There are legions of recordings of this repertoire to choose from and you may not get the best performance of all three works on one CD. But this is a winning package, especially for the Concerto and An American in Paris. My own preference is for a rhythmically taut approach to the Piano Concerto, so I have admired Szidon under Downes with the LPO (DG, 10/89) finding slight weaknesses of ensemble where conductors such as Previn (Philips, 11/85; EMI, 9/86) and Litton (Virgin Classics, 9/90) both play and direct. (Seemy comments on the Jablonski recording of the Concerto on Decca in the July issue.) But in going back to the dance-band sources of Gershwin's rhythmic style it would obviously be a mistake to regard his own casual and insensitive performance of ''The Man I love'', for example, as the only way of approaching his music. Joanna MacGregor's interpretation is sensitive and poetic, carefully thought out in its details, with many original and witty touches of pacing which bear repetition. The continuity of the first movement works well with effective climaxes—at 12'29'' MacGregor spurns the rising scale passage and substitutes a glissando.
The second movement starts with an atmospherically distant horn and the trumpet solo is wonderfully controlled—presumably the same player in An American in Paris is also a joy in that work at 7'23'' with the blues melody. The piano solo emphasizes the blue notes and this usually rather discursive movement is held together for once, or when it rambles it does so with charm—refreshing feminine charm in a concerto which has usually been a male preserve. The finale may lack excitement, but this is partly due to the recording, which is slightly distant. The balance is good apart from a few details—in the first movement the woodwind slightly overpowers the soloist at 9'13'', but sometimes you hardly hear this passage, and in the finale the soloist is rather loud at 3'49''. But the bass drum everywhere contributes to the high spots and the gong at 5'03'' in the finale (feeble in some recordings) is a treat. All tuttis are rich.
There are no particular distinguishing features about Carl Davis's slightly stolid interpretation of An American in Paris, although his understanding of all three works here is abundantly clear. Rhapsody in Blue starts with a magnificent wayward clarinet solo and the brass flutter-tonguing is just right. But MacGregor is a bit slack rhythmically, certainly by comparison with Peter Donohoe and Simon Rattle on EMI (see also below) or Gershwin himself, whose second recording is now on CD (Halcyon/Scott Butler, 9/91). Davis makes the Andantino at 10'25'' hard to take seriously—the opening dragged out and the follow-up at double speed. Gershwin, and Rattle, keep the shape of things better. This Rhapsody lets down the other two performances.'