Scott Cantrell

B-Rhapsody in Blue; Piano Concerto in F; I Got Rhythm Variations; Second Rhapsody. McDermott, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Brown (Bridge)

PLAY IT AGAIN: Dallasites got a live preview of this recording last summer, when the assembled forces played all four pieces in a "Casual Classics" concert before recording them. Anne-Marie McDermott brings lots of personality, as well as dazzling brilliance, and the young British conductor Justin Brown is a nimble and personable collaborator.

SELF-CONSCIOUS: Ms. McDermott is very much a "See what I can do" musician, teasing out phrases oh so self-consciously. If you're worried about "authentic" performance practice, all these coy little stretchings and moldings are worlds removed from Gershwin's own pianism. And other pianists have had a more natural, less affected way with this music.

UPFRONT: The DSO plays enthusiastically and well, with a particularly creamy trumpet solo from Ryan Anthony in the concerto's slow movement. But the close, upfront recording leaves hardly a hint of the lush Meyerson Symphony Center acoustics, and louder passages sound a bit flat and congested.

BOTTOM LINE: Dazzling on first hearing, but will it wear well?

Scott Cantrell