The present recording of Gershwin’s Concerto in F is the first to use the George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition text, which derives from sources directly attributed to Gershwin, as opposed to third-party interlopers. Editor Timothy Freeze’s annotations address specific details of articulation and orchestration that purport to cast familiar passages in new light. More importantly, however, the performance is fabulous.

David Alan Miller’s audaciously brisk yet vividly executed opening ritornello sets the stage for Kevin Cole’s vital and direct handling of the solo part, while the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic’s principals revel in Gershwin’s sassy solo licks and syncopations. Cole manages to convey the central movement’s tender lyricism without the least trace of sentimentality, while the deft call-and-response between the piano’s rapid alternating chords and orchestral rejoinders in the finale go like gangbusters.

It’s further refreshing to find this performance coupled with equally distinctive yet utterly ‘un-Gershwin-like’ American works. Actually, John Harbison’s Remembering Gatsby is a skilful send-up of 1920s American pop idioms, although the bold tuttis smack more of early Shostakovich and the dotted rhythms are more redolent of Weill/Brecht than Paul Whiteman. Joan Tower’s Sequoia teems with soaring string melodies capped by glittering percussion and colourfully combative ensemble writing that basically updates the early Stravinsky playbook. In some respects Miller and his musicians deliver the work’s best recorded performance, which benefits from clearer woodwind lines and frequently faster tempos. However, I slightly prefer the live New York Philharmonic recording under Zubin Mehta (12/99) for its heftier climaxes and more prominent percussion.

It used to be easy to take Walter Piston’s uncluttered craft and melodic equanimity for granted. Yet what’s not to love about the Fifth Symphony’s lucid narrative trajectory and strategically organised climaxes, or as witty and unpredictable a finale as any that Malcolm Arnold served up? We can finally retire Robert Whitney’s serviceable yet aged Louisville Symphony premiere recording (Albany/First Edition, 4/89) in favour of this new version’s modern engineering and multi-level orchestral finesse. Both conceptually and musically, this is an inspired release, well worth investigating.