EIF: Wayne Marshall Plays Gershwin
Usher Hall – 13/08/2022
The Usher Hall on the night of Saturday 13th August was the venue for an evening of 20th Century Americana, with all the pizzazz, cosmopolitan pep and attitude (to be pronounced ‘attitood’) that that entails, meaning fusion of classical, jazz, blues and Latino influences and a certain amount of swagger. The partners-in-crime for this endeavour were our own Scottish Chamber Orchestra, swollen to full power with modern horns and trumpets, large timpani and triple wind, with extras such as an additional orchestral piano, saxophones, bass and E-flat clarinet, contrabassoon and even a banjo, directed (sometimes from the piano, sometimes standing and, on occasion, both simultaneously) by the flamboyant Wayne Marshall OBE. Even before launching into the programme, they cut a visual and aural dash.
First up was Gershwin’s ever-popular ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, with Wayne Marshall as soloist and conductor. The famous opening clarinet glissando was flawless and the SCO’s winds and brass were “in the zone” from the off with jazz effects such as wah-wah mutes and exaggerated vibrato. The solo instrument was a smaller grand with the lid removed (I would have liked an instrument with more oomph) and Wayne sat (mostly) with his back to the audience, so all his pianistic agility was on display. Remarkable though Gershwin’s writing for the piano is (the influences of Lisztian technical demands and Tchaikovsky’s emotional world were evident), Wayne Marshall’s extensive improvisatory excursions were spellbinding and contributed to a unique and unforgettable performance.
The musical clock was then wound forward to 1944 for Bernstein’s ballet score for ‘Fancy Free’ (which later that year formed the template for the Broadway show ‘On The Town’, and in 1949 the movie based on it), following the exploits of three sailors on three days’ shore leave in New York. Jazz, blues and Latino influences abound and who would deny the seeds of the vibrant modern American dance music that were to explode into bloom in ‘West Side Story’ thirteen years later? A mere 48 hours after attending Scottish Opera’s magnificent ‘Candide’, I was very much in the mood for this. The SCO, of course, unfazed by its technical demands, completely owned it.
Copland’s ‘El Salón México’, named for a dancehall/nightspot in Mexico City he had visited in 1932, is a sort of pastiche, as affectionate as it is parodic, of Mexican folk and dance melody, enhanced with his unique harmonic colour, complex rhythmic vitality, and expansive orchestral palette, completed in 1936. It is full of fun and romance, charm and wit, all expertly realised by our performers.
The final programmed work was ‘Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture’, fashioned by Robert Russell Bennett from Gershwin’s original music for his 1935 ‘opera’ (for it is more than just a Broadway show). After an extended scene-setting introduction, all the best-known tunes are featured, such as ‘Summertime’, ‘Bess, You Is My Woman Now’, ‘It ain’t necessarily so’, ‘I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’ and ‘O Lawd, I’m On My Way’. An engaging and heart-warming performance.
On one of his returns to the stage to acknowledge the tumultuous applause, Wayne appeared at the back of the stage and ascended to the organ loft, where he raised a microphone, extolled our magnificent chamber orchestra, then turned and launched into an impromptu improvisation on Gershwin’s ‘I Got Rhythm’, interpolating wry quotations from, among others, Widor’s ‘Toccata’. Hilarious and spellbinding, and a perfect end to an extraordinary and memorable evening of music-making.
Cover photo: Ryan Buchanan