Here are some of the best things I heard this year:
Gershwin, Piano Concerto in F, Rhapsody in Blue, Cuban Overture; Jon Nakamatsu, piano, with Jeff Tyzik conducting the Rochester Philhamonic (Har. Mundi)

Alex Ross:
The Rest Is Noise Articles, a blog, and a book by the music critic of The New Yorker.

Pianist Jon Nakamatsu and "pops" conductor Jeff Tyzik team up for what unquestionably is the best Gershwin disc to come along in years.

David Hurwitz
Classics Today
10/10/2007

5 Stars
Frankly, I was going to skip thru the Rhapsody in Blue due to overexposure, but just a short ways into it I was captured for the duration. I've heard/seen both Nakamatsu and Tyzik recently in live performance (not in these works), and they seem like a perfect duo to bring out the jazzy , enthusiastic tone of all this music of Gershwin. The Rhapsody sounds fresher and more cheeky than I've heard from most other recordings, and some of the more difficult piano passages in both works are run off with amazing clarity and acceleration by Nakamatsu. The Cuban Overture was the result of a vacation in Havana which Gershwin enjoyed, and is brimming with island rhythms and plenty of appropriate percussion to the fore. HM's transparent hi-res surround captures the concert hall impression of this excellent orchestra. Most highly recommended.

John Sunier
Audiophile Audition
Copyright 2007