Tucson orchestra, soloists reminds us why we love Gershwin

Fun fact: When George Gershwin performed the world premiere of his “Rhapsody in Blue” on Feb. 12, 1924, the audience gave him three curtain calls.

On Saturday — not quite 100 years to the day later — the audience packed into Linda Ronstadt Music Hall for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra‘s “100 Years of Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ “ gave it five curtain calls.

There’s just something about that piece that resonates, especially when you hear it performed live. The jazzy, bluesy solo clarinet that sends out that melody that everyone knows even if they don’t know where they first heard it. You scratch your head as the melody grows with the addition of a couple more clarinets, the bassoon, trumpets and horns. And by the time the full contingent of the orchestra joins in — the rumbling thrust of the timpani, snare drum and marimba with the jolt of the frenzied strings tied together with the piano — it finally hits you:

United Airlines!

But you only get the scant hint of the song’s greatness through the commercial.

To truly appreciate it requires hearing it live.

TSO Music Director José Luis Gomez and Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear took that passing familiarity to a whole new level of appreciation on Saturday.

It was hard not to focus on Goodyear; his playing was so captivating and thrilling that you didn’t want to miss a thing. From his opening passage through the long solo runs that included unimaginable pianistic aerobics — his fingers flying over the keys, then hopscotching left, then right, one hand over the other like he was climbing a rope — Goodyear brought out the wonderful jazz colors of Gershwin’s famous work in a thrilling performance that sets a high bar for future performances.

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We also found ourselves scanning the orchestra looking for principal clarinetist Dario Brignoli, who played an enormous role throughout, and focusing on the strings, led by associate concertmaster Michelle Abraham Kantor, that added a cinematic sweep. The orchestra under Gomez reminded us why this piece is so enduring.

“Rhapsody in Blue” anchored the special Gershwin concert, which opened with the overture from “Crazy Girl,” a fanciful swing jazz romp that dares you not to bounce in your seat, especially when principal percussionist Trevor Barroero was on the marimba. You could almost see the hustle of Gershwin’s 1920s Paris in the orchestra’s take on the delightful “An American In Paris” right down to the sounds of car horns on a busy city street before the orchestra took us back to those wonderful songs from “Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture,” sort of the greatest hits of the opera including the iconic song “Summertime.”

The concert also featured the TSO solo debut of Tucson vocalist Crystal Stark, who has regularly sung with the orchestra but never front and center as a soloist.

Anyone who has been watching her career since she made the Top 44 in the fifth season of “American Idol” back in 2006 knows that Gershwin is right up Stark’s alley. Dressed in a glittering white floor-length, sleeveless gown, she brought a subtle sensualness to the sultry torch song “Someone to Watch Over Me,” hitting the high end of her octave range on that final “me” that hung in the air like an invitation.

She brought Goodyear on stage to accompany her on the jazzy-bluesy aria “Summertime” from “Porgy and Bess,” a showpiece that played to Stark’s commanding stage personality and soaring soprano, before closing with the toe-tapping “Fascinating Rhythm” that had the orchestra and Gomez dancing along.

The TSO’s Gershwin concert, which repeated on Sunday, Feb. 25, is the first of several special concerts this season. In March, Broadway singer Capathia Jenkins makes her third appearance with the TSO since her first in 2013 to pay homage to the leading ladies of soul, from Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan to Toni Braxton and Adele. In April, a trio of Broadway stars mines hits from “West Side Story,” “Sweeney Todd,” “The Music Man” and other Broadway classics. Also in April, the orchestra teams up with Fox Tucson Theatre for the cineconcert of Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights.”

For tickets and more information, visit tucsonsymphony.org.