Search - Simon Rattle :: Americana

This is a razzle-dazzle selection of American music culled from a few of Sir Simon Rattle's previously released recordings. Two excerpts from Porgy and Bess--"Summertime" and "It ain't necessarily so"--come near the CD's close, and they're reminders of what a great composer Gershwin was. Earlier, his Rhapsody in Blue is played in the orchestration by Grofé, and while it makes a good option, the more familiar version is preferable. Leonard Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs is not an easy, tuneful work, but it's fascinating and another side of a composer you may only be familiar with from West Side Story. "Take the A Train" really swings, and "Makin' Whoopee" is a joy. In fact, there's plenty here to revel in. It's a great sampler of American "classical" music. If you've either kept away from 20th-century or American music or simply were unfamiliar with it (or both), this will be a fine ear-opener. If you already appreciate the idiom, this offers a really fine cross-section. --Robert Levine