The very quick tempo that opens the Gershwin is deceptive: this is a relaxed but never slack reading of the Concerto in F, at least in the first two movements. Wayne Marshall gets some very stylish playing out by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and it’s interesting to note that the timings here are almost identical to Marshall’s own recordings for Virgin, where he both plays and conducts. Under the circumstances you might think that pianist Michael Rische is merely along for the ride, but he offers a warm and intelligent account of the solo part, both here and in the single-movement Antheil Jazz Symphony (which actually is a mini concerto for piano and orchestra). And the finale has plenty of verve, even if it doesn’t match the classic Wild/Fiedler on RCA.
The real gem here, though, is the Schulhoff, a minor masterpiece of 1920s “Euro-jazz” and a delicious work remarkably similar in shape and concept to Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand (which it predates by almost a decade). Gunther Schuller presides over the most insane “jazz” outburst yet, with rattles, typewriters, and all kinds of exotic percussion, making the music sound like the sort of thing Carl Stalling later did for Looney Tunes. Rische captures both the music’s dreamy interludes as well as its grittier edge, and the sonics, warm and a bit recessed in the Gershwin and Antheil, have more impact here. This is far and away the best performance of this work, beating out some very good competition on Supraphon, and a less interesting contender on Decca. A very enjoyable disc.
