Soon after writing his great works for piano and orchestra (available on VOX-NX-3018CD), Gershwin turned to his ‘tone poem for orchestra’, An American in Paris. With indelible themes, and masterly string writing, it remains one of his best-known works. Gershwin’s Rumba for orchestra, the vivacious Cuban Overture, was inspired by a visit to Havana. A few years later Porgy and Bess opened to mixed reviews in New York and Gershwin hoped to salvage some of the music in a suite that, when it was rediscovered in 1958 by Ira Gershwin, was called Catfish Row. These classic Vox recordings from 1974, performed by multiple GRAMMY-winning conductor Leonard Slatkin with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, are newly remastered in high definition from the original master tapes. The Elite Recordings for Vox by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestral recordings.