Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, Piano Concerto, Variations on I Got Rhythm & Preludes Mark Bebbington

• 1 I. Allegro 14:47
• 2 II. Adagio - Andante con moto 15:21
• 3 III. Allegro agitato 07:21
• 4 Rhapsody in Blue 19:25
• 5 I Got Rhythm Variations 10:34
• 6 Novelette in Fourths 02:50
• 7 Rubato 01:15
• 8 Prelude (Fragment) 00:26
• 9 Melody No. 17, Sleepless Night 02:58
• 10 No. 1 in B-Flat Major: Allegro ben ritmato e deciso 01:42
• 11 No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor: Blue Lullaby: Andante con moto 03:57
• 12 No. 3 in E-Flat Minor: Spanish Prelude:Agitato 01:23
• 13 Melody No. 17, Sleepless Night (arr. K. Swift for piano) 02:56
• Total Runtime 01:24:55

Info for Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, Piano Concerto, Variations on I Got Rhythm & Preludes

Mark Bebbington, best-known for his much-acclaimed recordings of British music, takes a leap across the Atlantic to bring his refined yet expressive style to a spectacular all-Gershwin CD, alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Grammy Award-nominated American conductor Leon Botstein. The pair take a fresh interpretive look at some of Gershwin’s best-loved repertoire – Concerto in F, Rhapsody in Blue, the ‘I Got Rhythm’ Variations. And the first-ever integral recording of Gershwin’s Eight Preludes for Solo Piano, included in this double slimline CD as a bonus disc at the price of a single album.

Anyone familiar with Mark Bebbington’s probing interpretations – which have netted him seven five-star reviews in a row from BBC Music Magazine – and the questing musical explorations of Maestro Botstein (currently in his 23rd year as Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra) will know what to expect. And, says Bebbington, they uncovered unexpected shades among the famous melodies. “There is a real Mahlerian melancholy that lies at the heart of the slow movement of the Concerto,” he says, “and it’s when you take note of those profundities that the fierce joy elsewhere really makes sense.”

Leon Botstein brings a majestic intensity to the orchestral writing, with Mark Bebbington matching him bar by bar – bringing the same chemistry to the studio that infused their successful appearance together recently at Carnegie Hall. And they equally drink gleefully the heady cocktail of charleston and ragtime inflected with jazz that spikes these works. This will be a Gershwin recording to remember – fresh interpretations, a premiere, and two fine musicians at the top of their game.

„A fresh, breezy penetrating look at three Gershwin works for piano and orchestra.“ (MusicWeb International)

„Pianist Mark Bebbington brings a nice balance of swagger and thoughtfulness to this all-Gershwin programme. He has said he finds a Mahlerian melancholy in the second movement of the Concerto in F, which is almost a concerto in itself, and his playing here is supported by some shapely and characterful wind playing. But the whole work brings a tautly wound performance under conductor Leon Botstein. Rhapsody in Blue starts with a clarinet solo even more languorous than usual, and the RPO's colours at times are almost garish the muted trumpets play up the wah-wahs for all they're worth. But the performance is light on its feet, and the Variations on I Got Rhythm are similarly persuasive. An extra CD claims to offer the first recording as a complete set of the eight Preludes five more than most will be familiar with in this form, all snappily played.“ (Guardian)

„Strange to think that Gershwin's Concerto in F was published posthumously, the only recording available for many years being a cut version made by Ferde Grofé for the Paul Whiteman Band. Mark Bebbington's new disc feels like an attempt to reassert the concerto's academic respectability. Tempi are on the expansive side, and conductor Leon Botstein secures sumptuous playing from the Royal Philharmonic. It all sounds glorious. the RPO's principal trumpet is on superb form, and the big climaxes really sing out. The late Variations on I Got Rhythm is as sharp and witty a reading as I've ever heard. You get a sense of where Gershwin might have ended up had he lived longer, the harmonies bolder and the orchestration more imaginative. The scoring for tuned percussion is consistently brilliant. Marvellous. What does make this set worth acquiring is a bonus disc of the eight surviving Preludes for Piano. Twenty-four were planned, and of those completed, only three were published. Highlights are a breezy Novelette in Fourths and a percussive riff, which was later recycled in the concerto. Nicely recorded, with good sleeve art.“ (ArtsDesk)

Mark Bebbington, piano
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Leon Botstein, conductor

Mark Bebbington
The critical plaudits that have greeted Mark Bebbington’s performances and recordings have singled him out as a British pianist of the rarest refinement and maturity (“Bebbington is without doubt one of Britain’s finest pianists”, wrote Michel Fleury recently in Classica).

Internationally recognised as a champion of British music, in particular, Mark has recorded extensively for the Somm label to critical acclaim, with no fewer than nine of his recent CDs awarded 5***** by BBC Music Magazine. His most recent recordings include piano works by Arnold Bax and Harriet Cohen (an April 2019 Gramophone magazine ‘Editor’s Choice) and Vaughan Williams, which reached number 4 in the UK classical charts, three British Piano Concertos with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and an all-Gershwin album with Leon Botstein and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (‘Recording of the Month’ from MusicWeb International). His 2020 Poulenc release with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Jan Latham Koenig is the first in a French music series for Resonus Classics label.

A CD of Concertos by Grieg (including the première of his sketches for a Second Piano Concerto, edited by Robert Matthew-Walker) and Delius with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Jan Latham Koenig was released in April 2018 and became ‘CD of the Week’ in The Times and Mail on Sunday. His première recordings include one of Arnold Bax’s Piano Concertino coupled with John Ireland’s Piano Concerto and Legend, and premières of Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia and William Mathias’ first two Piano Concertos (Ulster Orchestra). In addition to concerto recordings, Mark completed his John Ireland and Frank Bridge solo piano series and released a CD of William Alwyn’s piano works in 2016. As well as his BBC Music Magazine success, he has won Gramophone magazine’s ‘Editor’s Choice’, International Record Review’s ‘Outstanding’ accolade and many others. International Piano Magazine wrote of him, “Bebbington’s revivals of British piano music are second to none; he could well be dubbed the concert pianists’ Richard Hickox. Bebbington has almost single-handedly demonstrated that 20th-century British piano scores have an exciting role to play in the concert hall and recording studio”.

Over recent seasons Mark has toured throughout Central and Northern Europe and in the United States (both as recitalist and as soloist with some of the world’s leading orchestras), as well as the Far East and North Africa. In 2017 he made his Carnegie Hall debut with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra and also appeared with the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra and on tour with the Israel Camerata and Czech National Orchestra. Within the UK, he has appeared in concertos with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras, Flanders Symphony Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, Orchestra of the Swan and BBC Concert Orchestra. He has featured both as soloist and recitalist on BBC Television and Radio and also on major European Television and Radio networks.

Mark studied at the Royal College of Music where he was a recipient of numerous international awards and prizes, including a Leverhulme Scholarship, a Winston Churchill Fellowship and the Ivan Sutton Recording Prize – the latter awarded to the one outstanding graduate of the combined London Music Colleges. He later studied in Italy with the legendary Aldo Ciccolini.

Booklet for Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, Piano Concerto, Variations on I Got Rhythm & Preludes