Philippe Entremont and Eugene Ormandy had a decent account on Sony SBK 46338. Some of Gershwin's finest and most subtle effects lie in subsidiary orchestral lines. Oscar Levant and André Kostelanetz did a fine version on Sony MPK 47681, but the sound is "historical," and you lose much detail in the orchestra. Earl Wild and Arthur Fiedler turn in a barn-burner on RCA 6519-2-RG. One rarely finds even a good performance. This listener's roadmap will show you how Gershwin put together one of his finest works, strangely neglected on record. Curiously, very few people have made Gershwin conductors adhere to the same standard. We judge the worth of a Brahms conductor by how well he shapes things. Incidentally, one has much the same problem in a work like Brahms' Symphony No. It is difficult to pick out his transitions, since, like Brahms, his transitions comprise bits of themes. A conductor must design the builds, climaxes, and falls-away, since Gershwin doesn't give much help. The major weakness of Gershwin is not that the movements don't cohere, but that it's difficult to shape a movement. If you expect a classical concerto or something like the Brahms, don't hold your breath. One hears over and over again how, while Gershwin may have been a genius, he did not know how to compose long works, that there are structural weaknesses, and that much of what he does is slop work to get to his next big theme.
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