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Who played the piano in the movie Rhapsody in Blue?
Oscar Levant
Oscar Levant had three functions in this film: he provided George Gershwin’s piano playing as Robert Alda’s double, he portrayed himself on screen and he was heard playing piano on the soundtrack as himself, Oscar Levant, in the commemorative performance of “Rhapsody in Blue” which ends the film.
Why did Nadia refuse George Gershwin?
In the mid-1920s, Gershwin stayed in Paris for a short period, during which he applied to study composition with the noted Nadia Boulanger – pictured – who, along with several other prospective tutors such as Maurice Ravel, rejected him. She was afraid that rigorous classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style.
Did Alan Alda play the piano in Rhapsody in Blue?
Oscar Levant also recorded most of the piano playing in the movie, and also dubbed Alda’s piano playing. Both the Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris are performed nearly completely, with the “Rhapsody in Blue” debut of 1924 orchestrated by Ferde Grofe and conducted, as it was originally, by Whiteman himself.
Where did George Gershwin Live as a child?
Humble origins. George Gershwin was born in New York City into a Russian Jewish immigrant family. As a boy, George frequented the local Yiddish theatres, ran errands for them and appeared onstage as an extra. Around the age of 10, he took to playing the piano his parents had bought for his older brother Ira.
What are some of George Gershwin’s most famous works?
Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928), as well as the contemporary opera Porgy and Bess (1935). Gershwin studied piano under Charles Hambitzer and composition with Rubin Goldmark, Henry Cowell and Joseph Brody.
What was George Gershwin’s first hit on Broadway?
He was born Jacob Gershowitz, 26 September 1898, in Brooklyn, New York, of Russian-Jewish immigrants. As a boy he could play popular and classical works on his brother Ira’s piano by ear. In 1913 he quit school to study music and began composing for Tin Pan Alley; by 1919 he had his first hit “Swanee” and his first Broadway show “La, La, Lucille.”
When did George Gershwin play his Piano Concerto?
On February 11, 1937, he performed his Piano Concerto in F in a special concert of his music with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the direction of French maestro Pierre Monteux. Gershwin, normally a superb pianist in his own compositions, suffered coordination problems and blackouts during the performance.