Search - Samuel Barber, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein :: Bernstein: Arias & Barcarolles; Barber: School for Scandal Overture; Gershwin: American in Paris

Gerard Schwarz leads a scintillating performance of An American in Paris, especially admirable for the way it reveals orchestral detail that usually escapes notice. This version also contains three minutes of music that until now totally escaped notice because Gershwin cut them before the first performance. As heard here, they certainly don't weaken the piece. The playing is bold, colorful, and wonderfully crisp, and--as always when John Eargle is the engineer--it is captured in a recording of ideal spaciousness and high impact. --Ted Libbey