Hello again from the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, a true community orchestra whose players all live in Evanston and nearby towns who come together for the sheer joy of making music. The August issue of HighNotes, the ESO’s publication of musical articles and activities for Evanston seniors, highlights the fabulous music of George Gershwin, introduces you to the ESO’s equally fabulous Music Director, Maestro Lawrence Eckerling, and to Jeffrey Biegel, one of our favorite soloists, then takes a detour by the Eiffel Tower, and ends up back here in Evanston with some information on two famous and fun inventions made right in our very own city. Puzzles, memory-joggers called “Bygones,” and bad jokes are also a given. If you’d like some more information on any of the articles or music mentioned in the August HighNotes, here are the links to many of the pieces. By the way, some of these pieces start out with an ad. Just give it five seconds and click on “Skip Ad” in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. An American in Paris – The ESO hasn’t recorded this Gershwin classic yet, but here’s a dazzling performance by the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Duhamel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGt000iascg. In addition, there’s the delightful Oscar-winning 1951 film with Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron and Cyd Charisse. It’s available on various online streaming services and on DVD from libraries in the area. It’s always a treat to see Gene Kelly dance! Rhapsody in Blue – The Evanston Symphony’s own Music Director, Maestro Lawrence Eckerling, was both conductor AND piano soloist in a wonderful performance in 2011, but, alas, that was BEV (Before ESO Video), so we don’t have a recording. Here’s a good substitute, though – a 1976 performance by Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH2PH0auTUU Concerto in F – Jeffrey Biegel has performed several times with the ESO, most recently on February 2, 2020, our last concert before the Covid-19 pandemic forced the orchestra to cancel the second half of its 2019-20 season. Jeffrey loves this piece and it’s clear in the video how much he enjoys playing it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4yJLIXCHGg Porgy and Bess – The ESO had a wonderful performance of selections from Porgy and Bess a number of years ago with soprano Jonita Lattimore and tenor Kenneth Gayle. Unfortunately, we don’t have a video of that performance either, but just last month, PBS presented Porgy and Bess in its Great Performances at the Met series. You can find more information about it here: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/gp-at-the-met-porgy-and-bess-about-the-opera/11582/ ESO HighNotes Links 1 of 2 Vol.1, No. 2; Aug2020 Rialto Ripples - Here’s Jeffrey Biegel playing Rialto Ripples, George Gershwin’s first big hit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mtKzGHdJsc. It’s followed Rialto Ripples recorded by Gershwin himself on a player piano roll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNF0pC_DTRg Jeffrey plays Neil Sedaka’s “Manhattan Intermezzo” in this sound-only recording with the Brown University Orchestra on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofogGp6oTjI. For a video, here’s the performance “minus the first page” of Jeffrey in the same concert recorded by an audience member. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLN4fy7AC6I. This link takes you to an interview with Jeffrey on how he ended up working with Sedaka on Manhattan Intermezzo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW1GbWKpKas Moderato ma non troppo – We could only find this mere snippet of Jeffrey playing Peter Tork’s “Moderato Ma Non Troppo” with Orchestra Kentucky in 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfPeQlyLxdM There’s a very good YouTube video on the construction and lore of the Eiffel Tower here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-XvwWweRJs It has much more information about Eiffel, both as an engineer and as a scientific researcher from his personal lab at the top of the Tower. Finally, just for fun, here are some of the musical “Bygones” mentioned n HighNotes! Neil Sedaka sings Stupid Cupid in 1959 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbtpQwY0BIc Breaking Up is Hard to Do, the teenage angst-ridden version with that “down dooby doo down down, Comma, comma…” introduction, was written for Connie Francis in 1958, when Neil was just 19, and also recorded by Sedaka in 1962, where it hit the top of the charts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSCg3yXdYzkSlow. In 1975, Sedaka recorded a slower, more thoughtful and mature version, perhaps as a reflection on ending his professional collaboration with Howie Greenfield, with whom Neil been composing songs since he was 13 and Howie 16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fKEkMd2OwY This version also hit the top of the charts, making Sedaka the only artist to ever record an entirely reinterpreted version of a song where both versions reached the Billboard Top 10. And as for Peter Tork and The Monkees – you’re on your own! ESO HighNotes Links 2 of 2 Vol.1, No. 2; Aug2020 .