Customer Reviews

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue - Piano Concerto in F - An American in Paris

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't know whether these are definitive performances of Gershwin's orchestral music, but if they're not then they should be. Previn does a marvellous job as a conductor and soloist who has a great affinity and compassion for Gershwin's music. Indeed, Previn is as much at home playing jazz music as he is conducting Rachmaninov. These are warm, no nonsense readings of Gershwin's music that lack the flamboyance of Bernstein's interpretations with the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Previn produces a warm, vibrant sound from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Once again Philips has excelled in producing a well-balanced digital recording. If you're a fan of Gershwin or 20th Century Classical Music (or both) then this splendid recording belongs in your CD collection.

Get ready for a terrific American in Paris, filled with Previn's swagger and jauntiness. This plays like film music, and it's no wonder the conductor was at home. The rest of the disc is far more problematic. The Rhapsody is ill-conceived and sounds under-rehearsed. There's not much sense of build. This is somewhat "top-heavy" music to start with, and you have to play it for all its worth. Leonard Bernstein still does the best performance (as both conductor and pianist) I've ever heard, even though he cuts the middle section. (It's better that way; Gershwin sometimes let structure get away from him.) And the Concerto in F is an abomination. It sounds more like a rehearsal than a performance. Previn skims some notes and doesn't voice all the chords. There's no strong rhythm (essential in this work) and the accents are missing. The Pittsburghers sound like they're trudging along. They loved being conducted by Previn and they made some great recordings under his baton, but this isn't one of them.

Sound is okay, though a bit bottom-heavy and "tubby." Some of the dynamics sound exaggerated to me--the bass drum and cymbals EXPLODE through the speakers at times. All in all, you can do better for two of three of these works, so I wouldn't grab this disc unless 1) I found it used very cheap (Amazon will probably edit that remark out) or 2) I'm an "American in Paris" fanatic who is willing to pay anything for a good recording of that work.

I never really agreed with Bernstein's take on Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and American in Paris. After listening to Previn's version, I was blown away by the jazzy classic sounds of Gershwin in clear digitized sound. And I even found a new work to love: the Piano Concerto in F really steals the show! I never really cared for it until I heard Previn's conduction on this piece. As for An American in Paris, we really see Gershwin's obvious loneliness that he experienced in the fine portions of France. With the sad wailing brass sections and lonely violins. Rhapsody in Blue makes you want to go psycho out in the streets to the tunes. Umm.. See for yourself on this truly American compact disc containing crisp music from one of the greatest classical/jazz artists in America!

I first bought a cassette of this album back in 1985, and have loved it ever since. The reason is simple...unlike Bernstein's ponderous posturing and Fiedler's 'friendly' sound, this sounds like NYC. THAT'S GERSHWIN!

It is dynamic, exciting and robust conducting that the Pittsburgh responded to with 100% brio. When I listen to Rhapsody, I don't have time to criticize Gershwin's lack of 'structure'...because I am swimming in his 'American style' of music that didn't need to cowtow to the dictates of European composers or classicists.
I defy you to listen to the Adagio of "Concerto in F," and not feel yourself at 3 in the morning, walking alone down a silent NYC street, and wondering how you got that way. This is what Gershwin wanted to do...make you feel the things he felt and saw in his life. Previn gets out of the way, and lets Gershwin do the talking.

If you haven't treated yourself to this masterful series of performances, it is time to do so.

Andre Previn really found musical kinship with Gershwin's compositions. We feel the loneliness in "An American in Paris" and an almost adulation in "Rhapsody in Blue" unlike other famous interpretations and renditions. Like many other film composers born overseas, Previn born in 1926 Berlin, Germany seems to have been intoxicated by the feel for the multifaceted makeup of the American landscapes be they natural or man-made. Many of these composers such as Dimitri Tiomkin, Franz Waxman and Max Steiner seem to have adopted their new home with energetic reverence and exuberance for the very essence of the land and people of America. Andre Previn even though he emigrated in a generation latter demonstrated the same zeal as these great composers. The performances of George Gershwin's music on this CD are testament to Previn's coming to America.

....Previn's piano playing here flows and eases into Gershwin's famous piano concertos...unlike others I have listened to which were choppy and hard and attacking... I have listened to this "Rhapsody in Blue" for years and consider it to be one of the top ten best music recordings (of any kind), ever...

I absolutely love Gershwin. He was one of the best performers around. No one has come close to him and maybe never will. I began listening to him about two years ago and haven't stopped. I am happy to have come across his music. It absolutely changed my life. When I have a worrysome day or it's one of those rainy, snowy, sleety, don't really need to be out in it weather days, I put on Gerhwin and the day lifts in ways that could not ever be conveyed by words. Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris has proven to be my favorites. However Cuban Overture and other works has influenced me in many ways also. I would love for anyone who has not had the pleasures of Gershwin to sit down on any day and listen to these magnificent works. I'm sure you will be thrilled. I am only twenty three and I have found Gershwin replacing a lot of my other music in my collection. When you have a bad day it's easy to pick up something that identify's with your bad mood. The difference with Gerhswin is that he takes you out of yourself and allows you to picture yourself in Paris or intertwine you in the musical bliss so much so that your bad day or event becomes nonexistant for at least a little bit. Sometimes it's nice to listen to something like that rather than the misery loves company music. I hope people like Michael Finstein and others continue to praise his music because with a lot of the garbage on the radios and videos, it's nice to come back to one of the first creator's of music and soul.

One of the most captivating aspects of a Gershwin piece is its built in "urban" sound. One can see traffic and people scurrying about, bright lights and flickering marquis shining up and down the avenues, and even a sense of lonliness or self contemplation from a lone boarder in a lost tenament; if you have grown up near to or lived a city life, this music seems to romanticize this and this recording best exemplifies it.

Previn's readings, while a different caliber than Bernstein's or even the Wild/Fiedler couplings, has always been the more laid back interpreter which works quite well with jazzy Gershwin pieces. A real treasure of this album is how the old Heinz Hall acoustic (gone forever now since Maazel butchered it) captured Previn and the Pittsburgh orchestra in such an American sounding reading, not even symphony hall in Boston compares. I once listened to a Slovak orchestra attempt Gershwin and it sounded too European to even bother with. True, the cymbal and bass drum on this disc jump out of your speakers but that's because the symphony's percussion have historically offered nothing less than lax readings, always out of balance with the ensmeble.
I do think Stanley Leonard's opening tympani performance in the Piano Concerto is as in tune and balanced as I've ever heard.

This album was recorded at the time Previn stepped down from his post with the Pittsburgh. The Gershwin pieces were his last offerings to the public as the symphony's music director that year and there really is a lot of beautiful music making here. This is a great disc for the interpretations and for the spectacular acoustics captured by the Philips engineers. Although a 23 old recording, the works are as fresh and alive as the day Previn and the Pittsburgh recorded them.

I long ago selected my all time favorite movie to be "An American in Paris", not just because of Gene Kelly, but because of Gershwin. I learned to love George from that movie. Previn does an honorable recreation, although Oscar Levant is much better, but I will take any Gershwin I can get. Previn's "Rhapsody in Blue" is wonderful, and I love his piano work on the Concerto. Gershwin was a master of modern jazz/orchestral work. Unfortunately, like Mozart, he went before his time. If you don't know Gershwin, see the movie first, and then buy this CD.

Andre Previn conducts the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and plays piano, in a performance of three of George Gershwin's works--""Rhapsody in Blue," "An American in Paris," and "Piano Concerto in F Major."

"Rhapsody in Blue" is, obviously, well known. But this is a nicely performed version. The wailing instrumental introduction by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO hereafter) gets this off to a good start. Previn conducts and plays piano. The tempo is good and the orchestra plays well. Previn is not Artur Rubinstein, but he is a good pianist. He plays this piece most capably. This is an infectious piece, real musical Americana, and Previn captures the spirit well.

Then, there is "An American in Paris." This is one of the best American musicals ever conceived. Its incarnation as a movie, featuring the talents of Gene Kelly, rates as one of the best American movies ever. Maurice Ravel, if the liner notes are accurate, noted that he could not teach Gershwin anything when the latter journeyed to Paris in 1928 to get more training in composition. The liner notes say: ". . .despite the energetic bustle, much of this symphonic poem is lonely music. . . ." Previn and the PSO do this exquisite piece great justice. A well performed version of this chef d'oeuvre.

The "Piano Concerto in F Major" is also performed capably, but I have written enough already. While this piece does not capture my fancy as the other two do, it is performed well by Previn and the PSO.

All in all, then, a good version of Gershwin's music. Those who listen to this will probably find this worth attending to.