Gripping Ravel and lively Gershwin

A strong opening for symphony’s season

Ottawa Symphony Orchestra David Currie, conductor; Stéphane Lemelin, piano Southam Hall, National Arts Centre Reviewed Monday at 8 p.m.

You know the stories about Gershwin and Ravel. It is said that the former approached the latter for lessons in composition on at least two occasions. The first time, Ravel replied that he would rather hear first-rate Gershwin than second-rate Ravel. Not being one to give up, Gershwin repeated the request a year or so later, whereupon Ravel asked him how much money he had made in the last year. When Gershwin supplied a figure, Ravel responded, “Then it is I who should be taking lessons from you.”

These composers provided the repertoire for the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra’s season-concert on Monday evening.

The program opened with a lively and colourful rendition of Gershwin’s wonderful tone poem, An American in Paris. Conductor Currie led with real gusto, and the orchestra responded in kind.

Pianist Stéphane Lemelin joined the orchestra for performances of both of Ravel’s piano concertos.

First they played the Concerto for the Left hand, a darker, more serious piece than we are used to hearing by the composer. Everyone involved dug right in, and the net effect was stark and gripping. There are also lovely, almost jazzy sections that may have been inspired by “first-rate Gershwin,” and they were rendered with due sensitivity.

The Concerto in G is a more sparkling, cheery work. Even though the musicians played wonderfully, this concerto didn’t make as striking an impression as the one-hander. Still, there was a lot of beautiful music to be heard.

The concert concluded with a suite drawn from Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. The suite is more properly called Catfish Row and is cleverly constructed with orchestral versions of several of the opera’s songs.

Although the performance lacked neither finesse nor enthusiasm, it left the impression that the concert’s more substantial music had been heard in the three pieces that preceded it.

All in all, a strong opening to what promises to be an interesting season.