Admirable for the historical value
Jacques COULARDEAU | OLLIERGUES France | 03/09/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A long selection of original soundtracks and recordings of a vast array of Gershwin's works. It is fascinating because of that very principle: non-remastered original recordings so that we get the real stuff and can experience, at least try to, how it could have been perceived on our old diode radios, or on our first generation talking films. The recordings of his Broadway music is of course far from the real quality of the live performances. The collection adds some Gershwin songs performed by various jazz people, men and women, later recordings, better quality but still originals. Here we can regret the data about each piece is not provided: date, place and other material elements of that type. Gershwin appears as a potential genius, I mean someone who could have been an essential musician in the whole century if he had not died young (39 years old). He was greatly helped in his impact on his time by the radio and the talking cinema. Unluckily he hardly had the opportunity to compose many works that were vast enough to provide him with the surface and volume he needed to have in order to be fully himself. One exception gives us an idea of what he could have done if he had not been systematically formatted under five minutes, when it was not four or even three minutes. This exception is "Blue Monday", a one act jazz opera. Only one act. Only 23 minutes. So we can dream and imagine what he could have done in one hour or two hours. Gershwin is tremendously in phase with what is being composed in the world at that time and he could have probably produced a whole set of musical landmarks and could have counted as one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. It is a shame we can only feel his potential more than his realized value. A set of CDs nevertheless for those who want to know what music was in the 1930s for the vast popular public recently opened to the mass consumption of music thanks to the radio and the talking cinema.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
"
A MIXED BAG
Judles | Seattle, Washington | 06/02/1999
(2 out of 5 stars)
"3 DISKS DISK #1- The Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue. I almost wanted to get a refund on this one. It's recorded live and by the quality of the sound it might have been outdoors. The slowwwest Gershin on record, pun intended. DISK #2- PIANO WORKS - WORTH EVERY PENNY. Richard Rodney Benett is the pianist and he's wonderful. His rendition of the Preludes was the finest I've ever heard. He seemed very comfortable with the music and it was as if he were in my living room...playing as George would:)this disk alone would get four stars. DISK # 3 - GERSHWIN SONGBOOK - A mixture of songs and piano works with orchestra and sometimes electronic arrangements. Nice background music."
Track Listings (149) - Disc #1