My colleague John
Whitmore summed up this interpretation of Gershwin’s
Piano Concerto well: it views the piece as a serious classical
concerto with expressive merit and a vibrantly jazzy bent, rather
than a series of riffs with orchestral accompaniment. Orion
Weiss doesn’t noodle around with the solo part, and the
Buffalo Philharmonic doesn’t pretend to be a jazz band:
the result is not sober, or strait-laced, but it is an argument
that Gershwin wrote really solidly built classical works. Maybe
some day we won’t need to have that argument.
Weiss is a pianist I’d never heard of, but between his
playing here and his absurdly silly website,
I find him very easy to like. He mostly plays the music straight,
except for a bit of teasing in his very first bars and the occasional
confident strut thereafter. The tunes roll off the piano with
unaffected charm and lyrical shape; Weiss’s entrance in
the adagio is so perfectly done it gives me chills. The Buffalo
Philharmonic, under JoAnn Falletta, are his equals, and the
partnership is a truly inspired one with a real sense of synergy
(try the first movement at 10:18). The orchestral players often
steal the show, in fact, as when the strings surge in at 8:30
in the adagio and slip back tenderly forward at 10:18, or in
the exquisite woodwind solos which end the movement. The finale
is ever-so-slightly lacking in fire compared to Jon Nakamatsu,
who recently recorded this concerto for harmonia mundi only
75 miles to the east, with the Rochester Philharmonic. It makes
sense in the context of the Weiss-Falletta conception of the
work, though, and you’re not going to get me to choose
between the two outstanding recordings anytime soon.
Next up is the Rhapsody No 2, a sequel to the one in ‘blue’
which somehow never quite caught on despite chipper tunes, colorful
orchestral outbursts like the one near the beginning, and a
percussive piano part which reminds us that it was originally
to be the Rhapsody in Rivets. I’m sad Gershwin
ducked out of that (much better) title. I’m glad that
such a glittery performance (listen to the trumpets from 1:50-2:10!)
is delivered here, Weiss and the Buffalo players matching each
other’s incredible enthusiasm. This rhapsody isn’t
on its predecessor’s level - the swooning violin tune,
with its luxurious portamenti, has nothing on the tune in Blue
- but it’s still more of a delight than its obscurity
suggests, and Gershwin’s rather childlike excitement with
the possibilities of orchestral music is matched by the glee
with which these players take care of the piece.
The disc concludes with the delightful “I Got Rhythm”
Variations, and again the orchestra enters into the Gershwin
with spirited playing. I do have some concerns about Orion Weiss
here, though, particularly his statement of the theme, which
is laden with tiny dynamic and rhythmic adjustments. Lincoln
Mayorga, on harmonia mundi, shows this music can still be bubbly
fun without the finicky teasing. Still, after ninety seconds
everybody’s too busy having a good time for me to keep
being critical. The whole CD gets a big boost from vividly colorful
sound, although as John Whitmore notes, the impressive capturing
of the piano - how flattering to its full-bodied tone! - does
place the instrument quite far forward in the balance, almost
like you are sitting on it with the orchestra around you. This
is no great obstacle to a recommendation.
According to an old news bulletin on Naxos’ website, these
recording sessions also included the Rhapsody in Blue.
I’m not sure why the Rhapsody in Blue is absent
here if they set it down at the same time as these three works,
but let’s hope it means Weiss, Falletta, and Co. will
be returning very soon with a second volume. Weiss can lay down
the piano solo in Catfish Row and they could round things
out with An American in Paris, the Cuban Overture,
and/or the string orchestra version of Lullaby. Judging
from the extremely high quality of this effort, that would be
a treat!
Brian Reinhart
see also review by John
Whitmore
Orion Weiss (piano) 