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A couple of weeks ago I saw Leonard Slatkin in one of three concerts over a one-week span that featured a different Gershwin work. The single performance featuring Rhapsody in Blue sold out instantly, so I missed out. I did see the Porgy and Bess (Russell arrangement) and was reminded that Slatkin (with the St. Louis Symphony) was the first to record all of Gershwin's orchestral works on Vox, back in the 70s. Now those recordings have been re-issued on three Naxos discs.
Having grown up with Slatkin and the SLSO, it was very emotional to see him return to the podium in St. Louis to perform a work that was so important to the young (assistant--at that time) conductor. When Slatkin performed Rhapsody in Blue earlier this month the piano soloist was Jeffrey Siegal, who also performed on those fifty-year-old recordings.
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There was a period of several years recently when I was hitting a thrift shop every few months to get CDs for a dollar, and I ended up with six Gershwin albums, including André Previn, James Levine, and Janos Sandor. The one that's just about my speed is John Williams and the Boston Pops.
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Just last evening I attended a concert by Gershwin expert Michael Feinstein. He related some anecdotes about the composition of this piece. Originally the score consisted only of the jazzy rhythmic themes. His brother Ira and Frede Grofe told George that a "break" was needed. He was initially reluctant, but finally agreed and inserted an unpublished slower-tempo song theme that we all know today in the middle of the rhapsody.
Dutton Vocalion released the Peter Nero with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. The 2 disc set also includes Gershwin's "Concerto in F" and Nero's composition "Fantasy and Improvisations". All with the Pops.
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I have another version I enjoyed very much when I first listened to it, which is the version for two pianos, performed by Lang Lang and Herbie Hancock. Just by listening to that recording you could hear that the performers must have had a ball and let loose.
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) I've added the Leonard Bernstein/Columbia Symphony Orchestra/1959 and Stanley Black/London Festival Orchestra/1965 orchestral readings plus the 2011 piano duo recording by the Labèque sisters.
