Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by Stravinsky, Weill, Gershwin, Od (2024/2024), Dirigent Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Verizon Hall, Philadelphia, United States

Brave new world! This concert features masterworks by three superstar composers who changed the course of music in the early 20th century. At just 28, Igor Stravinsky was already a celebrity as the creator of the hit Firebird when he penned Petrushka, a mashup of 16th-century puppet storytelling, Russian folktales, and his signature bold rhythms and instrumentation that would rock the classical music world. Kurt Weill had already scandalized audiences with his sly and scathing The Threepenny Opera when he wrote his Second Symphony, a defiant response to his exile from Nazi Germany. And George Gershwin was on the cusp of a brilliant Broadway career when he created his Rhapsody in Blue, which premiered to a packed house whose audience included Sergei Rachmaninoff and Leopold Stokowski. With its irresistible rhythms and lush orchestration, Rhapsody in Blue has thrilled audiences for 100 years. This performance of the Gershwin masterwork is a special treat, featuring jazz legend Marcus Roberts and his Trio. Roberts has made a lifelong exploration of this work, revealing new treasures in every performance, punctuating the classic with “cascading arpeggios, warm pools of sound and an array of alternate motifs … hypervirtuosic pianism and the trio's rhythmic propulsion” (Chicago Tribune).