Customer Reviews

Piano Rolls 2

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

 

 

Listening to these modern recordings taken from old piano rolls cut by George Geershwin between 1916 and 1921, one might be compelled to conclude that there's something to be said for older technology. We are able to listen to Gershwin performances that sound as though they occurred today. Obviously, an actual recording made at the time these rolls were cut would have had very primative sound quality, and nowhere near the immediacy which is present here.

The only reason for rating this four, rather than five stars, is that there's a certain player piano quality to the performances that I suspect is not exactly how Gerswin actually sounded; but, having said that, this is about as close as you're going to be able to get to a "live" Gershwin performance with modern sound.

When I first heard Rhapsody in Blue on this CD it didn't sound quite right. It was more free, more spontaneous, more joyous.
But that is because it went from the composer's mind directly to his fingers, bypassing the compromise of sheetmusic. It goes right to the heart of the listener.

If I was stranded on a desert island and allowed to bring only 10 CDs, this one just might have to be one of the ones I would have to take.

This CD is just BRILLIANT. It is every bit as good as the first Gershwin piano rolls CD. Gershwin plays Gershwin (and others) and his genius comes through. A total delight!

Thanks to modern technology we have a way to hear Gershwin interpret his own songs. This is about as close as it gets to being thrown back to a time in which Tin Pan Alley flourished.

Gershwin, as great a piano virtuoso as he was a composer, is captured in these piano rolls played through modern pianos in such a way that your toes will be tapping and a smile planted on your face all the while you listen to this remarkable (along with Vol. 1 of these recordings) album of classic Gershwiniana.

Many of these rolls were recorded twice, so that what we hear are four hands, not two, playing. This is, for this reviewer, the only negative, in some instances, as my preference would have been to hear what the maestro sounded like playing at the parties at which he so famous for being the center of. Nevertheless, what we get is Gershwin's tempos, his interpretations, and his astoundingly creative pianism, decades after his passing. And thank God. We'll never see his like again.

These two volumes of Gershwin playing his own music are essential to any lover of The Great American Songbook.

How would you feel if George Gershwin himself suddenly appeared out of nowhere, sat down at the piano in the corner of your own living room, and played away to his heart's content?

Amazement and delight would perhaps be fair, but not quite good enough words to describe it - pure heaven may just hit nearer the mark!

Such is the feeling that pervades this wonderful collection, which, no less magnificently done than the 1st Volume - an all-Gershwin program - also includes some of the sources of his inspiration.

This is a rare authentic glimpse into the mind of a giant, and listening to him in person affords a feeling of connecting directly to his universe, a feeling as magical as it is palpable.

The style of his playing is positive, decisive, clean, straightforward, no-nonsense, resolutely devoid of either sentimentality or cynicism. However somewhere between the lines engraved is his own heartbeat, full of hope, gentle irony, complete and utter belief in everything good - be it friendship, love, or life itself.

A must for Gershwin lovers, a much-needed reminder of faith, in these turbulent times, for everyone else.