Customer Reviews

Michael Tilson Thomas Performs and Conducts Gershwin

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this CD...it is one of my favorites! The Jazz feeling this CD evokes is great. Tilson Thomas' Rhapsody in Blue is as flawless as it gets. The performance is a lively, and exciting romp. Let me say that I have listened to this CD alot. I have another version of Rhapsody in Blue by Levine and the Chicago Symphony under the DG label--DO NOT BUY this one star(at most), boring performance. THE LA Philharmonic and Thomas are on a higher plane with this one. The recording is really superb and I will never own another because in my mind this is the classic by which all other versions should be measured against! Buy it--you'll be glad you did.

Given all the recordings available of Gershwin in general, and the Rhapsody in Blue in particular, and given that there are three versions of the Rhapsody, and given that even those who love the Rhapsody most likely came to it through the full symphony version, there is a real treat in store here for those who've never heard the jazz band version, or who have heard it, loved it, but have never been able to find it anywhere.

The jazz band version was the first, and is unrelenting fun from beginning to end. There is an almost infectious joy written into the music, which is completely missing from the symphonic version. Listen to this disc and rediscover an old favorite.

Tilson Thomas on piano and the LA Phil behind him, it is the other end of the piano roll restoration version. You know MTT is inside the music and he draws you into it too. This album is a rock in my Gershwin collection.

This CD by Michael Tilson Thomas was one of the first I picked up to start my collection of Gershwin's music. His splendid way of bringing out Gershwin's flair is invigorating. I listen to this wonderful CD more often than any other CD I own; the music is impossible to get bored with. Thomas's unique Second Rhapsody particularily grabbed my attention and I find myself humming it often. This CD is an excellent starter to your very own Gershwin collection and a unique, valuable addition to those familiar to Gershwin's tunes.

There have been many albums made with Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue". All of them have been I have found for the most part to be very good. And it better be since so many people have a close place in their hearts for "Rhapsody" as well as the music of George Gershwin in general. One of the very best albums made of Gershwin has to be this recording made by Michael Tilson Thomas and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Great lengths have been gone to present the music on this disc the way Gershwin intended it to be. As has been pointed out in one or two other reviews on this recording the version of "Rhapsody" you hear here is a jazz version. Most people are well aware of the symphonic version because that just about the only version you will hear whether live in concert or recorded. But on this recording you get to experience the wonderful sound of jazz and classical music being brought together. If you never have heard the jazz style version trust me you are going to love it even if it is different from what you are accustom to hearing. What also makes this record special are the other Gershwin songs that appear on here that you don't normally get to hear including the "Second Rhapsody For Orchestra With Piano" which is seldom heard. While not quite up there with "Rhapsody In Blue" this is still an outstanding piece of music written by Gershwin that deserves every bit of attention as Gershwin's more famous rhapsody. The other pieces of music on here are all first rate performances as well especially to me "Preludes For Piano", "Sleepless Night" and "Promenade". If you are a fan of the music of Gershwin have have been looking for that one album that really is a greatest hits collection of his works then this is the album for you.

I have owned this on a Columbia album since it first came out and I read a great review of the performance in Stereo Review magazine. I purchased the download MP3 to replace my badly worn album to hear clicks on the track indicating it may have been dubbed from an album instead of the CD or even better a master tape.

Great performance of the Rhapsody In Blue (with Gershwin at the piano) none the less, I just wish Amazon would "clean up their download" act. This is not the first download mastered from scratchy disks that I have purchased.

ANYONE WHO LOVES GERSHWIN WILL CHERISH THIS GRAND MEMENTO OF HIS MUSIC. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

I recall this recording when it was issued as an LP several years ago. The jazz band recording of Rhapsody in Blue is quite a novelty since we usually heard the version for full orchestra. Both orchestrations by Ferde Grofe are wonderful but the jazz band version with its smaller forces is refreshing to hear. The short pieces recorded here like Short Story, Sleepless Night and the Promenade (Walking the Dog) are quite great compositions and are seldom recorded.

However, I have serious reservations about Mr. Tilson Thomas' performance of the Second Rhapsody. This piece is called a "recreation" from George Gershwin's manuscript. One wonders what this means. The Second Rhapsody was originally a sequence in the film Delicious (under the name Manhattan Rhapsody where it was part of a New York setting) which Gershwin developed into a concert work. Gershwin said there was no program for the Rhapsody. The theme Gershwin started with was one he refereed to as a "rivet theme." I think the title given to the Rhapsody (Rhapsody in Rivets) would not have originated with Gershwin.

The Second Rhapsody has not been a popular piece but has been played and recorded before (notably by Oscar Levant with Morton Gould and his Orchestra). Gershwin recorded the work with an orchestra he hired (available on Music masters) before making some corrections to the score for publication. It is an unfortunate fact that Mr. Tilson Thomas performs the Second Rhapsody with his own embellishments. He was asked by Ira Gershwin to stop this practice but, as far as I am aware, Mr. Tilson Thomas never did, so the recording here should list the Second Rhapsody by Gershwin-Tilson Thomas.

Sorry but I cannot recommend a disc where too many liberites have been taken.