Gershwin: An American in Paris / Piano Concerto in F

Gershwin: An American in Paris / Piano Concerto in F cover $35.00 Low Stock add to cart

GEORGE GERSHWIN
Gershwin: An American in Paris / Piano Concerto in F
Lincoln Mayorga (piano) / Harmonie Ensemble / New York, Steven Richman

[ Harmonia Mundi / CD ]

Release Date: Thursday 1 September 2016

Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 4 - 7 business days.

Working from Gershwin's original manuscripts, Steven Richman and the Harmonie Ensemble/New York recapture the lean, unsentimental style the composer intended for 'An American in Paris' and 'Concerto in F', here featuring Lincoln Mayorga as the piano soloist. Also included are the first recordings of the Overture to 'Of Thee I Sing' (radio version) and Roy Bargy's orchestration of the 'Three Preludes' [pianist and arranger with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra]. Lincoln Mayorga was staff pianist for Walt Disney Studios and composed music for the TV show 'Fame'. He has recorded works by Chopin, Brahms, and Prokofiev, as well as songs by Gershwin and Kern with the late Marnie Nixon. He was also soloist on the 'Gershwin by Grofé' and 'Symphonic Jazz: Grofé and Gershwin', which included the premiere recording of Gershwin's Second Rhapsody as arranged by Ferde Grofé.

" The Concerto in F hasn't sounded so fresh, so idiomatic and so rhythmically alive since Earl Wild's classic RCA recording, no small thanks to piano soloist Lincoln Mayorga's ability to fuse his brilliant classical technique with a genuine feeling for Gershwin's syncopated language and bluesy inflections … No Gershwin fan should miss this disc." (Gramophone)

"The first track, the Overture to Of Thee I Sing, immediately sets the tone - not the overture as we usually hear it, but the 1934 radio version, trimmed in length and with lean orchestration. The Concerto in F benefits from nimble playing from pianist Lincoln Mayorga and the composer's original intentions for the orchestration. An American in Paris is quick on its feet, performed with youthful zest and slimmed-down sound by the Harmonie Ensemble, New York." Financial Times

"Textually and texturally, this is Gershwin with a breath of fresh air, light, dry, nothing hammy or the slightest bit overdone. It includes rarely heard versions of the Three Preludes and the Overture to Of Thee I Sing. But in what amounts to Gershwin with period flavour, the real surprise is An American in Paris, without the treacle." Irish Times

Tracks:

An American in Paris, tone poem
Piano Concerto in F major
Lincoln Mayorga (piano)
Of Thee I Sing Overture
Preludes (3)
(1930s arrangement by Roy Bargy) - first recording