When Michael Feinstein was the mere age of 20, he was given the opportunity of a lifetime: to work with Ira Gershwin for six years. Now he pays the Gershwins back with the publication of this beautiful book-- accompanied with a CD of Feinstein singing 12 Gershwin songs, one of which he discusses in each of the book`s 12 chapters -- a gift to them but even more importantly a bigger gift to music lovers the world over. First a word about what this book looks like: The dustcover is in appropriate shades of blue, the many photographs, some in color from recent years and many in beautiful sepia tones, throughout the book are laid out as if in a scrapbook. There are copies of original manuscripts, reproductions of paintings by both George and Ira Gershwin, notes, letters, sheet music front pages, playbills-- a real treasure trove.
What makes this book so endearing--- in addition to the wealth of information about George and Ira Gershwin-- is Mr. Feinstein's writing. It has all the appeal of a conversation over drinks. The author rhapsodizes (no pun intended) about the Gershwins---- his enthusiasm is catching-- but also has no qualms about voicing his opinions about various and sundry criticisms made about them that he does not think are fair: about Leonard Bernstein, for instance. His criticism of "Rhapsody in Blue" was in large part because of his jealousy of George Gershwin, Mr. Feinstein believes, and he opines that there would never have been a Leonard Bernstein if there had not been a George Gershwin. But Virgil Thomson who had written what Feinstein calls a "bitchy paragraph" about "Porgy and Bess" he describes as "an intellectual, homosexual, short, unattractive man who lacked all of the advantages that were born to Gershwin. He also spoke with an impossibly high-pitched voice that was ridiculed behind his back ." George Gershwin was tall, athletic, even installing a gym in his townhouse, and handsome-- as the many photographs throughout this lavishly illustrated book indicate-- and certainly had his pick of beautiful, sophisticated women including Kay Swift and Kitty Carlyle. Mr. Feinstein does address, however, the rumors and gossip concerning Gershwin's sexuality and concludes that there is no hard evidence that he was "more interested in men than women" although he never married.
The music that George and Ira Gershwin produced, however, and its influence on American culture, is much more important. Who can forget, for instance, the first time you heard "Rhapsody in Blue" or your favorite singer doing "Summertime" or "The Man I Love" or "Swanee"-- George's first big hit in 1919-- or seeing a production of "Porgy and Bess" in an opera house? Mr. Feinstein on the Gershwin legacy: "What George Gershwin accomplished in his short life was a fusing of different types of music to create what became the musical voice of America. Of all those who dreamed and tried, for George it seemed predestined, with joy and a sense of purpose that was at times confounding. If there is an American soundtrack, Gershwin owns a good portion of it, with words by Ira."
Mr. Feinstein says we have to accept the fact, however, that millions of Americans have never heard of the Gershwins. A voice teacher friend of his, for instance, tells of a student who said she was going to sing "Summertime" by Porgy and Bess. The author discusses at length some of the reasons why the kind of music the Gershwins wrote is no longer in vogue as it once was: fewer young peope learn to play the piano, there are fewer pianos in the home now, the number of piano bars has diminished, public schools are dropping music appreciation from the curricula, record companies are reluctant to produce a recording that will not be a big money-maker even if it contributes to the culture of our nation. I with sadness wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Feinstein's conclusion that our country has fallen apart culturally. But he says it better than I: "As a nation, we can't sit still. We're not terribly interested in anything with depth, but we are fascinated by more and more of the surface. "American Idol" and shows like it have given people permission to judge, to hate, to mock, to humiliate, to denigrate deficiencies in other people in the most vocal way. It's not about "music"; it's about turning kids into commercial performers."
There is so much-- I hesitate to use the word-- musical trivia throughout this beautiful book that both lovers of the Gershwins and new converts will find so appealing. Here are a few of them: When George Gershwin approached the French composer Maurice Ravel about lessons from him, Ravel turned him down, saying that it was more important to be a first-rate Gershwin than a second-rate Ravel. When Stephen Sondheim first saw the original manuscript of "Porgy" he was so moved that a tear fell on the document, thereby "leaving a slight stain that will forever bind the two composers." And Irving Berlin commented on Ethel Merman's big voice, saying that if you ever wrote a bad song for Ethel, that you would hear it. Both George and Ira Gershwin were principled and decent individuals. George, for instance, refused to let "Porgy" be staged with white players in blackface and Ira eventually removed the "N" word from the opera's lyrics, saying that if he had realized how hurtful the word was to black Americans, he would never have used it in the first place. Even though the elder Gershwins spoke with a Russian accent, George was never ashamed of his parents and invited them to his fancy parties. (And you have to smile at and love them for closing their blinds during Jewish holidays so their neighbors would not know that they -- not religious-- were not observing the holidays.) Finally, although it would have been to his advantage financially because it would have extended the copyright on the piece, Ira adamantly refused to add lyrics to "Rhapsody in Blue."
Mr. Feinstein--who of course does give us much interesting information about himself as well; he has 30,000 pieces of sheet music and as many recordings-- wonders what George Gershwin, who died at 38, would have produced if he had lived decades longer. After all, "Rhapsody in Blue," "Concerto in F" and "Porgy" were all firsts for him. These pieces with a handful of songs, however, are here to stay.
