The
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra's celebration of
George Gershwin's centenary takes the form of a two-CD set culled from two performances, comprising four separate pieces. The most impressive is the first, an extended version of
"Catfish Row Suite," Gershwin's
orchestral treatment of themes from
Porgy and Bess (so titled to avoid confusion with
Robert Russell Bennett's
Porgy and Bess suite), with interpolations of several songs from the
opera, sung by Broadway stars
Audra McDonald and
Brian Stokes Mitchell. Both singers are well suited to the material, and
Mitchell in particular gets into the different parts; it's hard to believe the singer on
"Bess, You Is My Woman Now" and
"There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon" is the same person. Purists may question the performance of the
"Second Rhapsody" that follows, featuring conductor
Michael Tilson Thomas on piano, since, as annotator
David Wright puts it, "Following the precedent that was hinted at in
Gershwin's own recorded rehearsals of the work,
Mr. Tilson Thomas has inserted a cadenza he has written in the
Gershwin style." Of course, there are different ways to approach this material, and if there were any doubt about that, it is dispelled in the orchestra's relatively calm reading of
"An American in Paris";
Tilson Thomas' American is a leisurely tourist.
Garrick Ohlsson sparks the orchestra with his piano playing on the
"Concerto in F," which concludes the album, bringing things almost up to the standard of the
"Catfish Row Suite." ~ William Ruhlmann
