Jablonski, co-author of The Gershwin Years and veteran Gershwin
authority, offers a valuable, up-to-date, yet not-quite-definitive
George Gershwin biography - strong on the least familiar works,
sketchy in some well-trod areas, and perhaps too timid (in contrast
to the brashness of Charles Schwartz's 1973 bio) in considering the
composer's personality and private life. The essential life-story
here differs little from previous versions: from Lower East Side
boyhood to piano studies and Tin Pan Alley song-plugging; from
single-song successes ("Swanee") to Broadway scores, Rhapsody in
Blue, and 1920's super, celebrity; toward opera, from Of Thee I
Sing to Porgy and Bess; to Hollywood for Fred Astaire films; and
death at age 38 from an inoperable brain tumor. But, while some of
Jablonski's sources are very familiar (Isaac Goldberg's 1931 bio,
the late Ira Gershwin's Lyri'cs on Several Occasions), he also
draws on privately-held letters, journals, and interviews - many
supplied by Jablonski's longtime mentor Ira - for fresh details and
perspectives. (The collaborative process that produced Porgy and
Bess is thus given unusually full, vivid treatment.) Also
noteworthy is the focus on underappreciated Gershwin compositions:
Jablonski singles out virtually unknown songs that deserve
rehearing; and he gives special attention to the Second Rhapsody -
condemning (even more sharply than Schwartz did) its
reorchestration after Gershwin's death. On the other hand, however,
while providing extensive detail on Let 'Em Eat Cake, Jablonski's
discussion of its famous predecessor, Of Thee I Sing, is
surprisingly skimpy; similarly, the story behind Porgy and Bess is
much more firmly described than the opera itself. And, partly
because of Jablonski's dry, rarely evocative style, little sense of
Gershwin's character emerges here; as for his love-life, Jablonski
deemphasizes the libertine aspect, largely echoes previous
biographers re George's infatuation with Paulette Goddard, expands
a bit (to softening effect) on the relationship with Kay Swift, and
concludes that "he apparently did not want the kind of marriage
that his parents endured." Throughout, in fact, one senses that
labionski's Gershwin-family ties may be con-straining of coloring
his biographical approach. Still, notwithstanding this and other
limitations, students and fans will welcome this solid,
conscientious chronicle - which also includes a section on Ira's
post-1937 career, a full list of songs and concert works, and a
"Selected Discography" rich in critical commentary. (Kirkus
Reviews)
This still unrivaled biography portrays with precision and insight
the tragically brief life,from the Brooklyn tenements to Broadway,
Hollywood, and Carnegie Hall,of George Gershwin (1898-1937), a man
whose music ( Lady Be Good, Of Thee I Sing, Rhapsody in Blue,
Concerto in F, An American in Paris, Porgy and Bess ) and
career,like F. Scott Fitzgerald's,embodied the glamorous success
and lost possibilities of the Jazz Age.
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