Pyotr Vostokov’s Big Jazz Orchestra: Rhapsody in Blue

On December 15, Pyotr Vostokov’s Big Jazz Orchestra will present its festive program Rhapsody in Blue — 100 at the Moscow Conservatory, marking the centenary of the first performance of George Gershwin’s legendary masterpiece.

In February 1924, the work that would eventually become one of the musical symbols of the century was premiered at Aeolian Hall in New York. Gershwin himself presented his revolutionary Rhapsody in Blue, captivating the sophisticated audience. Among those in attendance that evening were Sergei Rachmaninoff and Igor Stravinsky, and listeners unanimously praised the new masterpiece for its rhythmic inventiveness, brilliant melodic writing and original harmony.

Combining elements of European symphonic music with American jazz, the work went on to become not only the composer’s signature piece but also one of the defining works of jazz as a whole.