Rhapsody in Blue. Second Rhapsody. Variations - I Got Rhythm. Piano Concerto in F (2 пластинки)

George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue. Second Rhapsody. Variations - I Got Rhythm. Piano Concerto in F

Альбом: 2 пласт. (альбомный формат)
Запись: 1980 г.
Тип записи: стерео
Оборотов в мин.: 33
Состояние(диск/конверт): очень хорошее/очень хорошее
Производство: Польша
Фирма: Muza

Side A
Rhapsody in Blue 17'4

Side В
Second Rhapsody 15'50

Side A
1. Variations - I Got Rhythm 9'45
2. Piano Concerto in F
I Allegro 13’00

Side В
Piano Concerto in F
II. Adagio. Andante con moto 12'50
III. Allegro agitato 6'42

ANDRZEJ RATUSINSKI – piano
The Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
JERZY SALWAROWSKI - conductor


On February 12, 1924, George Gershwin crossed the line separating the popular composer of hits and musicals for Broadway from a composer of concert music… He was helped in it by Paul Whitman, the then „king of jazz", who had commissioned with him a piece for a big concert in the Aeolian Hall in New York. The purpose of the concert, entitled „Experimentation in modern music", was to enable the public, and first of all the musicologists and critics, to find an answer to the question: „What is the American music?". And in the majority of reviews the answer was clear: the piece which had best captured the spirit of American music of that period was a composition by Gershwin — the Rhapsody in Blue.
George Gershwin (1898—1937), crazy about music when still a boy, got his first song published at the age of eighteen, and when he was twenty his first musical was staged on Broadway. When, in 1924, Whitman won his co-operation, Gershwin had already made a name for himself on Broadway as a composer of hits, one of which (Swanee) had become world famous. But at the same time he had hardly made serious musical studies (only a few years of piano studies and several lessons of composition with a second-rate teacher), so he was right in fearing that Whitman's commission would prove too hard a test for his ability. He therefore gave up the form of a concerto, as suggested by Whitman (though the piece had already been advertised as such in the newspapers) and adopted a more loose form of rhapsody. Furthermore, he wrote the work in a two-piano version, leaving the orchestration to Whitman's distinguished arranger, Ferd Grofe (although he himself made some suggestions, among them that of the famous clarinet glissando opening the piece; Whitman's clarinetist Ross Gorman was considered a master in producing such glissandi and Gershwin had the bright idea of using his skill). As regards the title of the composition it was suggested to him by his brother, Ira. Originally, Gershwin intended to call the piece simply the American Rhapsody, but Ira, who had earlier seen a picture by Whistler entitled Nocturne in Blue and Green and who reflected on the connections between some colours and moods, proposed the title to be changed for a Rhapsody in Blue…George was of course soloist when the Rhapsody was performed in the Aeolian Hall, and the conductor was of course
What sort of piece is the Rhapsody in Blue? It is a rhapsody in the Lisztian style, freely constructed, based on a contrast of moods and tempi through the combination of typically Broadwain themes with a singing theme reminiscent of those in a Tchaikovsky concerto. The decisive importance of this piece consists in the fact that the elements of jazz and popular music were introduced in it into the concerto form and that it was done in the most happy way. Now we know that the composition has not fulfilled the expectations to the extent Gershwin thought it would: it did not definitely cross the boundary separating classical music from the popular one, remaining on the fringes of truly „serious" music, the artistically significant one. All the same it does remain a very valuable, representative piece of its period, a music which captured the atmosphere of America in the 1920s, as once had done the Offenbach cancans in regard to the period of the Second Empire. Encouraged by the success of the Rhapsody, Gershwin accepted, this time with more assurance, the next „serious" commission. Hardly a year later he wrote the Piano Concerto in F, commissioned by the New York Symphonic Society, at the suggestion of the distinguished conductor, Walter Damrosch. Gershwin had by then completed his knowledge of orchestration and so he did himself orchestrate the Concerto, and then, on December 3, 1925, he played it in the Carnegie Hall under Damrosch's direction. A few days before the concert he had published in the "New York Herald Tribune" the description of the new composition: "The first movement is based on a Charleston rhythm. It is fast and pulsating, and it pictures the young enthusiastic spirit of American life. It is opened by a rhythmic motive initiated by the drums, and then taken over by other percussion instruments as well as by a Charleston theme introduced by bassoons, horns, clarinets and violas. Later the second theme is introduced by the piano. The second movement has a lyrical, nocturne-like atmosphere which can be compared to the mood of the American blues but those of pure form, not those we usually hear. The third movement is akin in style to the first. It is an orgy of rhythm; it starts with passion and keeps up this passion till the end". It must be added that the Concerto in F is technically more mature than the Rhapsody, although its structure too does not win either had no wish to stick to the rules, or he had not patience enough, or enough… knowledge.
After completing the Concerto in F, Gershwin resumed his work for Broadway and only three years later, on December 13, 1928, Walter Damrosch presented his next concert composition: An American in Paris, and then after another three years (29.1.1932) Gershwin performed for the first time, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Sergei Koussevitzky, the Second Rhapsody for piano and orchestra… The piece did not meet with a very favourable reception, although there is no question that both musically and technically this work is more mature (which is natural) than the Rhapsody in Blue. There are in it fascinating changes of tempi, interesting sonorities, a magnificent network of rhythms.. As regards its structure the Second Rhapsody is indeed a little similar to the Rhapsody in Blue; in its beautiful middle movement a blues melody appears surrounded by very rhythmic and dynamic themes. Half a year after the completion of the Second Rhapsody, Gershwin, inspired by his stay in Havanna, composed yet another concert piece: the Cuban Overture, and, in 1934, arranged a theme of his own song, written four years earlier, I Got Rhythm, into variations for piano and a big orchestra. The fact was he had signed a contract for a tour (a,s a pianist) with the Leo Reisman Orchestra and wanted to play at those concerts something new, unknown to the public. The Variations I Got Rhythm he completed on January 6, 1934, and played them eight days later in Boston at a concert initiating the tour, the conductor being Charles Previn..'! There is a commonly held opinion that it was Gershwin who was the first to introduce jazz into concert music. This view is not correct: at the same time as Gershwin also others had a similar idea, to mention only Stravinsky (Piano Rag Music — 1920), and Milhaud (Creation du monde — 1923). But it was Gershwin who found in this area the best solutions and who was thereby the first to popularize jazz elements in concert-halls. Only his pieces came to be played the world over arousing interest in the Negro folk music and the syncopated rhythms. Gershwin discovered jazz first of all for… the Americans, and then he discovered American music for the Europeans.

Andrzej Ratusinski was born in Starochowice on November 9, 1949. At the age of five he began to learn piano playing undeder his father, and a year later he got the Ministry of Culture and Art scholarschip which enabled him to take lessons with Professor Stanistawa Raube in Warsaw. From 1963 he was pupil of Professor Margerita Trombini-Kazuro and it was in her classes that he completed with honours his studies both at the State Secondary Music. School (1968) and then at the State Higher Music School in Warsaw (1973).
When still a student he won five successive national piano competitions for the Frederic Chopin Society scholarships. At that time began his career of a concert pianist. He represented the State Higher School of Music at the International Festival of Music Academies in Yugoslavia which earned him invitations for concerts and recordings also in the next seasons. In 1973 he became winner of the 25th International F. Busoni Piano Competition in Bolzano. From then on he has been receiving an increasing number of invitations for concerts both in this country and abroad. During the last four years he has given concerts in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, FRG, GDR, Hungary, Italy, Kenia, Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, Uganda and Yugoslavia. He also took part in many international music festivals: the 33rd Chopin Festival at Duszniki, 15th Chopin Festival at Marianske Lazne (Czechoslovakia), Bregenzer Festspiele 78 (Austria), Flemish Festival (Belgium), and the Polish Piano Festival at Slupsk, he also gave a series of master recitals at the Concervatoire in Nairobi (Kenia).
Andrzej Ratusinski gave concerts with such famous orchestras as the Leipzig Radio Orchestra, Zagrab Radio and TV Orchestra, Orchestre Suisse Romande, Wiener Symphoni-ker. Then he made many disc and radio recordings, also for foreign radio stations (RTZ Zagrab, RAI Rome, ORF Vienna).
Since 1974 Andrzej Ratusinski has been soloist of the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra. His repertoire covers all periods and styles, and apart from his solo appearances he is also fond of playing chamber music which he does with such distinguished musicians as the violonist Wanda Wilkomirska.

Jerzy Salwarowski was born in Cracow in 1946. His great gift for music was evident already in his early childhood. He entered the State Academy of Music in Cracow to study composition with two world-famous Polish composers, Krzysztof Penderccki and Tadeusz Machl, as well as conducting under Henryk Czyz and Krzysztof Missona. He graduated from the Academy in 1970. Later that year Jerzy Salwarowski took part in the 1st All-Polish Conducting Contest in Katowice to be awarded a prize by the music critics. After a number of successful appearances he became a conductor in the National Philharmonic in Opole. He has been holding this post ever since.
Jerzy Salwarowski's further career was marked by the following events:
— 2nd prize at the 2nd All-Polish Conducting Contest in Katowice, 1974,
— 1st prize at the International Conducting Competition in Siena, 1976,
— 2nd prize (no 1st prize awarded) at the International Conducting Competition under the auspices of the Hungarian TV, Budapest, 1977.
In 1975 Jerzy Salwarowski, granted a Ministry of Culture and Art scholarship, took part in the 29th Music and Drama Festival in Edinburgh; a year later he attended a masters' course conducted by Franco Ferrara at the Siena Accademia Musicale Chigiana. Since his studies Jerzy Salwarowski has been giving numerous concerts. So far he has appeared in Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Soviet Union, Unites States. Needless to say, he has led many orchestras in Poland and appeared with them all over the country. It must be added here that his concert programme is many-sided, due to his extremely vast repertoire. He is an excellent hand at conducting works by classics, romantics as well as contemporary masters. Since 1978 he is acting as conductor of the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowiee. At the same time he cooperates with the State Philharmonic Orchestra in Poznan and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Cracow.