is
produced by radio point, I heart media and Penguin workshop
and is based on the best selling who h q
series published by Penguin, hosted by Elliott Caylin, with Co
host Megan O'Neill as B also starring Jane Baker as
Jane Eric Shackney as Eric and Monique Morrow, as Maria Talchi.
(28:29):
Executive Producers are Richard Gorson, Alex Boch, Elliott Calin, Megan O'Neil,
Daniel Powell and Houston Snyder. Executive Producer for penguin workshop
is Francesco Sadda. Executive producer for Iheart media is Lindsay Hoffman.
This episode was written by Megan O'Neil, Ellie Kylin and
Devin Coleman, produced by Bernie Kaminsky and Taylor Kowalski. Talent
(28:50):
producer is Jane Baker. Theme song and music composed and
performed by Eric Shackney, edited and mixed by Breematan and
Kate Moldenhauer. Did by Joanna Samuel's. Special thanks to Zach Timpson,
Charlotte Danda, Daniel Goodman and Michael Lewis. Howard who was
podcast was recorded at the I heart studios in Los Angeles, California.
(29:11):
Sound services provided by a great city posts the WHO
podcast because it's standard playbooks.
Well, look at you be, all dressed up for today's show. Well,
pardon me, Elliott, but where are my rose pedals and
where is my root beer float? I sent specific instructions
on what was to be waiting for me when I
got here, and I am disappointed. You're fired. Why are
you behaving like this? Be well, I wanted to behave
like one of our historical figures. Mozart was writing music
(00:21):
by the time he was five, so that ship is sailed.
So I'm being like our other figure, Maria tall chief,
by being a Prima Donna and acting very extra B
Maria wasn't a Prima Donna, which is like a diva,
she was a Prima Ballerina, which is the most important
member of a ballet company. Maria and Mozart were both
hard working artists, not demanding meanie's. Okay, point taken. I'll
(00:43):
stop acting like a jerk as long as I get
to keep wearing my two TU. How will that be
different from any other show we do, because you're also
wearing a two Tu? To Touche Eric, please play the
theme song food. You know about the greats from this store.
(01:04):
The game is on. To get some energy and buckle
up your brain, because it's time to play the wost podcast,
because it's time to play books. Who Live from tongue
the land, or so called, so call Los Angeles. Welcome
to who was, the history quiz show that gives contestants
(01:24):
the chance to win mega prizes and podcast glory. I'm
your announcer, B and, in honor of all the classical
music in today's episode, I'm gonna be sharp. And here's
your host, the man who inspired the Oxford Comma. It's
Elliott Kaylin. Thank you, be and welcome everyone to the
WHO was podcast. This show is like jeopardy, only with
(01:46):
surprise guests, silly games and better gift banks. Our contestants
were sent who was books about two great figures from history.
Now they're here to show off their knowledge in the
hope sub winning fantastic prizes, prizes. Today we're staying classical
when we discussed Prima Ballerina Maria tall chief and wonder
kid composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But before we learn all
(02:10):
about them, let's learn all about our contestants today. Alright.
First up we have Grayson. Grayson, please introduce yourself. Hi,
my name is Grayson one thing you should know about
me is that I can nave all the U S
presidents oral flies and say flies while I was five.
Oh Wow. So Elliott has a lot of opinions about presidents. Um,
(02:34):
but I'm going to ask you, Grayson, who is your
favorite president? My favorite presents probably Abraham Lincoln. Great President. Yeah,
that's the best one. There's no there's no better ones
than that. All right, and we also have on the
show today Owen Owen, please introduce yourself. Hi, my name
is Owen and Um, I love to play piano, just
(02:56):
like Mozart. Oh my goodness. What's your favorite kind of
music to play on the piano? Um, the classical, classical. Okay.
And do you have a favorite composer within that? I don't.
You like them all. What a classical answer? m M.
probably like a probably billy, Joel. I'M gonna guess it's
(03:18):
call your favorite classical composer on the piano. No, no, shaking, okay,
I don't shaking heads. No, okay, I understand. Well, so
there's a lot. There's a lot that our contestants have
in common with our subjects today. That's amazing. Thank you
both so much for being here I can't wait for
this game and thank you to Eric, our musician, for
providing that lovely live meet the contestants music. So that's
(03:39):
who is. Now let's find out who was. Maria TAL
chief with four fast facts. Maria Tul chief lived from to.
Maria was America's first Prima Ballerina. Maria's father was part
of the O sage nation and she grew up on
the o sage reservation in Oklahoma. A statue of her
(04:02):
and four other native American ballerinas, known as five moons,
stands on Ancestral Muskogee land in Oklahoma prospects. Alright, so,
graceon and Owen, we've talked a little bit about music,
because Owen U is a piano player as well. Um,
but I want to ask you what do you think
(04:23):
about when you think about the ballet? Like, what is
the first thing that comes to your mind when I
say the Word Ballet? Owen, what do you think about?
I think about performance, acting, all the stage stuff. I
just ballerina just comes to me like a huge performance
with like a bunch of dancers dancing like two twos.
(04:46):
Have you ever seen a ballet? No, okay, and what
about you? Grayson, have you ever seen a ballet before?
I have. I saw the first half of the cracker.
Oh okay, now, why only the first half? Because the
place I was showing it was on only shows. It's
a tradition. They only show the up two when the
(05:08):
store of Clara shrinking and walking through the world trying
all the fun creatures there. I didn't mean the prints.
I see. And do they show you all the dances
from the different countries that represent different candies? Because a
lot of the second half of the nutcracker is just
one dance after another. There's no story, it's just candy dances. Yeah,
(05:29):
there's just there's a bunch of there was a lot
of the scene before that was candies. So it sounds
like it sounds like they played a fair amount of
the nutcracker. They danced it. I my family growing up.
We went to see the nutcracker at the New York
City ballet every year at holiday time and I grew
up really loving the ballet and I was always amazed
(05:50):
at how the ballet dancers seems so graceful and when
I tried it at home I would fall down a
lot and make a lot of noise and they just
seemed to not do that, so I always wondered how
they did it. Yeah, but Elliott Um falling down a
lot and making a lot of noise. That's like modern
dance and that's the kind of thing. Yeah, so there
is a place. There is a place for all kinds
(06:11):
of dancers. Oh, that's fantastic. Well, finally I can live
my dream of being a dancer falls down a lot,
makes a lot of noise. That's the most inspiring episode
of who was podcast? Yet I love it. Don't come
for me, modern dancers. I know you're listening. Thank you
for those, for those candid ballet opinions. I think it's
time to move on to our first game. It's a
ballet themed game. Because this is Maria Tal chief. It's
(06:31):
called Swan fake. In this game, you will each have
thirty seconds to get through as many true or false
statements about Maria Tal chief as possible. If the statement
B says about Maria's life is true, say firebird, after
(06:52):
Maria's starmaking role in the ballet of the firebird. If
it's fake, say Swan fake. Maria also danced in Swanley.
If you don't know the answer, say pass which is
a dance move, and then we'll move on. So if
it's true, say firebird. If it's fake, say Swan, fake,
and if you don't know and you just want to
go the next one, say pass a. h okay, Elliott
(07:13):
is going to time and producer Jane will keep score,
and each answer you get correct is worth one point,
because this is our first game. Okay, Grayson, Europe first.
Are you ready? Okay, alright, Elliott, get that time. Are
Ready and let us know when to go. Okay, getting
the time already, and on your mark, get set dance.
(07:35):
Maria was named Princess of two worlds by the O
s age nation. Sure, Maria was named woman of the
Year in N Swan. Fake Maria was the choreographer Balanchine's goose. Swan. Fake.
Maria famously at once asked dance legend Fredis stare. So
you think you can dance? And that's thirty seconds. Nice job.
(07:57):
You got through a lot of statements there. Okay, Owen,
now it's your turn. I'm going to reset the timer. Okay,
and remember, Owen, it's now it's your turn. On Your Mark,
get set dance. Maria had a younger sister, Marjorie, who
was also a dancer. Firebird Maria's father suffered from alcoholism.
firebird Maria was also a talented musician. Fire Maria was
(08:20):
the inspiration for the dream ballet in the musical Oklahoma.
Sat Fake Maria was a dancer in one of Judy
Garland's movies. Um, firebird Maria was instrumental in establishing the
New York City Ballet. And that's thirty seconds a right.
Both of you were blazing through those answers, and that's
(08:42):
the end of Swan fake. Thank you both so much
for playing an incredible round. We'll have producer Jayne itally
up the scores right after this short break. Erica, please
play us some firebird music that birds on fire. Welcome
(09:13):
back to the WHO was podcast, where today we're finding
out who was Maria Tal Cheese and who was Mozart.
And now back to your host, Elliott Kalin. Thank you,
be we just got through an exciting game between Grayson
and Owen. Now let's dance over to producer Jane to
find out the scores. Jane, Please, what are the scores?
Oh boy, Grayson got two points and then Owen sped
(09:36):
ahead with five. Fantastic playing on both of you and
noticed that I didn't make a musical pun off of
the word scores. I think I deserved some credit for that.
Thank you, Elliot, for not doing that. And let's keep
the show going as we find out who was Mozart
with four fast facts. Facts. Mozart was born in seventeen
(09:57):
fifty six and died in in Austria. Mozart started composing
music at the age of five. He wrote over six
hundred pieces of music. Mozart had a musical mind and
could retain pieces of music even after hearing them only once.
I know we were saying earlier. So, Grayson, you have memorized, Um,
(10:20):
all of the presidents of the US, and it sounds
like you and Mozart sort of have that in common,
like having this like great um sort of memory. Um.
But what comes to your mind when we say like
Mozart or classical music? What do you what? What do
you think of when we say that? Grayson, I think
of this songs, Rondo, Turkey Piano Chart in twenty one.
(10:43):
I don't know that. And what's the what's the what's
the is there a particular classical song that you like,
even not just to play but to listen to? No,
I don't really like to classical music. So what kind
of music do you like to listen to? You like
to play classical but you like to listen to other music. Yeah,
I kind of like country pop, like sort of stop.
All right, who, who are your top artists? What about
(11:05):
the most country pop person I've ever heard of, which
is a Taylor Swift? Are you a swift? Eh? Yes, okay, Great.
I wanted to mention there's two classical songs. There's one
classic Song I listened to whenever I need to get
really energized, and there's one classical song I listened to
when I need to calm down. And the classical song
I like, I listened to when I need to energize,
is the twelve overture. You know it. It's one that
goes that boom, that boom boom. There's real cannons in
(11:32):
the song. It's bonkers. And then the song I need
to listen to when I calm down is I listened
to Venus by Gustav Holst, from the planet's symphony, and
it's a very calm song and I like to listen
to it at the end of the day when it's
time for me to go to bed. and Venus is
the gause of love, and soothe thinks exactly. So the
songs makes sense. Jupiter is like big, it's like bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bomb, bump, bump, bomb,
(11:58):
and Neptune, I don't know how that was. So I
think the Nepton one is like under the sea. All right,
we got keep moving because they're getting into copyright issues.
Now let's get to know more about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
In this next game it's called Hashtag history, Hashtag, Hashtag, history, Hashtag, Hashtag.
(12:26):
In this game we will read to a Hashtag Mozart
would have used during his life if there were social
media at the time, and you will tell us what's
that Hashtag all about? What's that tweet all about? And
because this is our second game, each question is worth
two points. So, Owen, this first question is for you.
You've heard of wordle but growing up, my family and
I called my sister by this nickname. Hashtag, sister, sister, Hashtag.
(12:49):
It's all relative. What was Mozart's sister's nickname? Was it
a Naneral or be strue soul. I'm so sorry. The
anser was a Nanaal Maria, Anna, Mozart's older sister, was
also a musician. It's okay, there's lots more points opportunities
coming up. She performed with Mozart when they were very young.
She helped him notate his earliest symphonies and she composed
(13:12):
her own music. But NANARAL was expected to get married
and raised children, not pursue a career of her own.
Eighteenth Century, the better eighteenth century. Next question is for Grayson.
Take it away. Be met someone today. She's the queen
of my heart. Hashtag woman crushed Wednesday. Hashtag. Let them
eat wedding cake, Maria, they did. Let me, let me
(13:33):
do the options. Yes, it was about raising you got it.
The six year old Mozart was performing for the Queen
of Hungary. A six year old Marie Antoinette helped him
after he fell and he proclaimed he would marry her.
This was hilarious to everyone there because at six she
was already engaged to the future King of France, lose
the sixteenth, and destined to be the next queen of France.
You know, typical six year old stuff. Come on, eighteenth
(13:53):
century next question. Let's go back to Owen. Records haven't
been invented yet, but my father insists I go after
those royalties. Hashtag will never be royals. Hashtag yes, Queen.
Is this about a Mozart trying to be employed as
a concert master in the court of a King or Prince?
or Be Mozart spending too much money on wigs and clothing?
(14:15):
That's right. The answer is a an artist like Mozart
to make a living at that time he needed the
help of wealthy patrons and the aristocracy. His father harked
on the importance of this in his many letters to Mozart.
It also brings up the idea of class distinction in
the white male exclusivity associated with classical music. It's a
topic we'd love one of our listeners to do a
ten part podcast about. I would love to listen to it.
(14:35):
Please put it out there. And this last question is
for Grayson. You're invited to the wedding. A lot of
wedding singers, but no bocae Toss Hashtag wedding craft shirts.
HASHTAG romantic overtures. Is this tweet referring to a Mozart's
marriage to his wife Costanza or be his hit opera,
the marriage of Figaro. There is a Figaro. That's right,
(14:58):
it's the marriage of figure it's a huge success for
Mozart helped him establish his name as a musician. He
went on to write three other beloved operas before his
death at just thirty five. You know, the opening of
Marrija Figro is very famous. It goes like this. Oh
(15:19):
my goodness, Bravo, Bravo, Elliott, you're a tenor. Wow, yeah,
but that performance was more of a twelve, if I'm
being honest. Okay, I like. I like the magic flu.
Al Baldo's essay. The magic flu was also a beautiful opera.
Amazing job to both of our contestants. You did great
at Hashtag history, history, and now let's go to producer
(15:46):
chain with the musical scores. That's it, I did it.
I made a musical score joke. I couldn't resist. I'm sorry. Wow. Well,
Owen has seven, but Grayson is sliding right up behind
the six points. This game is so close. Thank you, Jane.
And now, before we move on to our final game,
we have a very special guest. It's America's own Prima
(16:08):
Bell Rena, herself Maria Tulchief. Hello, I'm thank you for
having me. Of course, Maria joined us via the WHO
was that? That's right, I took the liberty of choreographing
a dance to the jingle. May I perform it? That
would be incredible. A five, six, seven, twelve. Who was
wandering in the first Oh wow, that was beautiful. Elliott,
(16:39):
are you crying a little bit? I have that effect
on people. I heard the former leader of the USSR,
Chrius Cheff, wept when he watched me perform in the
Soviet Union in the nineteen fifties. We have no way
to verify, but that tracks. Maria, love brings you here today.
You all have so much fun playing games on this podcast.
(17:00):
I brought a game of my own to share. It's
called rounds of applause. Sounds Fun. Yes, B was supposed
to tell you about it so you could prepare. Wait beat.
What cool, Elliott. It'll be fun. I love dancing and
(17:23):
I love the applause that tame with it. I became
something of an applause expert and can recognize where applause
is from when I hear it. So in this game,
B will play applause and Elliott and I will try
to name what it's from. Nobody, nobody doesn't not want
to hear this game. Let's go. Maria's up first. Here
is your round of applause. That's a golf clack. I
(17:49):
think it's from the seventy masters, where Jack Nicklaus won
his thirteenth major title. Correct, Elliott. This next round is
for you. This feels unfair. Uh, is that from like
the musical wicked? Wrong, I'm going to steal. That's when
(18:10):
I danced the sugar pump ferry from the nutcracker at
the Bullshoy theater in nineteen sixty. I was the first
American to dance at the Bullshoy, which is Russia's most
prestigious theater. Correct, Maria to this next round of applause
is for you. That's from Elliott's high school play. You
can detect just a hint of resentment from the audience
(18:33):
for having to pretend he did a good job as
Danny Zuko in Greece. I did do a good job, Maria,
is correct. My Mom said I did a good job. Okay,
last round of applause is for Elliott. Uh. Is it
from the musical wicked? Nope, Maria, for this deal. Dancers
(18:56):
will often perform short scenes from ballets at dance shows.
That applause was from when I danced pizzicato from the
ballet is Sylvia at Jacob's pill dance theater. Correct. Wow.
That's the end of round of applause and now to
(19:18):
producer Jane with the scores. What Jane? You knew about
this too. That's right, Elliott in the biggest victory we've
ever seen on who was. It's Maria with four points,
Elliott with zero. Oh my, that was marvelous. Thank you
for having me and things again. who was up? Well,
(19:43):
I'M gonna go try and recover from that defeat and
we'll be back with the final game after this short break. Eric,
can you please play us some surprise me with a game.
I wasn't ready for music. Jum Sally, who was asked
same one. Marie Curie. You may remember me from winning
(20:04):
multiple Nobel Prizes, or perhaps from my episode of the
WHO worst podcast where I played myself. I wanted to
take a moment to read one of my favorite reviews
about the WHO was podcast. This is from Shaken Bay
and it reads loved this. Me and my little sister
love this show more, please. Our faith is Arie Toman.
(20:28):
If you want to hear your review right on the air,
make sure to subscribe, like and review to the worst
podcast in the I heart radio up or wherever you
get your podcasts. REVOIR, or should I stay Abbia? We're
back on the WHO was podcast. When we last left,
(20:49):
Brason had six points and Owen had seven points. And
now back to your host, Elliott Daylen. Thank you me.
It's a close game. Let's see what happened in this,
our last game. It's called converge of greatness. What beautiful music.
(21:14):
I think Mozart wrote that. No, was Eric. In this
multiple choice game we'll explore how the lives of Maria
Tal chief and Mozart connect, overlap or converge. And because
we're in the third round, each question is worth three points. Ready,
the first question goes to Grayson B. Take it away.
Both Maria Tal Chief and Mozart had important relationships with artists.
(21:36):
Maria and the choreographer George Balanchine were life and artistic
partners and created the New York City Ballet. Mozart was
friendly with this classical composer. Was it a Johann Sebastian Bach? B,
Joseph Hyden or C A DUA LIPA? That's right, the
answer is be. The composer Joseph Hayden was a mentor
(21:58):
and friend to young most art, and Mozart dedicated six
quartets to him. You know, my favorite hide and Quartet
is the hide and go seek. Yes, we did it,
we did it. We made a hide and joke. Okay.
The next question is for Owen. Mozart and Maria both
had close calls with their health at different points in
their lives. While Mozart was able to recover from smallpox,
(22:22):
Maria almost missed her big debut due to this illness.
Is it a infected tonsils, b Shin splints or see
dance fever? Hey, that's right, the answer is A. Maria
almost missed her debut in the firebird because she was
very sick. She had to have her tonsils removed and
(22:42):
had only two days rest before she took the stage
and brought down the house with her incredible tonsilness performance.
Next question Grayson. Maria's relationship with her father was complicated.
She says she idolized him in many ways, but his
alcoholism made him unreliable. Bol Mozart also had a difficult
relationship with his father Leopold, and much of their correspondence
(23:06):
focuses around this issue. A Leopold's wish that Mozart give
up music and get a real job, B leobold begging
Mozart to put him in an opera or see. Leopold
was upset with Mozart over the way he spent money.
It's I guess in it's money. That's right. The answer
(23:29):
is seeing. Leopold was very supportive of Mozart having a
career in music and taught him how to play instruments,
but he was him quote, not mad, but disappointed, unquote,
at the choices Mozart made with his money. Maybe Mozart
should have listen to his dad a little bit. At
the time of his death, he was very deep in debt.
And now it's time for the last question. This is
for Owen. Mozart wrote the fantasy like opera the magic flute,
(23:52):
where the hero of the story is given a magic
flute to help him on his quest. In the firebird
Maria danced the part of a fire a bird who
tells a young man she will help him if he
calls her using this magical object. Is it a a
messenger bird, be a super sick muscle car or see
(24:12):
a magic feather? Um, let's see the magic feather. The
answer yes, it's see a magic feather. The story of
the firebird is based on a Russian folk tale, but,
unlike many other operas at the time, the magic flute
was not based on a pretty existing story, but a
collaboration between Mozart and an Austrian theatrical troupe, a lot
of cooks in dust kitchen, which may explain why the
(24:33):
story of magic flute is charmingly bonkers. And speaking of Bonkers,
can you believe that was the final game? Like all
great ballets and symphonies, our show must at last come
to an end, to a standing ovation. Oh thank you, everybody.
(24:54):
Sit down. Sit Down, you don't need to do well,
maybe a little bit. Okay, let's find sit down. But first,
while producer Jane Tally's our all scores, I'd love to
hear from our contestants. Uh Owen Grayson, is there something
that you found out about Maria Tal chief or Mozart
that really surprised you? Um, something that stuck out to
me about Murray Tal chief was her loved ones just
(25:14):
kept dying and then like ten years later, after her
divorced husband died, then she died herself. Yeah, it's it's
sad how often people can achieve great things and yet
have such tragedy in their personal lives and they have
to push through it, I guess, and you know you can't.
You can't dance out of sadness, although I guess it's
(25:35):
ballet you kind of can. I mean a lot. Yeah,
a lot of ballets are about tragic subjects. Uh, maybe
you know she brought that into her work. Yeah, I
hate to spoilers for everyone listening. He hasn't Seen Swan Lake.
Things do not work out great for the Swan what.
I'm sorry, Jane, I didn't want you to find out
this way. Grayson, was there anything that stuck out to
you particularly about Mozart, or Ria Tal Chief, something that
(25:56):
you'd like to talk about? Well, I was, Willie, interested
that the fact that, uh, for the anniversary of Navave
and they played the modes are for four Um for
twy four hours. Yeah, it's amazing how Mozart wrote that Song,
you know, hundreds of years ago, but it's still it's
(26:18):
still so powerful that it still affects people and it
can still speak to us when things happen in modern times.
I guess that's the power of great art, is that
even if it's written in one time, it kind of
lives on forever and it still makes people laugh or cry,
or cry from laughter or dance or maybe sit down
and say that's interesting. Lots of different reactions, I guess. Yeah,
(26:38):
in a word, timeless. Yes, timeless. That's a great one
word way to say what I was saying. With lots
of words be you've shown me up again. Well, thank
you both so much for sharing your thoughts with us.
Those are great. And now it's time for the big moment. Jane,
Please announced our winner. Well, it was a squeaker, isn't that?
Isn't that what a Mozart's lesser known symphonies? Squeaker, the squeaker. Yes, squeaker.
(27:04):
Cohen had thirteen points and Grayson right behind them with twelve. Ohen,
you've won. What a close game. You've both played amazingly well. Congratulations, Oh,
and on your victory, and this one you have ten
seconds for shout out. Still for it. Who would you
like to thank today? Um, I would like to thank
my parents, for setting you up with this whole podcast.
(27:25):
I didn't think of doing it, but they pushed me
to do it, so I'd like to thank them. That's
very nice. Thank you, parents for pushing your children. Our
winner and their library of choice will be receiving a
selection of who was books, and I'm going to give
a shout out to intern Zach, to Jane, to Eric
and be and a big thank you to both of
our contestants, who played an amazing game. Thank you at home.
(27:46):
So much for listening. Next week join us as we
find out about two more amazing people from history. Until then,
this is Elliott Amadeus Klin saying we are history. Thank you. Goodbye, everybody.
Great playing contestants. Yeah, got a question for any of
our famous figures? Send us a voice memo at the
WHO was podcast at GMAIL DOT com. It might just
(28:07):
end up on the show. The WHO was podcast is
produced by radio point, I heart media and Penguin workshop
and is based on the best selling who h q
series published by Penguin, hosted by Elliott Caylin, with Co
host Megan O'Neill as B also starring Jane Baker as
Jane Eric Shackney as Eric and Monique Morrow, as Maria Talchi.
(28:29):
Executive Producers are Richard Gorson, Alex Boch, Elliott Calin, Megan O'Neil,
Daniel Powell and Houston Snyder. Executive Producer for penguin workshop
is Francesco Sadda. Executive producer for Iheart media is Lindsay Hoffman.
This episode was written by Megan O'Neil, Ellie Kylin and
Devin Coleman, produced by Bernie Kaminsky and Taylor Kowalski. Talent
(28:50):
producer is Jane Baker. Theme song and music composed and
performed by Eric Shackney, edited and mixed by Breematan and
Kate Moldenhauer. Did by Joanna Samuel's. Special thanks to Zach Timpson,
Charlotte Danda, Daniel Goodman and Michael Lewis. Howard who was
podcast was recorded at the I heart studios in Los Angeles, California.
(29:11):
Sound services provided by a great city posts the WHO
podcast because it's standard playbooks.
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