the Concerto in F, an arrangement requested by Paul Whiteman for use with his band. 

I had forgotten (until she reminded me) about the recording Marin Alsop made of that arrangement with her Concordia orchestra almost 20 years ago -- "When I was in my real jazz phase," she told me earlier this week. I had filed that disc with my Gershwin music theater CDs, since the big item on the recording is his forgotten mini-opera "Blue Monday," which Alsop and the BSO will present later this season. (One of these days I've got to prepare a thorough catalog of my CDs. Too daunting a task.)

Anyway, the concerto certainly takes on a different, lean flavor in the Grofe version. Alsop tracked this arrangement down at Williams College, which housed the Paul Whiteman archives. The music wasn't in the best shape in the early '90s. "Reading Sanskrit would be easier than reading the original score," Alsop said. The parts have since been recopied in preparation for the BSO concerts. Should be fun hearing the concerto live.

The BSO performances with Thibaudet of that work, along with "Rhapsody in Blue" and "I Got Rhythm" Variations, are being recorded for Decca. That will be the third label to feature Alsop and the orchestra since she became music director.

The BSO has been a great advocate for Gershwin for quite a while, including during the tenure of Yuri Temirkanov, who was a huge fan of the composer and led some very snazzy performances of his work.