Gershwin Symphony

This two-disc Porgy and Bess records not an entirely new version of the Gershwin opera, but a claimed improvement on the "complete" version that surfaced in the 1970s and changed the opera from a series of set pieces to a living work of drama.

Michael Tilson Thomas's Gershwin credentials are second to none, and include several recording premieres, most notably the first modern version of the original jazz band orchestration of Rhapsody in Blue (for Sony/Columbia). This new double-CD set offers an impressive selection of Gershwin favorites and rarities: the Second Rhapsody, with Tilson Thomas himself at the piano; An American in Paris; the Concerto in F, this time with Garrick Ohlssohn as soloist; and finally, Gershwin's own Catfish Row suite from Porgy and Bess, here fleshed out with the best and most popular songs from the opera, ably sung by Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

This Sony-made 30CD classical music collection covers almost all classical music, from the early Baroque period represented by Bach to the schools of classical music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms represent romantic, national and even modern musical schools led by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, etc. representative, everything wonderful and vivid.

Gershwin s Rhapsody in Blue is one of the most successful fusions of classical music and jazz ever, and is one of the most popular of all American concert works. Gershwin described the piece, which opens with an unforgettable two-and-a-half octave glissando wail on the clarinet, as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot… … our metropolitan madness.

“An indispensable DVD. To watch Bernstein conduct these supreme masterpieces of American music is a joy and a privilege in itself…there is an authentically spontaneous command of idiom here; Bernstein is both a superb soloist and conductor in the Rhapsody and the New Yorkers respond in a proprietorial way.” Penguin Guide

The award-winning French pianist Pascal Rogé presents a programme of music by Gershwin and Ravel in a recording with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Bertrand de Billy. Rogés affinity for the French style and empathy with jazz make him particularly suited to this repertoire. His recordings of French piano music have received Gramophone, Grand Prix du Disque and Edison awards. In addition to the classical-romantic repertoire of the Viennese and German schools, 20th-century French music is also one of his specialities.

The UC College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Wind Symphony releases a new recording, "Grand Pianola Music", featuring works by George Gershwin and John Adams, the recording showcases faculty artist Michael Chertock, student artist Giuliano Graniti and alumni artist Fabio Menchetti (DMA Piano, '19).