AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head

 Berliner Meister Schallplatten - BMS 1706 -  180 Gram Virgin Vinyl

1,000 Numbered Edition - AAA 100% Analogue

Pressed at Pallas Germany -  Direct To Disc ( D2D ) - Numbered Limited Edition

It takes nerves of steel and a healthy serving of humility to agree to record direct-to-disc a solo piano recital but that's what Katie Mahan signed on for here. The results are both musically and sonically rewarding  The piano sound is vivid and direct as only a D2D can deliver, with a rich surrounding reverb that cushions but never distracts from the main event. Mahan's performance is exuberant and not the kind of overly cautious, controlled take D2D sometimes produces in more cautious performers. There is at least one minor "clam" but that just adds to the concert hall reality of a live performance and good for Mahan to let it all hang out!  The key to enjoying this recording is to not play it too loud so you avoid creating a giant piano in your room. Dial it back and put the proper space between your seat and the piano and you'll surely enjoy listening often to this musical and sonic treat. The perspective is more the pianist's than the listener's but that doesn't detract from the listening pleasures of hearing a Steinway so richly reproduced. Sound 9/10 Music 9/10  Michael Fremer analogplanet 

"Katie Mahan Plays Gershwin"   Rhapsody In Blue, "Embraceable You", "I Got Rhythm", "Our Love Is Here To Stay", Preludes Nos. 1-3 

George Gershwin is America's most beloved classical composer. His music personifies the ideals of a vastly diverse modern world, like a magic mirror which reflects every aspect of its surroundings. Gershwin is responsible for opening up the concert hall to the popular American composer, and for breaking down the conventional boundaries between popular music and art music.

 He loved to play the piano, and would sit at the piano and improvise songs for hours. His piano playing was outstanding, characterized not only by its unbridled virtuosity and spontaneity, but also by its intricacy, charm, and sheer inventiveness.
It is through the piano that his imagination came to life in composition, and although he was equally at home improvising on the piano at a party, composing popular songs for Broadway, or writing large works for the concert hall, it is as a 'serious' classical composer and pianist that Gershwin most desired to be remembered and respected. The selections on this album pay tribute to the 'classical' Gershwin.
 

Katie Mahan who, at the age of four, was inspired to study the piano after attending a concert of Gershwin given by the Labèque sisters, does not try to imitate Gershwin's singular piano style, nor does she seek to play in a jazz style. Rather, she brings her own unique voice to his works, presenting arrangements that are unabashedly classical, and which reflect her own personality and musical background.
In this live direct-to-disc recording, Mahan not only captures the spontaneity and originality inherent to the fiber of Gershwin's music, but also transports the music into the classical realm where the composer most desired to be.
 
Recording: December 2016 at Meistersaal, Emil Berliner Studios, Berlin, by Stephan Flock
Production: Rainer Maillard & Stephan Flock

Katie Mahan Plays Gershwin: 
- Rhapsody In Blue 
- Embraceable You 
- I Got Rhythm 
- Our Love Is Here To Stay 
- Preludes Nos. 1-3 

recordings on 18 December 2016 in Emil Berliner Studios Studio 1, Berlin, by Rainer Maillard 
Production: Rainer Maillard & Stephan Flock 

The American pianist Katie Mahan is dedicated to the "classical" side of George Gershwins. The masterpiece, the "Rhapsody in Blue", is also the highlight of this direct-cut recording: Mahan himself arranged a virtuoso and brilliantly executed version for solo from the jazz classic monument originally written for two pianos (or piano and orchestra) -clavier - hat from alone already for it. Page two offers two classic Gershwin songs in impressionist-like arrangements, and three of his charming and virtuosic preludes for piano. Miss Mahan impresses with a gently soft touch and a jazzy sense of rhythm - an important and rare combination for Gershwin. Successful recording in more than convincing sound quality.