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George Gershwin: reference sources (web and print); selected songs; recordings, videos; miscellany

Overview and Commentary: George Gershwin (This section remains in preparation)

A month after Gershwin's death in 1937, there was a memorial concert for him at Lewisohn Stadium in New York City, a venue where he had himself performed several times, the last occasion being not long before he died. On that occasion he had been disappointed that only a few thousand people had attended. The memorial concert drew over 20,000 a new stadium attendance record. Walter Rimler quotes the New York Times article on the concert:

Aside from the regular seating accommodations, every extra inch of space had been utilized for the expected overflow, but the crown was more than authorities had counted on. Standees lined both extension walls of the the shell and occupied every point of vantage. The aisles of the stands were filled. Hundreds of stood by at the stadium fences on Convent Avenue, 136th sand 138th Streets."

Rimler goes on to note that among the participants was Harry Kaufman, who played the Concerto in F. Todd Duncan (The original Porgy), Anne Brown, Ruby Elzy and the Eva Jessye Choir from the original cast performed selections from Porgy and Bess. A similar memorial took place at the The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles later that month and was similarly mobbed. At that concert some of the above performers were joined by Fred Astaire singing "They Can't Take That Away from Me" and Oscar Levant, a long time Gershwin colleague and family friend who overcame five years of stage fright to play the Concerto in F. (Rimler, p. 164).


Fred Astaire sings "They Can't Take That Away From Me to Ginger Rogers in the movie Shall We Dance, 1937, the score for which being the last that George Gershwin completed before His death. (The encore performance in the video is from the 1949 movie The Barkleys of Broadway, the last film Fred and Ginger made together.)

The following bibliography of articles from the New York Times (and other publications) appearing during the summer and fall of 2011 and winter of 2012, chronicles a discussion about new productions of the George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, and Dubose Heyward opera Porgy and Bess.

In a letter to The Times [see below], Mr. Sondheim declared his opposition to filling out the backstory of the characters of the show and changing its ending. His tone was angry, even mean, and while some speculated about ulterior motives, anyone who has read Mr. Sondheim’s opinionated book “Finishing the Hat” knows this argument stems from strongly-held beliefs about “Porgy and Bess.” Ms. [Diane] Paulus [the show's director] will have her chance to prove him wrong, and while she was surely not pleased with this feedback, I suspect it will only increase interest in her production and debate about the show. What was startling about Mr. Sondheim’s letter was its disregard for the diplomatic etiquette usually practiced by artists in the press. It suggested there are things in the theater more important than hurt feelings. (from a column titled "Theater Talk-back: The Good That Comes From Bad Reviews" by Jason Zinoman that appeared in The New York Times , April, 5, 2011.)

The citations below are in chronological order from earliest date to most recent and the links will take you to the articles themselves at NYTimes.com and the sites of other publications. (All The Times articles will be available to subscribers and to those who have not exceeded The Times' limit for viewing articles on line within a given period. --Read more about NY Times Digital subscriptions.)

Late 1932 or early 1933
Listen to George Gershwin playing and commenting on his own works on the Rudy Vallée radio show*. (*aka "The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour"). The recording begins with an introduction of Gershwin who then plays his own arrangement of variations on "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Liza," continues with something a little more unusual, a blues lullaby based on one of his preludes for strings, and concludes with Gershwin waggishly interviewing himself.

George Gershwin introduces selections from his Porgy and Bess on the radio July 19, 1935 before it opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theater on Oct. 10, 1935.

Notes: Sarah Vaughan recorded several albums of Gershwin Songs. Click the album cover or the iTunes link to view to view Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin at iTunes; click the Amazon link to view the remastered version of the same album.

Notes: The Oscar Peterson Trio on this album consists of Peterson on Piano, Ray Brown on Bass and and Ed Thigpen on drums.

Research Resources: George Gershwin

Notes

Questions

What is George Gershwin?

A month after Gershwin's death in 1937, there was a memorial concert for him at Lewisohn Stadium in New York City, a venue where he had himself performed several times, the last occasion being not long before he died. On that occasion he had been disappointed that only a few thou

How should George Gershwin be cited?

Cite this page as "George Gershwin: reference sources (web and print); selected songs; recordings, videos; miscellany," Cafe Songbook, https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songwriters/g_sws/gershwin_george.html

Which Cafe Songbook pages are related?

Also read "They Can't Take That Away from Me" (https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/t/they_cant_take_that_away_f.html); "Anything for You" (https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/a/anything_for_you.html); "Ask Me Again" (https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/a/ask_me_again.html); "Beginner's Luck" (https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/b/beginners_luck.html).

Cite this page: George Gershwin: reference sources (web and print); selected songs; recordings, videos; miscellany, Cafe Songbook, https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songwriters/g_sws/gershwin_george.html