A 20th Century Experience

By Kristen Peterson

Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The pairing of George Gershwin and Bela Bartok might have some Las Vegas Philharmonic ticket holders scratching their heads.

A jazz-influenced Broadway composer and a Hungarian composer with a background in ethnomusicology doesn’t at first seem a likely coupling.

But David Itkin, music director and conductor, says he selected Saturday night’s program as a way to pair two very accessible 20th century works that won’t turn audiences away.

Gershwin’s Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra, featuring guest pianist Joel Fan, intermingles jazz, pop and blues in a classical format broken into three movements. Its sweeping melodies, jazz rhythms, theatrical tone and color culminate in a very American sound. Written with the help of theory and composition books, Gershwin convinced listeners of the merits of jazz in classical form.

Bartok’s five-movement Concerto For Orchestra also includes flavors of the music of the people. The piece was written in the United States by the immigrant composer when he was ill and dying. It is peppered with folk sounds and rhythms, which were familiar to Bartok as one of the founders of the study of comparative musicology. Before fleeing fascism to move to the States, he traveled and recorded sounds from isolated communities and believed that the inclusion of varying musical styles enhanced music compositions.

Both works are digestible for audiences worried about 20th century composers, Itkin says.

“Usually we mention 20th century and people run screaming. Gershwin has tunes that will be very familiar, including influences from ‘Porgy and Bess.’ Bartok is very lyrical and complex, emotional and dramatic. It’s not all cerebral.”

Concerto for Orchestra, one of Bartok’s most difficult pieces to perform, is all over the map in spirit and intensity. Each movement is its own, particularly the fourth movement, a humorous injection of over-the-top drama poking fun at another composer’s work that doesn’t denigrate the quality of the piece as a whole. Its fifth movement, with its loud quick tempos and softer folk melodies, is riveting, energetic and thrilling.