The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #173083   Message #4197645
Posted By: GUEST,Steve Shaw
21-Feb-24 - 05:48 AM
Thread Name: Rhapsody In Blue at 100
Subject: RE: Rhapsody In Blue at 100
When I said you can't win 'em all, I was responding to this:

"'Rhapsody’ I tend to agree: I gave it a listen. haven’t encountered it in some time and it sounds as corny, clunky and ‘Caucasian’ as it ever did. I understand what Gershwin was trying to do but Paul Whiteman wasn’t the man to help achieve it. Duke Ellington hands down on any recording blows this shmaltz away."

And I can't think how Gershwin could have unclunkified "Rhapsody" in any way without, well, making it boring... which it isn't!

I'm no fan of Strauss and his waltzes, but I love the Blue Danube (especially when conducted by Carlos Kleiber in his Vienna New Year's Day concerts!), but a close listen reveals that it's a bit of a "clunky" mix of different short sections that are somewhat unconnected. Does it work? For me it does!