Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue - An American in Paris

In many ways, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin were very similar: both were great showmen, at ease with different kinds of music, and both were superb performers. On this essential recording, Bernstein the pianist gives a winningly loose-limbed performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, a work so fresh that it’s hard to believe it was premiered 100 years ago, in 1924. Also featured here are a near-ideal performances of Gershwin’s An American in Paris and Bernstein’s own, sizzling Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Finally, Bernstein’s searing score to On the Waterfront, the 1954 film about life on the New Jersey docks, oozes atmosphere and angst.