Search - Oscar Levant :: Plays Levant & Gershwin

Historical Oscar Levant

D. A Wend | Buffalo Grove, IL USA | 12/27/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Oscar Levant was a pianist, actor and composer. Knowing him mainly through his association with George Gershwin, I was curious what the music he wrote would be like. This CD answers that question. The recordings on this disc come from rare acetate discs (from 1930 - 1950) that have been painstakingly digitized and transferred to CD. The first part of this disc is devoted to a musical portrait of Gershwin with Mr. Levant speaking and playing the piano in various Gershwin works. There are some interesting insights into Gershwin and a couple of nice anecdotes. Then, comes operatic music Mr. Levant wrote for the film Charlie Chan at the Opera. The music entirely consists on the vocal selections that provided the film with its "opera." Other selections on this disc are by Oscar Levant and include a Piano Sonatina and a Piano Concerto. Both works are quite a contrast to the Gershwin pieces; they have a more modern twist to them with a more abrasive style in line with Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber. It would be interesting to her more of Oscar Levant. Overall, this is an interesting disc that is worthy of interest for any fan of Levant."

Of historical interest and for collectors

D. A Wend | 12/11/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"1) If you're considering this you should know that its recording quality is very, very poor. Understandable given the circumstances, but worth pointing out nevertheless. 2) You aren't going to want to listen to Levant's spoken dialogue over and over.3) The Oscar Levant song "Young in Heart" is a throwaway, with florid piano accompaniment and a not particularly memorable tune and lyric, but a reasonable out-take specimen of the historical period -- a curiosity.4) The "Rhapsody in Blue" rendition here is mannered and ineffective.5) The first movement of the "Sonatina" sounds rather like Gershwin sans melody. The piano concerto is more or less watered-down Schoenberg w/bits of Gershwin parody.6) The Charlie Chan movie opera segments do nothing for me."