Search - Dallas Symphony Orchestra, George Gershwin, Andrew Litton :: Gershwin: A Dayful of Song

Gershwin In Big "D"

Erik North | San Gabriel, CA USA | 11/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One would think that everything that George Gershwin ever composed would be in the American musical lexicon by now. But as this 1998 recording by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and its music director Andrew Litton shows, there is still more to be had from this composer who, in 1998, would have been 100 years old had he not passed away so tragically young in 1937.



This recording contains four of Gershwin's biggest concert "hits"--"Rhapsody In Blue" (in its rarely heard arrangement for jazz band); the delicious "Cuban Overture"; the tranquil "Lullaby"; and the bustling "An American In Paris." But it also includes "Dayful Of Song", a medley arrangement for piano and orchestra made by arranger and orchestrator Sid Ramin of seven never-before-heard Gershwin songs--"Hold On"; "I Must Write A Song"; "Hot"; "One Minute More"; "Sutton Place"; "My Honor Was At Stake"; and "Machinery Goes Mad"; that piece gets its world premiere recording right here. The CD also has the rarely heard "Promenade (Walking The Dog)" that Gershwin composed for the 1937 Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers film SHALL WE DANCE; it was to be his final project.



With Litton serving as piano soloist in "Dayful Of Song" and "Rhapsody In Blue", and conductor on each of the works, the Dallas Symphony excels as being one of America's finest, particularly in homegrown repertoire such as Gershwin's. Litton proudly continues the streak of excellence fostered in Dallas under his predecessor, the late Eduardo Mata, and the recording quality of the Meyerson Symphony Center, where the recording was made in September 1998, is fabulous. This recording is vigorously recommended for all music lovers, particularly Gershwin fanatics, even if you already own recordings of many of the pieces featured here."