Excellent to have all this archival material on a single CD now. The performances of Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris may never be ones anybody would choose to listen to regularly—the sound is very much of its period—but as documents these are fascinating. Rhapsody in Blue is the original version, which is also recorded under Tilson Thomas using the composer's own piano roll (CBS (CD) CD42240, 3/88), and with wonderful clarity and style by Peter Donohoe and the London Sinfonietta under Rattle (EMI (CD) CDC7 47991-2, 12/87). This is the second of two recordings Gershwin made with Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra—the one with the better sound.
Gershwin's solos include the Andante—the big tune in the middle from Rhapsody in Blue. This differs from the printed version by being in the original key—E not E flat—and Gershwin adds a four-bar introduction, does tremolos at 1'03'' in the right hand, and goes on to provide a link and variations. The three Preludes are often heard in this unique performance. Landmarks are the blunder in the first one—Gershwin really goes off the rails at 1'07'' and takes a bar or two to get back; the second is stricter in tempo than most players now allow and much faster than marked; and we now know that there were more Preludes (see Robert Wyatt's article in American Music, Vol. 7, No. 1; Spring 1989) which have not yet reached a recording.
An American in Paris is notable for Gershwin's own participation on the celesta—starting at 6'02''. Notice the free and easy dance-band style of the brass players, especially the trumpet at 8'58'' creeping up to the note. Again, this performance is of largely historical interest. So too are the composer's own performances of ten show tunes. Eight of these have attained a kind of classic status since the sheet music was published in 1987 thanks to painstaking transcription by Artis Wodehouse (Gershwin's Improvisations for solo piano, transcribed from the 1926 and 1928 recordings; Warner Brothers Publications Inc., 265 Secaucus Road, Secaucus, N. J. 07094). Compare these free-ranging treatments of his own tunes with the printed arrangements in the George Gershwin Song Book—nicely played by Angela Brownridge on Hyperion/Helios ((CD) CDH88045, 1/91) or by William Bolcom on an earlier American Nonesuch LP (nla). Like Gershwin's piano rolls, these performances were meant for dancing; they were not edited at all, and so they give the real flavour of his virile, gutsy playing.'