George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue; Concerto in F (Stefano Bollani; Riccardo Chailly)

Information

Composer: George Gershwin

• (01)      Rhapsody in blue (orch. Ferde Grofé)
• (02-06) Catfish Row - Symphonic Suite
• (07-09) Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra
• (10)      Rialto Ripples

Stefano Bollani, piano
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Date: 2010
Label: Decca

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

First the good news: The Gewandhaus Orchestra—at over 260 years old the most venerable of orchestras—knows how to play Gershwin. One shouldn’t be surprised, I suppose. With Harnoncourt, of all conductors, leading a more than creditable Porgy and Bess in Graz, it’s pretty safe to assume the jazz-age idiom has become common heritage. So we have Gershwin from Leipzig now, and while one would never mistake the Gewandhaus Orchestra for a jazz ensemble, that is never quite the point of Gershwin’s orchestral works anyway. So the orchestra maintains its polish—though the brass section does get pretty rowdy at times—and the famous clarinet solo in the Rhapsody does not eclipse memories of Ross Gorman or Al Gallodoro in full cry. Still, Thomas Ziesch starts with a nicely smeared glissando, the trumpets wail or moan soulfully, principal violinist Frank-Martin Erben performs the Summertime solo with feeling and some blue notes, and the orchestra plays throughout with flair and enormous commitment.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Riccardo Chailly, a rhythm-and-blues drummer in his youth, has more than a little experience with this composer’s music. In fact, he produced a recording of stylish and rhythmically alert Gershwin with the Cleveland Orchestra in the 1980s. His Catfish Row performance here is as good as they come. Not that they come that often, which is a shame since Gershwin’s suite, despite some awkward construction, is a much richer work than Robert Russell Bennett’s popular Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture.

The soloist in the other works is Italian pianist Stefano Bollani. Classically trained, but famed as an exponent of crossover, free, and tango-fusion jazz, he has been racking up awards and getting onto a lot of top-performers lists. Assumedly this, and his popular success with Gershwin’s music, is what led Decca to release another Rhapsody and concerto CD just a year after the plush, sophisticated, and rather staid Alsop/Thibaudet. Happily, the label made better choices this time, and the performances are first-class. As in the previous release, the original Grofé jazz band version of the Rhapsody is used, but this time Decca has recorded Gershwin’s own version of the Piano Concerto in F. Chailly and Bollani play the concerto with full regard for Gershwin’s serious intent, yet with swing and dashing style. They emphasize its modernist tendencies—Chailly suggests a stylistic kinship with Stravinsky in the liner interview—with transparent textures and generally urgent tempos, avoiding the common mistake of treating it like a romantic concerto. Not that Bollani shies away from a big statement and imposing energy, but he is just as likely to employ a light touch and a loose-limbed charm, notably in the bluesy central movement.

The only bad news—and it may not be so for everyone—is the solo improvisation in the Rhapsody . Bollani justifies it, again in the interview, by arguing precedent: Gershwin improvised for the 1924 premiere, so it’s OK. I don’t buy it; Gershwin improvised at Aeolian Hall because he couldn’t finish the work in time. However, he wrote out the solo completely for publication, and except for recording-dictated cuts, performed it as written thereafter. Bollani makes rhythmic alterations throughout, a number of chord enhancements in the solo statements, and adds a set of variations in the final solo section. He takes fewer liberties here than he took a few months later in Rome with James Conlon, in a broadcast video that can be viewed on YouTube, but I would have much preferred it as written.

The disc ends with an orchestral arrangement of Gershwin’s first published work, Rialto Ripples , which is also heavily improvised. Fair enough; it is an encore, and an arrangement, and a novelty work at that. The performers obviously are having a lot of fun. So did I. The sound is first-rate: immediate, detailed, with a wide dynamic range, solid bass, a nice bloom around the soloist and orchestra, and no discernable audience noise. Purist complaints aside, this is one of the most enjoyable Gershwin discs of my acquaintance, joining the Wild/Fiedler/Boston Pops on RCA for the concerto and Mayorga/Richman/Harmonie Ensemble on Harmonia Mundi for the Rhapsody on my best-of list. I can’t imagine any collector who enjoys Gershwin passing it up.

-- Ronald E. Grames, FANFARE

More reviews:
https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-15944/
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/gershwin-rhapsody-in-blue-piano-concerto
http://www.classical-music.com/review/gershwin-rhapsody-blue-catfish-row-symphonic-suite-piano-concerto-f-rialto-ripples
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Apr11/Gershwin_Chailly_4782739.htm
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/reviews/album-stefano-bollani-riccardo-chailly-gewandhausorchester-gershwin-rhapsody-in-blue-piano-concerto-2210834.html
http://dev.audaud.com/2011/03/gershwin-rhapsody-in-blue-catfish-row-symphonic-suite-concerto-in-f-rialto-ripples-stefano-bollani-pianogewandhaus-orchestrariccardo-chailly-decca/
https://www.allmusic.com/album/gershwin-rhapsody-in-blue-piano-concerto-in-f-mw0002110948
https://www.amazon.com/Gershwin-Rhapsody-Blue-Piano-Concerto/dp/B004FPQV9U

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

***

Stefano Bollani (born 5 December 1972 in Milan) is an Italian composer, pianist and singer, also active as a writer and a television presenter. Bollani grew up in Florence where he began his studies in the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini. At 15 he had already started to perform professionally, and since the mid-nineties has established himself in the jazz scene. He has published 43 albums (29 studio) and has collaborated extensively with other artists, orchestras and conductors. Bollani also wrote and hosted various Italian radio and TV shows, worked in theater, and has published several books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefano_Bollani
http://stefanobollani.com/en

***

Riccardo Chailly (born 20 February 1953 in Milan) is an Italian conductor. He studied with Franco Ferrara and became assistant conductor to Claudio Abbado at La Scala at the age of 20. Chailly started his career as an opera conductor and gradually extended his repertoire to encompass symphonic music. He was chief conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (1982-88), the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (1988-2004), and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (2005-16). He is currently music director of La Scala (2015-) and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (2016-). Chailly has an exclusive recording contract with Decca.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riccardo_Chailly

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!