George Gershwin - Gershwin Performs Gershwin: Rare Recordings 1931-1935 (1991)

More interesting (and--predictably--less mechanical) than his piano rolls, Gershwin Performs Gershwin showcases the Gershwin-conducted rehearsal sessions for Second Rhapsody and Porgy and Bess along with two Gershwin radio specials recorded in the early '30s titled Music by Gershwin. These are period pieces, for sure--the sound is shoddy, and the radio spots' commercials are as entrancing as the music that's being played. But, yes, that is Gershwin conducting and playing piano, and this is as close as we'll get to hearing these familiar tunes being played the way he wanted them. --Jason Verlinde