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The Mind and Music of George Gershwin @ CIM Mixon Hall 6/6 Creative artists are not like other folks. They almost have to be obnoxious, arrogant, temperamental, persnickety, hyperactive and a host of other personality traits that would, under other circumstances, label them as mentally or emotionally disturbed. Musicians seem especially prone to these characteristics: Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and in more recent times, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. The genius of these men is unquestioned; their ability to get along with the rest of the world is frequently examined very closely.

One does not need to separate the person from the genius to be thrilled by their creations, however, as was made clear on Saturday night during a concert-lecture entitled The Mind and Music of George Gershwin. Sponsored by The Cleveland Psychoanalytic Center, the presenter was Dr. Richard Kogan of New York, who is both a renowned psychiatrist and a concert pianist. The tour-de-force performance, held in the intimate confines of Mixon Hall at CIM, lasted for slightly more than 90 minutes, with Dr. Kogan never at a loss for words – or music.

George Gershwin was the second of four siblings, and was, to put it mildly, a troubled student, who seemed to prefer getting into trouble to studying. His older brother Ira was known in the family as ‘The Scholar’ which didn’t help young George all that much, until later in life, when Ira’s talent as a word-smith greatly enhanced his brother’s mucis. When George was 11, however, a life-changing event happened in the schoolyard, when another student was preparing for a violin recital. The windows were open and as the strains of music wafted out to the playground, young George became mesmerized by them, and determined at that moment (or soon thereafter) to become a great musician. Somehow, this proved to be easier for him to accomplish than one would have thought.

Today, 72 years after his death at the age of 38 from a malignant brain tumor, George Gershwin is considered by many to be the greatest American composer ever. Or at least no lower than second, possibly behind only Leonard Bernstein. Being able to hear Gershwin played by the extremely musical and very talented Dr. Kogan demonstrated all too clearly why Gershwin should be at the top of the list.

Gershwin’s first big hit, Swanee, sold 2.5 million copies, thanks in no small part to Al Jolson. The composer was barely 21. He never looked back. Four years later—during the space of one month—he composed his most enduring and popular work for piano, Rhapsody in Blue, a combination of classical, jazz and popular music. Three years later, having heard taxi horns in Paris which he thought sounded different from those in New York City, he incorporated them into American in Paris. It was to become ballet suite, and the basis for a movie.

In and around his ‘serious’ music, he and brother Ira wrote Broadway shows. And did they ever! Lady Be Good, Funny Face, Strike up the Band, Girl Crazy, and Of Thee I Sing, the first musical comedy to win a Pulitzer Prize, are only a few. They also wrote film scores, but his greatest achievement was the folk opera Porgy and Bess, which originally flopped on Broadway (where it didn’t really belong anyway) but has since become almost a staple of the operatic world, both here and abroad.

Dr. Kogan made no attempt to gloss over Gershwin’s more unpleasant side (arrogance, hyperactivity, etc.) while beautifully demonstrating the supreme talent and lyricism of the composer. This was most evident in selections from Porgy and Bess, in a knuckle-busting arrangement by the great American pianist Earl Wild. Selections were Summertime, My Man’s Gone Now, It Ain’t Necessarily So, I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’, and I'm On My Way.

Also heard wase the solo piano version of Rhapsody in Blue (another knuckle-buster!) plus all or parts of songs: My Sweet Embraceable You, Someone to Watch Over Me, Fascinatin’ Rhythm, and the very last song written by George, Our Love is Here to Stay. For an encore, we heard the next-to-last song Love Walked In. It was marvelous to hear these songs played seriously, but with great love and attention to detail. Dr. Kogan could easily have concentrated on the concert stage, as he plays the music to show off the skills of the composer, rather than the skills of the performer. We need to hear more of this kind of talent.

In his day job, Dr. Kogan is a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City. For more information about the Cleveland Psychoanalytic Center, call 229-5959 or visit the website: http://www.PsychoanalysisCleveland.org.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
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