Gershwin: Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra

Chronique

This Gershwin release is part of a series devoted to American piano music by pianist Cecile Licad. There is no shortage of recordings of any of these piano-and-orchestra works, possibly excepting the Second Rhapsody, but Licad passes the hardest test right off: she offers a distinctive reading of the most famous Gershwin piece of all, the Rhapsody in Blue. CD buyers may get a booklet that quotes Gershwin as saying that "American music... must express the feverish tempo of American life," but Licad's version is anything but feverish. Her Rhapsody in Blue clocks in at 18 minutes, 44 seconds, probably two minutes slower than usual. It's deliberate in feel, and Licad pushes the sense of opening up the work and examining it even further as the piece proceeds. As she approaches the big romantic theme, her playing becomes more and more improvisatory and rhythmically freer. This makes sense and plays up the contrast between this "European" theme and the American blues and jazz of the foregoing material. One suspects that Gershwin would have liked Licad's improvisatory style here and in the Variations on "I Got Rhythm," even if the more classical shape of the Concerto in F gives her less room to move. Her characteristic brilliance is there as well, and conductor Gerard Salonga, leading the South Denmark Philharmonic Orchestra, follows the fast-moving action well. A distinctive release even for those with packed Gershwin shelves or hard drives.

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