Quintessential Gershwin at the Philharmonic
Quintessential Gershwin at the Philharmonic
On December 31st, 2009, conductor Alan Gilbert wisely let the New York Philharmonic do their thing (and that swing) in Gershwin’s “American in Paris”, as the orchestra—due to its long history with the work– can possibly play it like they play Bernstein’s “Candide Overture”: that is without a conductor. But I exaggerate a bit; some of the tricky tempo changes, balances and juxtapositions of rhythm need to be negotiated smoothly by a conductor with taste. Gilbert impressively accomplished that, and the end result was the quintessential performance of “An American in Paris”.
