Ferde Grofé; George Gershwin - Grand Canyon Suite; Catfish Row (Erich Kunzel)

Information

Composer: Ferde Grofé; George Gershwin

• (01-05) Gershwin - Catfish Row, Symphonic Suite from Porgy & Bess
• (06-11) Grofé - Grand Canyon Suite
• (12)      Grofé - Grand Canyon Suite: Cloudburst (with thunderstorm effects)

Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Erich Kunzel, conductor

Date: 1987
Label: Telarc

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Review

Gershwin's Porgy and Bess was not the success he had hoped for at its New York premiere in 1935 and, alas, he did not live to see its stature grow until the musical world finally discovered he had written a masterpiece. So in the early 1950s he selected a suite to include some of the more effective passages and it was Ira, his brother, who christened it Catfish Row. It is a more fragmentary piece than Robert Russell Bennett's famous Symphonic Picture (which uses much of the same material to create a vivid yet smoothly tailored, and certainly more voluptuous, continuous potpourri). That was commissioned by Fritz Reiner in 1941, so already existed when Gershwin made his own choice of material. It is pointless to make comparisons: both works are very effective and worth having. Gershwin's includes a brief piano section which is played here by William Tritt with more obvious idiomatic feeling than Weissenberg (EMI), and while that is a lively account, the Berlin orchestra is less obviously suited to this repertoire.

The Cincinnati performance is admirable in all respects and very well recorded. But Dorati's account of the Bennett Symphonic Picture (the coupling to his Grand Canyon) is splendid; marvellously played, both evocative and full of character, and never overblown or vulgar. He too is given top-quality sound—by Decca. Which brings us to the Grand Canyon Suite. Again, Dorati's performance is outstanding and the Detroit strings play with splendid commitment and body of tone, while the hammered timpani strokes at the end of ''Sunrise'' give the climax an unexpected breadth and power. The Cincinnati players are excellent too, but at the opening of ''Sunset'' the Cincinnati strings have just that bit less breadth and richness and generally the performance is more picaresque. But it is fresh and very enjoyable and the celesta solo near the end of ''On the Trail'' brings a delightful moment of nostalgia before the lively coda. The recording, like the Decca, is very much in the demonstration class and made the more so by its fascinating appendix.

Over a long period the Telarc engineers patiently tried to record some extra sound effects. Thunderstorms can be elusive, but finally a master tape was assembled from recordings made in Sedona, Arizona and southern Utah. Of course Grofe creates his own orchestral special effects, but they are a little redolent of a Universal Studios horror-movie score. On the Telarc CD we are first offered the complete Grand Canyon Suite as Grofe wrote it; then as an additional band we are given an encore of the final ''Cloudburst'' with the thunderstorm tape edited in with great skill. The result is overwhelmingly effective, and sonically thrilling—a tour de force admittedly Hollywood-ian in concept but marvellously brought off. For once the caution to those with small speakers is justified, for the very wide dynamic range can easily tempt one, at the deceptively gentle opening, to set the volume level too high.

-- Ivan March, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/Grof%C3%A9-Canyon-Gershwin-Symphonic-Catfish/dp/B000003CT1

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Ferde Grofé (March 27, 1892 – April 3, 1972) was an American composer, arranger, pianist and instrumentalist. Grofé studied in Leipzig, Germany, and became proficient on a wide range of instruments including piano, violin, viola, baritone horn, alto horn and cornet. His most memorable arrangement is that of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which established Grofé's reputation among jazz musicians. In addition to being an arranger, Grofé composed a large number of works in a variety of styles, commonly in symphonic jazz. He is best known for his composition of the Grand Canyon Suite (1931).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferde_Grof%C3%A9

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George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928) as well as the opera Porgy and Bess (1935). Gershwin's compositions have been adapted for use in many films and for television, and several became jazz standards recorded in many variations. Many celebrated singers and musicians have covered his songs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gershwin

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Erich Kunzel, Jr. (March 21, 1935 – September 1, 2009) was an American orchestra conductor. Called the "Prince of Pops" by the Chicago Tribune, he performed with a number of leading pops and symphony orchestras, especially the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (CPO), which he led for 32 years. Kunzel had a large influence on Cincinnati's local music scene. From the beginning, he strove to expand the Cincinnati Pops' reach worldwide, with nearly 90 recordings on the Telarc label, most of which became bestsellers. He also made jazz recordings with Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, and other well-known artists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Kunzel

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