Sensational!
Lee Hartsfeld | Central Ohio, United States | 09/16/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm happy to report that this two-CD Ferde Grofe set is a winner from front to cover. Grofe's 1932 "Tabloid Suite," composed fifteen years after Erik Satie's music for the ballet "Parade," employs similar sound effects (including a typewriter and siren), similar machine-like rhythms and riffs, and similar contrasts of dynamics and tempi. Even the whole-tone sections (a Grofe staple) sound Satie-esque here. No waste of ink, this wonderful piece delights and entertains in both a gaudy yellow-journalistic style and a more thoughtful op-ed fashion. A dizzying, rondo-like "Run of the News" is followed by "Sob Sister," a lush and Paul-Whiteman-esque tear-jerker with shades (so to speak) of "Sunset." This is the closest we may ever come to hearing the vintage Whiteman outfit in stereo. The suite presses on with the charming and thematically-diverse "Comic Strip"--the best kind of cartoon music, very sardonic and Les Six--and concludes with the sound-effects festival, "Going to Press." Reprints--er, reprises--of earlier themes occur in this, the most "Parade"-like movement in the group. If all of this weren't enough, the Metropole Orchestra also delivers a suitably grand version of Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite" as scored for Paul Whiteman in 1932. A miracle of orchestration, this more intimate version of the suite might be better, in some ways, than the one we're used to hearing--no details of chord or melody are eroded by overactive engineering, and no portion of the brass is lost in the gorge. Here, we have the movement as Grofe intended it to burst. The second CD features Grofe's fascinating 1928 orchestration of Gershwin's "Concerto in F," lovingly presented, and with the same refreshing attention to detail. Gershwin's concerto, while an American classic, is in some ways an odd follow-up to the two masterfully-organized Grofe suites, as Gershwin had none of Grofe's sense of form. Compared to Ferde's compositional precision, George's art was virtually one of filling musical space with sounds. Then again, few people ever filled that space as memorably as he did. Order isn't everything, I suppose. (But, by all means, order this fabulous CD!)"
Grofe speaks Dutch!
John S. Lasher | Broken Hill, NSW, Australia | 09/22/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Basta Records, a Netherlands-based record label, continues to impress with their Ferde Grofe recordings. The latest offering includes 'Tabloid Suite', a little known work, along with the familiar 'Grand Canyon Suite'. The bonus disc is Gershwin's 'Concerto in F'. All are presented in their original Jazz Band orchestrations, which were commissioned by Paul Whiteman. Moreover, that are presented without any cuts to the music [ie. previous 78rpm recordings of 'Grand Canyon' and 'Concerto in F' featured shortened versions, which were taylored to fit the length of the discs]. Good sound and excellent, informative annotation. Highly recommended."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
