Gershwin and Wagner

Last updated on 26/02/2025

Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue received its first performance on 12^th February 1924.

On Tuesday 18^th February 2025, Moritz Wagner was the soloist at a performance of this piece at Regent Jazz, accompanied by a nine-piece orchestra.

That kind of performance is very different to most of the small ensembles heard at Regent Jazz nights. It was a sell-out event. Every seat was taken.

Moritz is a student at the University of Leicester. Another local pianist – Jude Richardson – spoke highly of him. Jude is a musician about whom I have written.

I heard this piece played at the De Montfort Hall last December when it was performed by the Bardi Orchestra with pianist Tom Poster. That was the concert that marked a hundred years since the Gershwin piece was performed for the first time.

Wagner’s performance was engaging and enthusiastic; where necessary he gave us strong, robust chords. At other times, he delivered passages of subtlety and delicacy when that was required. Strength and agility were in abundance, ably catching the constantly changing moods of this remarkable work. It was a delightful performance of a piece full of ravishing melodies.

The twenty-three-year-old Leicester musician ably demonstrated his ability to master a demanding work with its constant changes of mood, colour, and tonality.

Please read my article about Jude Richardson.