Crossover performers are the rule today rather than the exception. Opera singers perform pop songs, TV actors appear in movies, film scores feature “classical” music and concert orchestras perform Broadway show tunes.
The roots of this trend can be traced to the featured composer of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra’s Sunday concert, George Gershwin. Well known in his early years as a composer for Tin Pan Alley and the Broadway stage, Gershwin desperately wanted to cross over and be recognized as a concert composer through his use of the newly emerging American jazz style. This was achieved in the work “Rhapsody in Blue.” With music by his contemporaries Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Maurice Ravel, Duke Ellington, Claude Debussy, the concert titled “Through Gershwin’s Eyes” showcased the similarities of these composers with Gershwin through some of their iconic compositions performed by the CSO, and featuring piano soloist Greg Kostraba.
The concert opened with Cole Porter favorites: “An Orchestral Fantasy on Cole Porter Melodies” arranged by G. Stone, and “Show Boat: Overture for Orchestra arranged by P. Gordon,” both of which featured many well know tunes from these two early musical theater composers and colleagues of Gershwin. Of particular note were the Porter classics “Night and Day” featuring the brass section of the CSO and “Anything Goes” showcasing the talents of the percussion section. Jerome Kern’s melodies seem made for strings and the CSO did not disappoint with their renditions of “You Are Love”, “Make Believe” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man.” In the finale of the overture, the CSO unleashed the full power of its ensemble in a stirring performance of the Kern standard “Old Man River” that drew lengthy and strong applause from the audience.
Crossing over into its concert repertoire, the CSO next performed Maurice Ravel’s “Pavanne Pour Une Infante Defunte.” Gershwin had attempted to study composition with Ravel, who refused him saying, “Why become a second-rate Ravel when you are already a first-rate Gershwin?” This softer and less familiar moment in the concert was highlighted by the fine playing of both the strings and the woodwinds with an almost inaudible ending as Maestro Josh Aerie kept the audience from applauding until he dropped his final conducting gesture.
Next the CSO performed pieces by two of Gershwin’s piano contemporaries in the jazz great Duke Ellington and French composer Claude Debussy. “Duke Ellington! A Medley for Orchestra” arranged by C. Custer was the CSO at its best, with a great jazz band feel driven by the drum set performance of Daniel Wiehe. Debussy’s piano piece “Petite Suite” orchestrated by H. Busser again emphasized the many “colors” of the different instrumental sections in a lyric, rhythmically intricate, four-movement work. It was a beautiful contrast to the big-band style of Ellington and again highlighted the musical sensitivity of Aerie and the CSO.
The final programmed selection of the concert was the feature “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin with piano soloist Greg Kostraba. Kostraba is both a radio professional as content director at WBAA Public Radio from Purdue University and a concert pianist. He works frequently with Aerie as a member of the Sylvan Trio and their familiarity with each other helped make this performance of the Gershwin memorable.
With the piano placed in front of the orchestra it was very easy for each person in the audience to see the soloist and his physical involvement in his performance. It was obvious how much he enjoyed playing this piece. He leaned in to the keyboard in the softer sections, moved his shoulders in time to the music as he listened to the orchestra when he wasn’t playing, and even smiled at the audience after a particular trill high on the keys. He played with great passion and force equaled by the expression of the CSO.
A few moments of rhythmic insecurity between Mr. Kostraba and the orchestra were evident, but this did not lessen the positive impact of the overall performance. The acoustics of the cavernous space at The Commons did cause the orchestra at times to cover Mr. Kostraba particularly in the really loud moments of the piece, but the intensity and energy of the presentation overcame this slight imperfection. The audience responded to this performance with an instantaneous standing ovation, and was rewarded for their sustained applause with a solo piano encore by Mr. Kostraba of the well known Gershwin tune “The Man I Love.”
