I realized the other week that I didn’t own a copy of a recording of Rhapsody in Blue. That felt un-American, so I went shopping. I listened to the following eleven renditions in search of one to buy:
- Leonard Bernstein / Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Sony, 1959)
- Eric Robinson / Pro Arte Orchestra / Larry Adler, harmonica (Digital Gramophone, 1959)
- Arthur Fiedler / Boston Pops / Earl Wild (RCA, 1960)
- Leonard Slatkin / St. Louis Symphony / Jeffrey Siegel (MMG, 1974)
- Michael Tilson Thomas / Columbia Jazz Band / George Gershwin, piano roll (Sony, 1976)
- Michael Tilson Thomas / San Francisco Symphony (RCA, 2004)
- Jeff Tyzik / Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra / Jon Nakamatsu (Harmonia Mundi, 2007)
- Marin Alsop / Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Decca, 2010)
- Steven Richman / Harmonie Ensemble / Lincoln Mayorga (2010)
- James Judd / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Benjamin Grosvenor (Decca, 2012)
- Eric Jacobsen / Virginia Symphony Orchestra / Béla Fleck, banjo (2024)
All listened, the Harmonie Ensemble rendition is my runaway favorite. It’s a jazz arrangement played by a true jazz band. To me, the piece (even, to my surprise, the Big Tune) feels more at at home in those voices. Among those voices is jazz reed legend Al Gallodoro, a nonagenarian who here plays the opening clarinet slide for something like the literal ten thousandth time in his life.
But I know I’m sometimes going to want to hear the mid-20th-century version with the full orchestra, too. So for that, I’m opting for the Fiedler. He flies through the thing with verve and bravado. (It’s in the names: Boston Pops and Earl Wild.) A real crowd pleaser.
Now onto finding a Ravel’s Boléro to buy.