Gershwin: Remembrance and Discovery
Two Etudes by Earl Wild on Gershwin Songs ("Embraceable You" & "Somebody Loves Me"
"Jilted" from Of Thee I sing
"Meadow Serenade" from Strike up the Band
"Love Walked In" & "The Man I Love" (trans. Percy Grainger)
Impromptu in Two Keys
Sleepless Night
Three Preludes for Piano
Three Quarter Blues
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Promenade
Ballet Music from Primrose
Sixteen Bars Without A Name
Three Concert Transcriptions by Beryl Rubinstein for solo piano from Porgy and Bess ("Bess You Is My Woman", "Summertime" & "I Got Plenty of Nuttin"
Melody No.40 (arr. from the violin original by Sylvia Rabinof and dedicated to Richard Glazier) RICHARD GLAZIER piano
CENTAUR Records CRC 2271
[61'45"] full-priceCD sleeve notes by performer. This review is kindly sponsored by Centaur Records.
by Adrian Tan
Left: Richard Glazier with Ira Gershwin in 1975
Every successful Gershwin performer shares one thing in common: they love Gershwin. Every album is a tribute to the music that has filled great symphony halls all over the world, as well as over the bedside radio of lovebirds then and now. This is Richard Glazier's remembrance of the music of a composer who had inspired him greatly during his youth. It is also the sharing of his discoveries of these gems of piano music, some arranged by musicians who share the same status as Gershwin does in the canon of music.
The repertoire itself is worth the price of this CD. The arrangements are as amazing as the music which inspired their creation. Glazier's technique is exceptional and he plays with a relaxed quality crucial in the delivery.
"The difficult must be made customary, the customary easy and the easy ... beautiful" (Konstantin Stanislavski). Earl Wild's Two Etudes on Gershwin Songs, "Embracable you" and "Somebody Loves me" turn the simple but charming melodies of Gershwin (right) into concert pieces for virtuosos the likes of Glazier. Though daunting in the ears of a trained pianist, Glazier breezes through these with an easy feel so essential to the music.
I was surprised to discover that Percy Grainger too had arranged the music of Gershwin. Even more surprising was the fact that he considered "The man I love" to be "on a par with the greatest of art songs by Faure, Schumann, Brahms and Schubert". Grainger remains faithful to the melody and original improvisations by Gershwin in this arrangement, but adds to it with his wonderfully organic and lush texturing of sound. Glazier beautifully executes these with clear and delicate voicing and phrasing.
Glazier also includes the popular Three Preludes in this selection, a set of pieces I fell in love with when I heard them played by the legendary Oscar Levant. The lively First Prelude is a landmark in the piano repertory, as is the serene blues-like Second Prelude. What makes this piece of music challenging is not merely the tricky dance rhythms but the lilting, jazzy feel that has to be captured despite the complex fingerwork. Glazier produces what I feel comes a close second to Levant's rendition, lacking only in the latter's debonair element that suitably characterizes and enhanced his interpretation.
Left: "George in an Imaginary Concert Hall". Painting by David Siqueiros.
A highlight of this selection is Beryl Rubinstein's Three Concert Transcriptions from Porgy and Bess. Glazier (in his liner notes) highlights the special friendship between these two superb musicians. Gershwin dedicated "Sixteen bars without a name" (also included in this collection) to Rubinstein, being one of the first to recognize George's genius. The discovery of this music is an apt tribute to their memory indeed. Rubinstein picks the sublime "Summertime", the carefree and chirpy "I've got plenty of nuttin' " and the love duet "Bess, you is my woman now" as her thematic material for these transcriptions.
This creative effort was thoughtfully done, elaborating on the melodies, adding interesting chromatic harmonies and pianistic textures that demonstrates a thorough understanding of compostition for the modern piano. Glazier handles each song carefully, fully intent in his interpretation. He delivers a beautiful and poetic "Bess, you is my woman now" while creating a rhythmically light mood for "I got plenty of nuttin'".
The last and perhaps most meaningful piece in this collection is Melody No. 40, which was originally a violin piece dedicated to George Gershwin's childhood friend, Max Rosen. Sylvia Rabinof (who was coincidentally a close friend of Rosen in the 40s) created this arrangement which "merged Gershwin, Rosen and Rabinof together in this concert piece". It is dedicated it to Richard Glazier, who tells me this piece stands a special place in his heart and presents it in this recording with renewed passion and much expression.
I think this approach to Gershwin's music takes getting used to for one like myself, as I am so used to hearing snappy and jazzy takes on the music presented here. This is an alternative view. Glazier's approach is rather conservative and classical to music that begs to be liberated. But with these superb arrangements, he provides an added sense of depth in Gershwin's work.
I often ask this question to Gershwin lovers and performers: "How do you reconcile Gershwin's jazz impulses with the classical medium that he wrote for (refering to the Rhapsody)?" The responses are varied and all correct in their own ways. For me, it has always been to let the music reign over any discipline one might want to exert in taming it, as Gershwin himself demonstrates in his "piano rolls" albums and in Oscar Levant's renditions.
I would like to thank Mr. Glazier for kindly sharing his music with us at the Inkpot as Ira Gershwin had with him in his youth. One gesture of goodness comes a long way, and I am sure this CD will too!
In Singapore, this disc is available at (or can be ordered from) Borders (Wheelock Place) or Tower Records (Pacific Plaza).
Adrian Tan thinks cross-over artists are quite cool...he's refering to Michael Bolton, Andrea Boccelli and Vanessa Mae, not Boy George.
Back to the Classical Index!... or read previous Gershwin reviews and features at the InkpotOther classical music reviews by this or any other writer can be obtained from the InkVault by doing a key word search with the writer's name.
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