Serebrier conducts Gershwin: An American in Paris, Piano Concerto, 3 Preludes | Somm ARIADNE5003

Serebrier conducts Gershwin: An American in Paris, Piano Concerto, 3 Preludes

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Label: Somm

Cat No: ARIADNE5003

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Orchestral

Release Date: 30th November 2018

Contents

Artists

Leopold Godowsky III (piano)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Conductor

Jose Serebrier

Works

Gershwin, George

An American in Paris
Lullaby (orch. Serebrier)
Piano Concerto in F major
Preludes (3) (orch. Serebrier)

Artists

Leopold Godowsky III (piano)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Conductor

Jose Serebrier

About

Somm Recordings closes the 120th anniversary year of George Gershwin’s birth with the re-issue of the historic 1998 Centennial Edition recording initiated by the composer’s sister, Frances Gershwin, together with first appearances on disc of two orchestrations commissioned from José Serebrier.

Originally released on Dinemec Classics, the Gershwin Centennial Edition features the composer’s nephew and Frances’ son, pianist Leopold Godowsky III, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by José Serebrier.

The recording followed a concert in London (the capital’s only official celebration in the centenary year of Gershwin’s birth) organised by the composer’s formidable sister, Frances – 96 at the time – who invited Serebrier to conduct An American in Paris, the Concerto in F (with Godowsky as soloist), and, in specially commissioned orchestrations by Serebrier, the Three Preludes and Lullaby – both of which are issued on disc for the first time here. The programme shows Gershwin at his inimitable, era-defining best. Composed as an extended ballet sequence for the 1951 MGM musical starring Gene Kelly, An American in Paris is a buoyant, Technicolor-bright tribute to the French capital shot through with jazz-accented vitality.

The Concerto in F is a bold, brassy, brilliantly orchestrated work with a grandstanding piano line bridging the worlds of classical music and jazz. Its animated opening movement is followed by a Blues-tinged Adagio and a finale boasting a helter-skelter orgy of rhythm and athletic pianism.

Initially reluctant to orchestrate Lullaby, Serebrier says: “Now I am glad Leopold persuaded me. I have tried to keep the scoring as simple and pure as possible, so that the orchestral version of this poignantly lovely piece might take on a life of its own in a voice that is still recognizably Gershwin’s”.

Orchestrating the Three Preludes, he recalls, “was great fun” – a feeling thrillingly in evidence on the surface of the vigorous and dancelike first and third preludes framing a “blues lullaby” that is altogether more gentle and intimate.

The never before re-issued recording – produced by the legendary Paul Myers – is a brilliant reminder of one of the most remarkable talents of the 20th century in performances by one of his greatest interpreters.

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