George Gershwin - Piano Concerto; Second Rhapsody (Wayne Marshall)

Information

Composer: George Gershwin

1. Piano Concerto in F major: I. Allegro
2. Piano Concerto in F major: II. Adagio - Andante con moto
3. Piano Concerto in F major: III. Allegro agitato
4. Porgy and Bess: Symphonic Suite (arr. Robert Russell Bennett)
5. Second Rhapsody, for orchestra with piano

Aalborg Symphony Orchestra
Wayne Marshall, piano & conductor

Date: 1995
Label: Virgin Classics

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Review

Wayne Marshall makes his first entry in the Piano Concerto and, in the space of a bar or two, I hear impulsive, I hear volatile, I hear a quick wit and a cool head, the ability to convey (just as Gershwin strove to do) the jazzman’s freewheeling, rhapsodic manner alongside a concert pianist’s formality. Marshall is English (Chetham’s School in Manchester and London’s Royal College of Music: an organ scholar of note), which I wouldn’t mention but for the fact that he plays the piano like the proverbial American in... well, Manchester. Where Gershwin sits back in the wee small hours spinning yet another of his blue tunes – and I’m thinking now of the slow movement’s trumpet-led nocturne – Marshall is in no hurry to go anywhere. There are many shades of blue here. As Marshall prepares us for the belated second theme, it’s as if he is searching for the lost chord. And yet there’s a very real sense of the imperative, too, a ‘something’s coming’ kind of feeling. When it comes, it’s a special moment. So, too, is Gershwin’s grandiose recapitulation (and, my goodness, Marshall goes all the way with that). Incidentally, I can’t remember being quite so intrigued, so tantalized, by that recurrent mid-phrase modulation – one of the movement’s most daring features (you’ll know it when you hear it).

Remember, too, that Marshall is directing from the keyboard (no mean feat in a score as busy as this). Orchestral details are consistently well heard: note the bassoon counterpoint and stopped horns as the piano takes over from the solo trumpeter; and later, the cello accompaniment to the second theme. Marshall’s trumpeter (a Dane, I presume) might just as easily have hailed from New Orleans. The slides and crushed blue notes sound pretty authentic to me, and I like his gravelly tone (a hint of Satchmo) in the bottom register. Generally speaking, the Aalborg Symphony are well up on the style here. And let’s face it, the orchestra can so easily sound like a dead-weight in this piece. But then, Marshall’s ‘Jack-be-nimble’ approach is plainly infectious, encouraging reflexes from his band that are as quick and sparky as his own. The pulse of the Roaring Twenties was racy and capricious. But there was always time to dream. That’s the tenor of Marshall’s performance.

The same is true of his dashing account of the Second Rhapsody. Again the contrasts are strong, the manner spontaneous – impulsive, Manhattan-brash to a degree – though Marshall has come a long way in understanding since his rather fitful first recording of Rhapsody in Blue (with Richard Hickox, also on Virgin, 11/89). And he never lets us forget that these are luxury goods. Gershwin’s shot-silk climaxes (Hollywood dreams indeed), with all their audacious modulations and fruity horn counterpoints (nobody played with wrong-note harmonies like Gershwin) are played for all they’re worth.

There’s also a spirited account of the Robert Russell Bennett Porgy and Bess Suite, as felicitous (real delicacy of atmosphere as “Clara” emerges from the opening street cries) as it is robust (that’s quite a hurricane that blows through Catfish Row). Again, the Aalborg Symphony have been well-schooled in the characterization of style: Marshall really has them appreciating the sound of roistering clarinet slides in “I can’t sit down” and oily saxes in “There’s a boat”, its brassy reprise every bit as raucous as the good-time viper Sportin’ Life himself. It sounds well, this Mike Hatch engineered disc. I’ve just been back for a second spin, which is always a good sign.

-- Edward Seckerson, Gramophone

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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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Wayne Marshall (born 13 January 1961) is an English pianist, organist, and conductor. He is Chief Conductor of WDR Funkhausorchester in Cologne, Germany, and Organist and Associate Artist of the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. He became Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in 2007, and is a celebrated interpreter of George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, and other 20th-century American composers. Marshall has recorded extensively for numerous major labels and received an Echo Music Prize (formerly Deutscher Schallplattenpreis) for his Gershwin Songbook CD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Marshall_(classical_musician)
http://waynemarshall.com/

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