Gershwin Performs Gershwin: Rare Recordings 1931-1935
More interesting (and--predictably--less mechanical) than his piano rolls,Gershwin Performs Gershwinshowcases the Gershwin-conducted rehearsal sessions forSecond RhapsodyandPorgy and Bessalong with two Gershwin radio specials recorded in the early '30s titledMusic by Gershwin. These are period pieces, for sure--the sound is shoddy, and the radio spots' commercials are as entrancing as the music that's being played. But, yes, thatisGershwin conducting and playing piano, and this is as close as we'll get to hearing these familiar tunes being played the way he wanted them.--Jason Verlinde