BSO takes on Gershwin to good effect

by Robert Battey

The works of Jacob Gershowitz, the Brooklyn-born son of Russian Jewish immigrants who later changed his name to George Gersh­win, have captivated audiences from the moment of creation.

Whether in jazz clubs, concert halls, film or on Broadway, Gershwin’s music is quintessentially American, and a guaranteed draw. The Castleton Festival and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Music Center at Strathmore have offered all-Gershwin programs this summer, both well-attended.

Led by Carl Topilow, the BSO ran through a string of hits Thursday evening plus a few rarities: “Japanese,” sort of a homage to Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado,” and “By Strauss,” a send-up of “Die Fledermaus.”

Piano soloist Terrence Wilson gave sensitive, musical readings of “Rhapsody in Blue” and the “I Got Rhythm Variations.” Wilson doesn’t have a particularly big sound, but he did a lot with the music, alternately channeling Chopin’s dreaminess, Prokofiev’s motoric force and Keith Jarrett’s improvisational whimsy.

Soprano Kishna Davis can sell a song, but she sometimes laid it on a little too thick. And it was hard to appreciate her nuanced, operatic voice when blasted at us through amplification, which was certainly unnecessary in that hall. And though she had only a half-dozen songs, she needed sheet music for some of them.