Normally, it would cost an arm and a leg to go out and view a performance of George Gershwin’s or Antonin Dvorak’s compositions, no matter who is performing.
Well, things aren’t normal, and the Pasadena Symphony and POPS is hosting a free live-streamed concert of the American and Czech composers at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16.
In this concert, you will experience the virtuosity of Gershwin’s iconic “Rhapsody in Blue” as you’ve never seen before and luxuriate in the soul stirring melodies of Dvorak’s “American” String Quartet – a stunning visual feat, up close and personal.
George Gershwin was a composer, pianist and painter whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres. “Rhapsody in Blue” and “An American in Paris” are among his best-known works, as well as the songs “Swanee” (1919) and “Fascinating Rhythm” (1924), the jazz standard “I Got Rhythm” (1930), and the opera “Porgy and Bess” (1935), which gave birth to the hit “Summertime.”
Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell, and Joseph Brody. He began his career as a song plugger but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother Ira Gershwin and with Buddy DeSylva.
He moved to Paris intending to study with Nadia Boulanger, but she refused him. He subsequently composed “An American in Paris,” returned to New York City and wrote “Porgy and Bess” with Ira and DuBose Heyward. Initially a commercial failure, it came to be considered one of the most important American operas of the 20th century and an American cultural classic.
Gershwin moved to Hollywood and composed numerous film scores. He died in 1937 of a malignant brain tumor. His compositions have been adapted for use in film and television, with several becoming jazz standards recorded and covered in many variations.
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was one of the first Czech composers to achieve worldwide recognition. Following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana, Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia.
Dvořák’s own style has been described as “the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them”.
Dvořák displayed his musical gifts at an early age, being an apt violin student from age six. The first public performances of his works were in Prague in 1872 and, with special success, in 1873, when he was 31. Seeking recognition beyond the Prague area, he submitted a score of his First Symphony to a prize competition in Germany, but did not win, and the unreturned manuscript was lost until rediscovered many decades later. In 1874, he made a submission to the Austrian State Prize for Composition, including scores of two further symphonies and other works. Although Dvořák was not aware of it, Johannes Brahms was the leading member of the jury and was highly impressed. The prize was awarded to Dvořák in 1874 and again in 1876 and in 1877, when Brahms and the prominent critic Eduard Hanslick, also a member of the jury, made themselves known to him.
Dvořák’s first piece of a religious nature, his setting of Stabat Mater, was premiered in Prague in 1880. It was very successfully performed in London in 1883, leading to many other performances in the United Kingdom and United States.
In his career, Dvořák made nine invited visits to England, often conducting performances of his own works. His Seventh Symphony was written for London. Visiting Russia in March 1890, he conducted concerts of his own music in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. In 1891, Dvořák was appointed as a professor at the Prague Conservatory. In 1890–1891, he wrote his “Dumky Trio,” one of his most successful chamber music pieces.
In 1892, Dvořák moved to the United States and became the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York City. While in the United States, Dvořák wrote his two most successful orchestral works: the “Symphony From the New World,” which spread his reputation worldwide, and his “Cello Concerto,” one of the most highly regarded of all cello concerti. He also wrote the “American String Quartet,” his most appreciated piece of chamber music, during this time. But shortfalls in payment of his salary, along with increasing recognition in Europe and an onset of homesickness, led him to leave the United States and return to Bohemia in 1895. He died there in 1904.
During Saturday’s premiere, you’ll also experience “Insights” with David Lockington as he shares exclusive behind the music stories, musician interviews and more. Experience what you’ve never before seen from your concert hall seats from the comfort of your own home.
The free stream premieres Saturday and will be available through January 18 on the Pasadena Symphony and POPS’ Facebook, YouTube and Instagram channels.
For more information, visit www.pasadenasymphony-pops.org/concert/gershwin-dvorak.
