Comments from ACO's January
10, 1999 "Gershwin Circle" Concert
   
ACO launched its three-year Millennium celebration
with "The Gershwin Circle" a concert of music for piano and
orchestra by Gershwin and musicians in and around his sphere of
influence: these were Vernon Duke (also known as
Vladimir Dukelsky), Oscar Levant and Maurice
Ravel. Four piano soloists shared the spotlight: Scott Dunn
offered the world premiere of Vernon Duke's Piano
Concerto in C (which Dunn orchestrated), Alan Feinberg took the
honors in Oscar Levant's concerto, Ursula
Oppens tackled the Ravel Left-Hand Concerto,
while Leon Bates performed Gershwin's less-well-known Rhapsody
No. 2.
[Click here to read an essay by noted
musicologist Carol Oja about Gershwin and his collaborators]
Unusual for an ACO program, none of the composers represented is
alive today. Consequently, many listeners commented on how audience
perception of these works may have changed over the years:
"It is difficult to say how our perception of
these works has changed over the years,
Gershwin and Ravel still sound revolutionary but
are considered classics."
"I wish we would take them more seriously and
play them more often.
'Pops' should not be where Gershwin, Duke and
Levant are consigned."
"probably more revered now that they have
passed the 'test of time'"
"Much less radical, but still challenging to
the listener"
"I was surprised by the atonal harmonies of
the Duke and Levant."
"Since these pieces were written, composition
has become even more 'modern'
and abstract, people have now become accustomed."
"Today cross-over music is more accepted as
part of our permanent
American musical heritage."
"They are still revered!"
"Now more popular and better received as
tastes have expanded
due to media attention."
"Today, '20s and '30s American classical
sounds more pop more like movie scores.
The Ravel wears better: richer and more classical."
"We've got more used to their elements over
the years."
"I was surprised how contemporary modern
music sounded at the
beginning of the 20th century."
"I was surprised to learn how much background
movie music owed to this group--
particularly Duke and Gershwin (as well as the
usual Russians.)"
"I prefer a balance of world premieres of
living composers with more
American 'classics'--Beach, Copland, Ives,
Stravinsky, Foote, Gershwin..."
"I guess they all sound less radical as time
goes by."
"All pieces had a typical American rhythm
that sounds like Gershwin."
"All four concertos sounded classic: the
harmonies and the form made me feel that way."
"Stimulating intellectually as well as
emotionally. I think the composers
are creative in the same way mathematicians reach
a higher level of pursuit."
A few had difficulty with a program full of piano and orchestra works:
"On the whole, I enjoyed the program, but I
wonder: would a few short works,
even solo piano pieces, have broken it up a little
and prevented ear fatigue."
"I feel the orchestra was much too overpowering.
The piano was drowned out in the Tutti passages."
Vernon Duke: Concerto in C Major
for Piano & Orchestra
The world premiere of Vernon Duke's (then known as Vladimir Dukelsky)
early piano concerto, written in 1924, was certainly the curiosity of
the program. It was performed and orchestrated by Scott Dunn. Duke
wrote the concerto when he was fresh out of the Kiev conservatory, a
fact not lost on several listeners:
"Had echoes of Eastern European physical
ambiance reminiscent of Tchaikovsky
and the Nutcracker Suite. A grandiose instrumental
style resulting in a balletic quality."
"I think for a 20 year old composer, it is a
remarkably conceived
anticipation of 20th century musical taste."
"diatonic and traditional"
For some, this was a discovery of an interesting piece:
"I was most attracted to the program by the
Duke premiere."
"The world premiere of the Duke was very
surprising and very contemporary."
"Very new sounding, Had almost a
"rock" Quality at times."
"I liked Mr. Duke's piece very, very much.
I had never heard of him or his music, but I found
it very rousing."
There was mixed opinion about the performance and the orchestration:
"A wonderful reconstruction. I hope to hear
it again."
"I was very surprised by the low level of
performance in Mr. Duke's Concerto."
"The piano part was surprisingly weak
considering he wrote the work for two pianos."
"Boring"
And one savvy listener, remarking about the unusual choice of
instrumentation of for the introduction of Duke's lyrical second
theme offered this musical and comic gem:
"I was reminded that now and then the
saxophone can do wonderful things...
as it does in the Vernon Duke concerto."
Oscar Levant: Concerto for
Piano & Orchestra
Levant was well known as a pianist and protege of Gershwin's, as well
as an actor and genuine Hollywood Raconteur. He is less well known as
a composer, but he took the matter seriously, studying with Arnold
Schoenberg. For many, Levant's Concerto seemed to be the
"newest" and most "challenging" or
"atonal" sounding work on the program:
"I was very surprised by Levant--had never
heard any of his compositions before today."
"I would like to hear the Levant piece again,
and more of his compositions."
"Just OK, I have heard of him from the
movies, but my gut feeling is
that he does much better playing someone else's work."
Many commented on the abundance of musical material that Levant mixed
together in his piece, commenting on its "episodic nature":
"Its disjointedness makes it seem more in
tune with our times."
"Manic"
"The music materials of both the orchestra
and the piano
sounded scarcely audible and unfinished."
"The music moved from sounding like
Schoenberg to the blues--very strange."
And several other listeners heard the connection between Levant and
his teacher, Schoenberg:
"Sounded like an American Schoenberg."
"More atonal and less jazzy than I'd thought,
and there was that neat "Schoenboogie
woogie" in the middle."
George Gershwin: Second
Rhapsody for Piano & Orchestra
Gershwin, the central personality, actually had only a small
representation on the program, in his "other" Second
Rhapsody for piano and orchestra. Leon Bates did the honors. Bates
unveiled Steinway's newest piano, dubbed The Rhapsody--created in
celebration of Gershwin's centennial--a midnight blue sensation
encrusted with mother-of-pearl inlayed stars. It came as no surprise
that Gershwin was the audience favorite, even in this less well-known work:
"No longer avant-garde, but listening to
Gershwin will always be a treat."
"Very exciting"
"Still sounds the newest"
"A classic--no one writes music like
Gershwin. He so well expressed the excitement and dynamic of the
early ears of the 20th century. A joy to remember the times that
were--always good to hear him again."
"Reflects a more innocent time and is more nostalgic."
"brightest work on the program."
"Great! Mr. Bates gave a wonderful performance."
"He sounds like New York"
Maurice
Ravel: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Maurice Ravel's Concerto for Left Hand Piano and Orchestra completed
the concert, performed by Ursula Oppens. Though not part of
Gershwin's Tin Pan Alley crowd, there was mutual respect and
friendship between Ravel and Gershwin, each taking a bit from the
other and mixing it into his own work. Some listeners remarked on the
"twist" of including Ravel in the "Gershwin Circle":
"I had never associated Ravel with the
Gershwin circle."
"I was delighted the Ravel concerto was on
the program."
"Hearing Ravel in this context, I started to
appreciate his music better."
"Hearing Ravel after Gershwin makes Ravel
sound much richer."
Still, for many, the Ravel stood apart as unique:
"The Ravel is still original in every
way--from the exploration of dynamic range to the integrated thematic repetition."
"I was surprised by the steeliness of the Ravel."
"very European sound with delicious orchestrations."
"I didn't expect the somewhat elegiac,
military feel of the Ravel concerto."
"the darkest work on the program."
Many were awed by the bravura performance:
"I have never seen it performed before and
was stunned by Ms. Oppens virtuosity."
"Powerful"
"Ravel and Ms. Oppens were incredible."
"I didn't have any idea how full it would sound."
"To me the Ravel sounded like the newest
piece on the program--very sharp--especially the way Ms. Oppens
played it."
"GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT. Ms. Oppens was
simply marvelous. I did not know a one hand piece could sound so good." |
