"United in Sound: America at 250" at Carnegie Hall Part 2

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Wednesday, 08 April 2026 14:03

Written by Jack Angstreich

Photo by Chris Lee

At the wonderful Stern Auditorium, on the night of Tuesday, March 31st, I had the exceptional privilege to attend an amazing concert—presented by Carnegie Hall as part of its festival, United in Sound: America at 250—featuring the renowned Philadelphia Orchestra under the outstanding direction of Marin Alsop.

The event started thrillingly with a masterly realization of the New York premiere of John Adams’s brilliant The Rock You Stand On from 2024, which was co-commissioned by this venue and this ensemble. About the piece, the composer says: “The title, The Rock You Stand On, is non-specific and is not meant to suggest anything other than perhaps hinting at the qualities—loyalty, determination, devotion—that make Marin Alsop so very special to me.” He adds that “there is a certain ‘big band’ quality to the ensemble writing, with the full orchestra at times executing irregular, bouncing figurations that are driven by an underlying jazz-inflected pulse.”

An astonishing soloist—and evidently a rising star—Hayato Sumino, then joined the musicians for an enthralling performance of George Gershwin’s marvelous Piano Concerto in F, from 1925. The composer commented with reference to his earlier, celebrated work for piano and orchestra, Rhapsody in Blue: 

Many persons had thought that the Rhapsody was only a happy accident. Well, I went out, for one thing, to show them that there was plenty more where that had come from. I made up my mind to do a piece of absolute music. The Rhapsody, as its title implied, was a blues impression. The Concerto would be unrelated to any program.

Gershwin’s friend, the talented composer Morton Gould, described the concerto as “a unique and highly original piece that bypassed all the fashions and trends.” Gershwin wrote the following program note for the work:

The first movement [Allegro] employs the Charleston rhythm. It is quick and pulsating, representing the young, enthusiastic spirit of American life. It begins with a rhythmic motif given out by the kettledrums, supported by other percussion instruments, and with a Charleston motif … The principal theme is announced by the bassoon. Later, a second theme is introduced by the piano.

The second movement [Andante con moto] has a poetic nocturnal atmosphere which has come to be referred to as the American blues, but in a purer form than in which they are usually treated. The final movement [Allegro agitato] reverts to the style of the first. It is an orgy of rhythms, starting violently and keeping to the same pace throughout.

The initial movement opens ostentatiously and rather busily but the piano enters moodily, recalling the works of Maurice Ravel, and this quality recurs throughout even as it is sometimes eclipsed by showier passages—it reaches a grand climax which precedes many more virtuosic measures before closing rapidly. The ensuing slow movement is more lyrical at first but in the main is more frolicsome and jazzy at times, although the introspective impulse returns even as the music intensifies before concluding softly. The finale begins exuberantly and continues propulsively and dazzlingly until it ends forcefully. Enthusiastic applause elicited a fabulous encore from the pianist: his own, jazz arrangement of Gershwin’s classic song, “I Got Rhythm.”

The second half of the evening was at least equal in strength: a glorious rendition of selections from Sergei Prokofiev’s magnificent ballet score, Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64, which was finished in 1936.

The composer originally envisioned concluding the piece happily but later recalled: “After several conferences with the choreographers, it was found that the tragic ending could be expressed in the dance and in due time the music for that ending was written.”

A standing ovation drew forth another delightful encore: Dmitri Shostakovich’s  "General Dance of Enthusiasm and Apotheosis" from his ballet score, The Bolt.

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