George Gershwin : NPR

White Singers In Hungary Claim To Be African-American, For An Opera

Performers rehearse in January 2018 for the controversial Hungarian State Opera production of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images

White Singers In Hungary Claim To Be African-American, For An Opera

April 11, 2019 • The Gershwin estate stipulates that Porgy and Bess should be performed by an all-black cast. The Hungarian State Opera in Budapest reportedly asked its mostly white cast to say that they are black.

Lara Downes' new album, America Again, comes out Oct. 28. Rik Keller/Courtesy of the artist. hide caption

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Rik Keller/Courtesy of the artist.

Review

Review: Lara Downes, 'America Again'

October 20, 2016 • Hear the pianist's portrait of America in a smartly programmed, wide-ranging anthology of solo piano works by composers past and present; male and female; straight and gay; white, black and Latino.

Has 'An American In Paris' Been Honking Up The Wrong Key?

George Gershwin's beloved An American In Paris features the sounds of taxi horns — but a musicologist argues we've been using the wrong ones. Creative Commons hide caption

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Creative Commons

Has 'An American In Paris' Been Honking Up The Wrong Key?

March 1, 2016 • The composition is so popular that old-timey taxi horns Gershwin called for are rented by orchestras all over the country. But a musicologist says they've been using the wrong ones.

Has 'An American In Paris' Been Honking Up The Wrong Key?

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George Gershwin in the 1930s. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

'Rhapsody in Blue'

February 13, 2000 • At age 25, George Gershwin took only three weeks to compose his most identifiable masterpiece.

'Rhapsody in Blue'

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Frank Sinatra captured by photographer William "PoPsie" Randolph during a 1943 concert. Author Ben Yagoda points to Sinatra as one of the interpreters who helped revive the Great American Songbook. William "PoPsie" Randolph/Courtesy of Riverhead hide caption

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William "PoPsie" Randolph/Courtesy of Riverhead

Author Interviews

When Pop Broke Up With Jazz

January 23, 2015 • For the first half of the 20th century, Tin Pan Alley songwriters like Irving Berlin and the Gershwins dominated pop music. By the the 1950s, tastes had changed, and the music changed with them.

When Pop Broke Up With Jazz

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With Strings Attached: Michael Feinstein Sings Gershwin

From The Top

November 14, 2009 • The Baltimore Symphony conductor chooses a season of music built on the belief that understanding where we come from, and celebrating diversity, can create a sense of continuity, history and belonging — not to mention some great concerts.

Hear Marin Alsop and Scott Simon Discuss Gershwin On 'Weekend Edition Saturday'

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Fishko Files

The Sound Of Summertime In Six Notes

WNYC Radio

July 18, 2008 • It's an extraordinarily simple song from a work initially met with indifference. But with summer now at full tilt, George Gershwin's enduring ode to the season is again in the air wherever the living is easy.

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Studio Sessions

Rupa and the April Fishes: Multicultural Music

WNYC Radio

April 16, 2008 • Rupa Marya was born to Indian parents in San Francisco and raised in the U.S., India, and the South of France. Now she sings in French, Spanish, English, and Hindi while maintaining a career as a physician.

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Concerts

Patti Austin in Concert

WBGO

January 11, 2008 • Fresh off a Grammy nomination for her latest album (Avant Gershwin), the veteran vocalist performs "A Gershwin New Year's Eve," live from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Listen: Patti Austin in Concert

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Review

Music Reviews

The Sweet Sound of Ruby Elzy

Fresh Air

June 28, 2007 • New tracks from 1930s Broadway and radio star Ruby Elzy have been released in a CD called Ruby Elzy in Song: Rare Recordings (1935-1942). Elzy's vocal talents brought her wide acclaim until her tragic death at the age of 35.

The Sweet Sound of Ruby Elzy

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Music Interviews

Patti Austin, Singing Gershwin's Praises

March 19, 2007 • Songstress Patti Austin's newest CD, Avant-Gershwin, allows her to cover the classic and sometimes controversial music of legendary composer George Gershwin. Austin talks about her music with Tony Cox.

Patti Austin, Singing Gershwin's Praises

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Music Interviews

Patti Austin Spins New Stories from Old Classics

March 12, 2007 • Patti Austin is best known as an R&B singer. But on her new album, she reinterprets the American standards of George Gershwin — including the controversial song "Swanee," made famous — and infamous — by Al Jolson.

Patti Austin Spins New Stories from Old Classics

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Music Interviews

Looking Beyond Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'

January 20, 2007 • George Gershwin's "Second Rhapsody" isn't nearly as well known as "Rhapsody in Blue," or "An American in Paris." But music professor Howard Pollack thinks it's one of Gershwin's most complex, interesting works.

Looking Beyond Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'

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Holiday Music

America Sings!

December 14, 2006 • Acclaimed choral master Philip Brunelle presents a varied history of American choral music with his own VocalEssence ensemble. Various members of the Washington, D.C. choral community join to celebrate colonial anthems, the African-American choral tradition, barbershop quartets, and the music of Leonard Bernstein.

Studio Sessions

The Worlds of Ralph Towner

July 28, 2006 • Veteran guitarist Ralph Towner has a unique style of playing, and his compositions are inspired by a wide array of influences, from Bach to Brazil and jazz. Towner plays an original piece, "Anniversary Song," followed by his own arrangement of George Gershwin's "My Man's Gone Now."

The Worlds of Ralph Towner

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Music

Bolcom's Ragomania: A Nod to Gershwin and Blake

February 20, 2006 • Some pure Americana comes from the pen of recent four-time Grammy winner William Bolcom. His "Ragomania" honors jazz great Eubie Blake and Bolcom's idol George Gershwin. Marin Alsop conducts the Aspen Festival Orchestra.

Bolcom's Ragomania: A Nod to Gershwin and Blake

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Concerts

The Lark Quartet Plays George Gershwin

January 12, 2006 • The poetry and lyricism in songs by George Gershwin have universal appeal. The Lark Quartet plays three songs by Gershwin, arranged for string quartet by Stanley Silverman. "He Loves and She Loves," "Do It Again," and "Sweet and Lowdown," with a touch of Ella Fitzgerald.

The Lark Quartet Plays George Gershwin

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Music Interviews

70 Years of Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess'

October 10, 2005 • On this day in 1935, Porgy and Bess, George Gershwin's opera about black life in the South Carolina town of Charleston at the turn of the century, made its Broadway debut. Karen Grigsby Bates offers an appreciation.

70 Years of Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess'

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