Jeff Tyzik, Jon Nakamatsu - Gershwin: Piano Concerto, Rhapsody in Blue (2007) [DSD]

Penned for the concert hall but brimming with the sounds and rhythms of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, this all-Gershwin program from Harmonia Mundi features American pianist Jon Nakamatsu in the Piano Concerto in F and the Rhapsody in Blue. For an orchestral encore, Jeff Tyzik leads the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in an exuberant reading of the Cuban Overture.

Gershwin’s music really is hard to label. With a creative range that won him successes both on Broadway and in Carnegie Hall, it could scarcely be otherwise for this pioneer “crossover” artist. But why try to pigeonhole such brilliance? Better simply to enjoy it’

He gradually broke into the pop song market he had come to know so well from the inside. The first of his songs to see print appeared in 1916. It bore the memorable title When You Want ’Em, You Can’t Get ’Em, When You’ve Got ’Em, You Don’t Want ’Em. He had to start somewhere! By the early ’20s, he was earning a healthy income from his own material. For several years he had also been taking private instruction in classical techniques. Sooner or later these two streams were bound to merge.

The premiere of Rhapsody in Blue took place as planned on February 12, 1924, in New York’s Aeolian Hall. Gershwin himself played the solo part. It came at the end of a long, varied program, but it was still received with overwhelming enthusiasm. This irresistible blend of ’20s jazz and daredevil classical virtuosity remains one of the most beloved and frequently performed of all American compositions.

Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra, was in the audience when Gershwin’s rhapsody made its debut. Impressed by its unprecedented amalgamation of popular and classical styles, he commissioned Gershwin to compose a full-scale piano concerto. “Many persons had thought that my rhapsody was only a happy accident,” Gershwin wrote. “Well I went out, for one thing, to show them that there was plenty more where that came from. I made up my mind to do a piece of ‘absolute’ music.”

Tracks:

01. Piano Concerto in F - I. Allegro — 13:17
02. Piano Concerto in F - II. Adagio — 12:32
03. Piano Concerto in F - III. Allegro Agitato — 6:56
04. Rhapsody in Blue — 17:54
05. Cuban Overture — 10:33

Personnel:

Jon Nakamatsu, Piano
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Jeff Tyzik, Conductor