From Russia with Jazz

APRIL 6, 2019

George Gershwin, the American son of Jewish-Russian immigrants, was recognized as a musical genius, though he struggled to be taken seriously as an orchestral composer; but his Piano Concerto was a triumph, heavily influenced by jazz but very much like a traditional concerto. Sergei Rachmaninoff moved to America following the Russian Revolution, and was removed from the trials and tribulations of the burgeoning Soviet political machine; his Symphony No. 2 is an epic, luscious Romantic feast. Fellow Russian composer Rimsky- Korsakov’s Dance of the Buffoons seems like appropriate music to include, describing as its title does certain present-day politicians.