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George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at La Scala

Nov. 01, 2016

George Gershwin's <em>Porgy and Bess</em> at La Scala

From November 13 to November 23, George Gershwin’s beloved opera Porgy and Bess comes to Milan’s Teatro alla Scala in a new semi-staged production under the baton of Alan Gilbert and directed by Philipp Harnoncourt. The opening performance is dedicated to the memory of the late conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Philipp Harnoncourt’s father, who was to conduct the production and passed away in March.

This production marks the very first time that La Scala will perform the original version of the score in its entirety, which includes a considerable amount of music influenced by the early 20th-century European avant-garde that is usually cut from the score. This more unconventional material was originally incorporated into the work as a result of Gershwin’s seminal encounter with Alban Berg in Vienna in the 1920's, after which the composer declared Porgy and Bess to be “his Wozzeck.” 

Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess chronicles the struggles of a group of impoverished residents living in a Charleston tenement called Catfish Row. Porgy (to be sung by Morris Robinson at La Scala) falls for the beautiful Bess (Kristin Lewis), who is involved with both the boorish Crown (Lester Lynch) and Sportin’ Life (Chauncey Packer), a drug dealer. After Crown murders a man and disappears, Bess turns to Porgy for help, but when Crown resurfaces, Porgy must intervene. 

For more information on the George Gershwin, visit schott-music.com.

George Gershwin
Porgy and Bess (1935)
an opera in three acts
libretto (Eng) by DuBose Heyward
lyrics by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin
founded on the play “Porgy” by Dorothy and DuBose Heyward
for 4 sopranos, 2 mezzo-soprano, alto, boy soprano, 6 tenors, 5 baritones, bass-baritone, speaking roles and chorus
2(2.pic).2(2.ca).3(3.,3.asax).bcl(tsax).1-3.3.2.1-timp.perc-pno.banjo-str (on stage: pno)
180’

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