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Get Happy - Virtuoso showtunes for
piano
Blue Skies (Irving Berlin, arr. Dick Hyman) [1:21]
I Got Rhythm (George Gershwin, arr. Earl Wild) [2:18]
Eliza in Ascot (Lerner & Loewe, arr. Stefan Malzew) [4:59]
Lover (Rodgers & Hart, arr. Alexis Weissenberg [3:24]
Begin the Beguine (Cole Porter, arr. Cy Walter) [3:56]
Johanna (Stephen Sondheim, arr. Christopher O’Riley) [2:28]
Carousel Waltz (Rodgers & Hammerstein, arr. Stephen Hough) [6:18]
March of the Siamese Children (Rodgers & Hammerstein, arr. Stephen
Hough) [3:57]
Blue Moon (Rodgers & Hart, arr. André Previn) [2:16]
Cheek to Cheek (Irving Berlin, arr. Dick Hyman) [2:08]
Embraceable You (George Gershwin, arr. Earl Wild) [3:13]
Meditation on “Laura” (David Raksin, arr. Marc-André
Hamelin) [5:21]
Bess, You Is My Woman Now (George Gershwin, arr. David Saperton)
[5:52]
Fascinatin’ Rhythm (George Gershwin, arr. Earl Wild) [1:33]
So in Love (Cole Porter, arr. Greg Anderson) [4:30]
My Favorite Things (Rodgers & Hammerstein, arr. Stephen Hough)
[3:15]
Hello, Young Lovers (Rodgers & Hammerstein, arr. Stephen Hough)
[2:27]
Get Happy (Harold Arlen, arr. Stephen Prutsman) [4:54]
Jenny Lin (piano)
rec. 31 May-2 June, 2012, Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia,
USA
STEINWAY & SONS 30011 [64:05]
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“Get Happy,” Jenny Lin’s new recital
told me. “Come on,” I said back. “Make me”.
Then it did.
Yes: “Get Happy” gets me happy. I’ve tried
it on several occasions, even almost medicinally once in a very
bad mood. It works. Doctors should prescribe it. The medicine
is not at all mysterious: take classic Broadway show-tunes like
“Blue Skies”, “Begin the Beguine”, “Blue
Moon” and “My Favorite Things” mix in a few
other delicious morsels from musicals and movies. Then pare
them down for the piano and dress them up in glittering costumes
designed by performers who live and breathe jazz. Finally hand
the whole thing over to Jenny Lin, one of the best new pianists
of the century so far. How could it fail to make me happy?
Here’s Earl Wild’s high-octane, sporty rewrite of
“I Got Rhythm”; here’s jazz legend Dick Hyman
riffing on Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek”;
here’s Stephen Hough’s frankly fantastic transcription
of the Carousel Waltz. Jenny Lin asked a few of her friends
to contribute, too, and they provided still more riches. Stephen
Prutsman is tasked with “Get Happy”, of which Lin
says in the booklet, “One has to feel like Liberace when
playing this!” Marc-André Hamelin supplies a wonderfully
introspective Meditation on the main theme from Otto
Preminger’s classic film Laura. This is not the
same side of Hamelin which one hears in his finger-shredding
études; instead of giving pianists nightmares this short
work should steal into their dreams.
In Jenny Lin’s hands, the hour passes like a gift from
the gods of happy. She’s got it all: a voracious appetite
for lesser-known music, total technical command of even the
most difficult music, a keen emotional ear, and a spirit of
adventure and good cheer. She sounds completely at ease in this
idiom, her fingers unbroken by the cascades of notes which composers
like Earl Wild poured all over the page. More importantly, she
has a great sense of fun, wit, and, oh, what’s the word?
Happiness. That’s the word.
The recording engineers (from the Sono Luminus label) have brought
a flattering sound to their piano. Listen: I can’t promise
that this album is a medically viable substitute for, say, antidepressants
or a loving companion, but it really is an outright joy. It’s
something every piano collection should have. For sixty-four
minutes, you’ll really believe it’s nothing but
blue skies from now on.
Brian Reinhart
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