Performers
- Paul Lay Trio
- Jules Billé double bass
- Donald Kontomanou percussion
- Paul Lay piano
Programme
George Gershwin/Paul Lay Rhapsody in Blue 1924–2024
Concert description
The story behind the creation of Rhapsody in Blue is as stunning as the music itself. George Gershwin learned by complete accident – from a newspaper announcing the premiere – that he was to compose it. There wasn’t much time left. As a pianist of fantastic inventiveness, he undertook the breakneck task of composing the piece in one month. He decided to combine in it the classical traditions of symphonic music with the lightness and freedom of jazz. He came up with the concept for the piece on the spur of the moment while riding a train and listening to its steady clatter and the richness of the city’s sounds – echoes of which can be heard in the music. During the premiere, he sat at the piano himself, and partially improvised the solo part live. The event was a success and the composition soon entered the canon as one of the most outstanding works of the 20th century.
Today – a century later – Paul Lay is reaching for Gershwin’s work. However, he treats it not as a relic of the past, but as a living and colorful matter, open to creative interpretations. Lay supplements the legendary piece with arrangements of his other popular works, while he himself – as a pianist, improviser and member of a jazz trio – sits down to the instrument, following the example of the composer himself, giving new life to the music.
– Karolina Dąbek (pisanezesluchu.pl)