Music of George Gershwin (1898–1937), William Terwilliger (violin), and Andrew Cooperstock (piano).
Selections from Porgy and Bess (1935) (arr. Jascha Heifetz) – Summertime/A Woman Is a Sometime Thing; My Man’s Gone Now; Bess, You Is My Woman Now; It Ain’t Necessarily So; Tempo di Blues
Short Story, for Violin and Piano (1927)
Three Preludes for Piano (1927) (arr. Jascha Heifetz) – Allegro ben ritmato e deciso; Andante con moto e poco rubato; Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
Excerpts from An American in Paris (1929) (arr. Jascha Heifetz/Ayke Agus)
Suite from Girl Crazy (1930/2012) (arr. Eric Stern – But Not for Me; Bidin’ My Time; Embraceable You; I Got Rhythm
First, this was some of the highest caliber playing I’ve heard in these free concerts at the Library for the Performing Arts. We actually got Summertime twice. It was played as a sort of lagniappe before Messrs. Cooperstock and Terwilliger took to the microphone in what was a bit of an old-fashioned concert/lecture. We learned that Gershwin (or the Gershwins) had written an earlier opera, “Blue Monday,” though I haven’t explored that info, yet, and that the first Heifetz arrangement we heard was made in 1944. Summertime had a rocking, lullaby accompaniment, with the tune presented in a straightforward manner. That was pretty much the tone of all of the Heifetz arrangements, though there was some exquisite writing for the violin. My Man’s Gone had an expansive opening from the piano, while the introduction to Bess was not exactly what was expected, but you knew that Bess was coming. Tempo di Blues seemed new to me, until I recognized the phrase, “There’s a Boat that’s Leaving Soon.”
From the stage, we learned that Short Story was the only Gershwin composition written for violin and piano and that, despite its charms, it never really caught on. I can fully see why, though, once again, this performance was completely enjoyable and well played.
The Three Preludes were all pretty much familiar to me. The second was relatively moody while the third was reminiscent of “It Ain’t Necessarily So” both rhythmically and in the tunes involved. Unfortunately the performance was marred slightly by the ringing of a cell phone in the audience. Turn the damn things off, or to vibrate. In fairness, there was not a specific announcement made ahead of time, but really?
An American in Paris was announced as 1928 from the stage, though the program said 1929. As an introduction, there was a film clip of the M-G-M musical, which I thought was not necessary at all. The juxtaposition of recorded music against what we were hearing live only made me appreciate the live sound even more. This arrangement for duo was just fine, though there were not imported French car horns as there were for the NY premiere of the original!
With the suite from Girl Crazy, we got a nice introduction to the popular/Broadway song form—AABA—a phrase, repeated, then a contrasting phrase (called the “bridge” or the “release”), followed by a return to the first phrase (usually musically, but with different lyrics). There was another film clip intro, which served no real purpose as far as I was concerned (though the audience seemed to appreciate Judy Garland’s singing). Mr. Stern’s arrangement was definitely an updating, in style, from the Heifetz arrangements. But Not for Me was cinematic, but still direct in terms of the tune. Bidin’ My Time had humor built into the arrangement. Embraceable You had a bit of a winding intro and then a lush laying out of the tune in the piano. I Got Rhythm jazzed up and tossed around the rhythm—to be expected. I have had the pleasure of singing an Eric Stern arrangement of a show tune (commissioned for the barbershop quartet I sang with at the time), and these arrangements pleased me just as much.
An encore was played—an Aaron Copland transcription of his “Hoedown” from Rodeo. While interesting, it was almost too frantic for my taste. I think I might have been happier sticking with all Gershwin. Still, as mentioned above, these two pros played marvelously, and it’s very clear that they are very well attuned to each other. What a great way to end a ConcertMeister year!
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