The view of this particular Panorama is obscured, first by Leonard Bernstein’s clunky, mutilated second recording of Rhapsody in Blue, and second by James Levine’s totally un-hip Cuban Overture, with its recessed Latin percussion (Gershwin asked that they be positioned at the front of the orchestra) and charmless demeanor. Nor do I understand why André Previn’s various Gershwin arrangements and improvisations, good as they are, need be included when Universal has the entire Verve catalog to call upon, including recordings of this music by Ella Fitzgerald (with Louis Armstrong), Sarah Vaughan, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, and heaven knows who else. Come to think of it, Lorin Maazel did a first rate Rhapsody in Blue with Ivan Davis, and the hands-down best Cuban Overture ever, both on Decca. Werner Haas’ contributions in the Second Rhapsody and “I Got Rhythm” Variations are better than we might have expected (but still nothing to shout about), and I find Previn’s Pittsburgh version of the Piano Concerto preferable to his earlier EMI recording with the LSO. Seiji Ozawa’s American in Paris may be a bit too sleek, and Levine’s Porgy and Bess Suite suffers from the same lack of swing as his Cuban Overture. In short, with the possible exception of the Concerto in F, this is neither the best DG Panorama by a long shot, nor is it a particularly fine Gershwin collection given what Universal could (should) have offered.
