Orchestre de Paris / Igor Levit / Manfred Honeck

In the spring of 1928, George Gershwin was an American in Paris. The composer had come to the city on the Seine, home of the Orchestre de Paris, to take lessons with Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Ravel. But both of the prospective teachers turned Gershwin down because they were afraid that a classical superstructure would spoil his unique jazzy sound. Such reservations were nothing new for Gershwin. After the success of »Rhapsody in Blue«, he not only chose a neutral genre title for his Piano Concerto, free of any programmatic references: he also opted for the traditional three-movement form. Notwithstanding, from the very first bar of this »Concerto in F« it is clear that this is not a work rooted in the classical style. Pianist Igor Levit doesn’t let himself be hoodwinked either – he makes regular excursions himself into the realm of jazz.