Piano Concerto / Cello Concerto / etc

"His real name was Vladimir Dukelsky, who studied composition at the Kiev Conservatory under Reinhold Gliere. One of his fellow students was Sergei Prokofiev. He became a U.S. citizen, and served as a lieutenant in the Coast Guard (1939-44). He is best known for song hits of the 1930s, such as 'April in Paris','Taking a Chance on Love', et sim. He was a great friend of George Gershwin, who suggested the name change. But Duke also had a serious side to his composing, such as several ballets (one of them, Zephyr et Flore, commissioned by Diaghilev), an opera, 3 symphonies, a violin concerto, and many other works in various forms. He had formed the Society for Forgotten Music (SFM)that championed the performance and recording of worthwhile music by little-known composers. We had met Vernon and his wife Kaye, a singer, through our mutual friend Nicolas Slonimsky, and this venture (SFM)was the genesis of Orion Master Recordings. The Piano Concerto, left unorchestrated, was completed by the soloist, Scott Dunn. In it, one can trace a tribute to George Gershwin. The Cello Concerto is a large-scale, openly romantic work in three movements. Duke's music is tuneful and accessible. Both concertos are lovingly performed, as well as the Homage to Boston Suite."
--Review by Giv Cornfield, November 2007

The Russian-born composer Vernon Duke (Vladimir Dukelsky) produced a distinguished body of concert music. His Piano Concerto was written for Arthur Rubinstein, who had requested a 'one-movement piano concerto, pianistically grateful and not too cerebral', but it was never orchestrated by the composer and therefore never performed in his lifetime. The American conductor and painist Scott Dunn completed the work and gave its première at Carnegie Hall on 1999 to great accalim. Duke's Cello Concerto is a mature, overtly romantic work in which the influences of Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Shostakovich can be heard. Dating from the same period, his Homage to Boston suite is dedicated 'to the members of the Boston Symphony', and portrays various people and places in Boston familiar to the composer.