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Phillip T Young Recital Hall
October 20, 2009
"The Rhapsody [in Blue] is not a composition at all. It's a string of separate paragraphs stuck together - with a thin paste of flour and water...I don't think there has been such an inspired melodist on this earth since Tchaikovsky...but if you want to speak of a composer, that's another matter."
Leonard Bernstein - and why does one suspect that his next sentence would have begun "I, on the other hand" - was writing in the Atlantic Monthly in 1955. Gershwin had been safely dead for eighteen years and one cannot help but feel that Bernstein was working out some sort of inner conflict here - it is tempting to suggest that he spent the first half of his career wanting to be George Gershwin, the second wanting to be Gustav Mahler.
But his remarks about the Rhapsody in Blue could be as easily applied to a number of highly popular works by eminently respected composers; without overworking the comparison, Schubert and Dvorák, "inspired melodists" both, have also been criticised for their handling (or lack of same) of musical form.
Pianist Richard Glazier is is no doubt as to the lasting value of the music of Gershwin (or a number of his contemporaries) and his fascinating "multimedia" recital on Tuesday evening was an unalloyed pleasure from beginning to end.
The music of Gershwin both framed and informed the entire evening, from the opening Rialto Ripples - an early piano piece - accompanied by motion picture footage of Jewish immigrant life in early 20th century New York, to the closing Rhapsody in Blue in Glazier's own arrangement for piano solo.
In between, besides more Gershwin, we had music by, inter alia, Harold Arlen and Hugh Martin; names that perhaps do not mean much to the average music-lover, although mention just a few of their songs ("Stormy Weather" and "Paper Moon" are Arlen's, "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", Martin's) and recognition will be instantaneous.
Glazier spoke about the music with great enthusiasm and most informatively, the pictures and films which accompanied some of the songs were quite remarkable.
There was, for example, a photo of the 12-year-old Glazier with the 79-year-old Ira Gershwin displayed as Glazier played "Embraceable You" in the same arrangement he had played for Ira on the occasion of their first meeting in 1975. The playing must have summoned up powerful memories, for Glazier was visibly moved.
Or the remarkable home movies filmed by Harold Arlen on the set of The Wizard of Oz which accompanied Glazier's playing "Over the Rainbow".
Every bit as remarkable, as Glazier played Arlen's "The Man that Got Away" we watched a kinescope of the opening night of A Star is Born, featuring a number of familiar and unfamiliar faces - Jack Palance sporting a distinctly odd haircut and a stern Joan Crawford ("Mommy Dearest" at her most intimidating).
All of this, however, would have counted for nothing without Glazier's magnificent playing. He approaches these songs with as much respect and care - and yes, love - as if he were playing Chopin or Brahms. Yet he never lets us forget that this music was written for the people and should not be over-intellectualised.
This is a considerable balancing act, which Glazier carries off to perfection.
The evening's finale, the aforementioned Rhapsody in Blue was wonderful: stylishly played with a real improvisational feeling and sparkling pianism. In a word: thrilling.
It was a pity that - presumably due to economic circumstances and the fact that the recital was mid-week - the audience did not pack the hall to the rafters.
But those who did make the effort were more than well-rewarded for their efforts.
A truly wonderful evening's music-making.
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