Nikki Chooi Photo: Supplied
George Gershwin (1898-1937) was an American composer and pianist, best-known for his masterpiece 'Rhapsody in Blue', as well as his opera 'Porgy and Bess'.
Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) was a Russian-American violin virtuoso who did not write original compositions but rather he transcribed existing works that he admired, including several by Gershwin.
Heifetz and Gershwin were close friends and Heifetz had asked the composer to write something for the violin. But Gershwin died before he could honour this request, and so Heifetz took the liberty of doing some transcriptions instead. They are mostly songs from 'Porgy and Bess' but he also chose to arrange these 'Three Preludes' which were originally for piano solo. They are now some of the most popular short recital pieces for violin and piano.
Recorded in Nelson Centre of Musical Arts by RNZ
Sound engineer: Darryl Stack
