George Gershwin - Piano Concerto; Second Rhapsody (Wayne Marshall)

Information

Composer: George Gershwin

• Piano Concerto in F major
• Porgy and Bess: Symphonic Suite (arr. Robert Russell Bennett)
• Second Rhapsody, for orchestra with piano

Aalborg Symphony Orchestra

Wayne Marshall, piano & conductor

Date: 1995

Label: Virgin

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Review

Wayne Marshall makes his first entry in the Piano Concerto and, in the space of a bar or two, I hear impulsive, I hear volatile, I hear a quick wit and a cool head, the ability to convey (just as Gershwin strove to do) the jazzman’s freewheeling, rhapsodic manner alongside a concert pianist’s formality. Marshall is English (Chetham’s School in Manchester and London’s Royal College of Music: an organ scholar of note), which I wouldn’t mention but for the fact that he plays the piano like the proverbial American in... well, Manchester. Where Gershwin sits back in the wee small hours spinning yet another of his blue tunes – and I’m thinking now of the slow movement’s trumpet-led nocturne – Marshall is in no hurry to go anywhere. There are many shades of blue here. As Marshall prepares us for the belated second theme, it’s as if he is searching for the lost chord. And yet there’s a very real sense of the imperative, too, a ‘something’s coming’ kind of feeling. When it comes, it’s a special moment. So, too, is Gershwin’s grandiose recapitulation (and, my goodness, Marshall goes all the way with that). Incidentally, I can’t remember being quite so intrigued, so tantalized, by that recurrent mid-phrase modulation – one of the movement’s most daring features (you’ll know it when you hear it).

Remember, too, that Marshall is directing from the keyboard (no mean feat in a score as busy as this). Orchestral details are consistently well heard: note the bassoon counterpoint and stopped horns as the piano takes over from the solo trumpeter; and later, the cello accompaniment to the second theme. Marshall’s trumpeter (a Dane, I presume) might just as easily have hailed from New Orleans. The slides and crushed blue notes sound pretty authentic to me, and I like his gravelly tone (a hint of Satchmo) in the bottom register. Generally speaking, the Aalborg Symphony are well up on the style here. And let’s face it, the orchestra can so easily sound like a dead-weight in this piece. But then, Marshall’s ‘Jack-be-nimble’ approach is plainly infectious, encouraging reflexes from his band that are as quick and sparky as his own. The pulse of the Roaring Twenties was racy and capricious. But there was always time to dream. That’s the tenor of Marshall’s performance.

The same is true of his dashing account of the Second Rhapsody. Again the contrasts are strong, the manner spontaneous – impulsive, Manhattan-brash to a degree – though Marshall has come a long way in understanding since his rather fitful first recording of Rhapsody in Blue (with Richard Hickox, also on Virgin, 11/89). And he never lets us forget that these are luxury goods. Gershwin’s shot-silk climaxes (Hollywood dreams indeed), with all their audacious modulations and fruity horn counterpoints (nobody played with wrong-note harmonies like Gershwin) are played for all they’re worth.

There’s also a spirited account of the Robert Russell Bennett Porgy and Bess Suite, as felicitous (real delicacy of atmosphere as “Clara” emerges from the opening street cries) as it is robust (that’s quite a hurricane that blows through Catfish Row). Again, the Aalborg Symphony have been well-schooled in the characterization of style: Marshall really has them appreciating the sound of roistering clarinet slides in “I can’t sit down” and oily saxes in “There’s a boat”, its brassy reprise every bit as raucous as the good-time viper Sportin’ Life himself. It sounds well, this Mike Hatch engineered disc. I’ve just been back for a second spin, which is always a good sign.

— Edward Seckerson

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George Gershwin (26 September 1898 – 11 July 1937) was a pivotal American composer who combined classical training with popular styles such as ragtime and jazz. Collaborating closely with his brother Ira, Gershwin produced enduring Broadway works and songs, including Lady, Be Good and I Got Rhythm. His concert pieces, Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris and Porgy and Bess, blended jazz idioms with classical forms and gained international acclaim. Though his classical status remains debated, Gershwin is widely regarded as a significant musical innovator whose influence crossed genres and continents.

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Wayne Marshall (born 13 January 1961) is a British pianist, organist and conductor. Born in Oldham to Barbadian parents, he studied at Chetham's School of Music, the Royal College of Music and the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. He served as Chief Conductor of the WDR Funkhausorchester Cologne (2014–2020) and Principal Guest Conductor of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (2007–2013). Renowned for his interpretations of Gershwin, Bernstein and other 20th-century American composers, he has conducted leading international orchestras and remains an active recitalist, broadcaster and educator.

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