Delishious — The Latest Gershwin

Some news from the world of George and Ira Gershwin.

Until we can all safely return to our favorite theaters and concert stages, to hear once again in a live setting George’s concert works and the classic songs he wrote with his brother Ira, here are a few moments to help lift our collective spirits.

Paul Masse, Music Director and Writer of the cancelled 92^nd Street Y Lyrics and Lyricists program, George Gershwin: You’ve Got What Gets Me, performs three Gershwin melodies.

Michael Feinstein shares some of his personal Gershwin treasures.

And finally, United Airlines reminds of the open skies with a special performance of Rhapsody in Blue by one of its pilots.

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The Metropolitan Opera’s recent production of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess was a box office smash! Now you can bring home the music with a new three-disc recording of the opera, starring Eric Owens and Angel Blue as the title characters, recorded live in performance during September and October 2019.

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Garth Brooks recently received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Read about the concert, held at DAR’s Constitution Hall in Washington, in the Washington Post, Billboard, and the website of WTOP radio. And if you missed the March 29 PBS broadcast of the concert, the network’s website is streaming it here (membership may be required).

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George Gershwin’s Prelude No. 2 can be heard in a number of renditions, including one by pianist Jon Nakamatsu and clarinetist Jon Manasse, in the recent HBO miniseries, The Plot Against America. The adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2004 novel about an alternative American history in which Charles Lindbergh defeats Franklin D. Roosevelt for the Presidency in 1940, stars Winona Ryder, Anthony Boyle, Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector, and John Turturro.

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An extensive interview with Richard Crawford, the author of the latest biography of George Gershwin, Summertime: George Gershwin’s Life in Music (W. W. Norton), is available here. The interview is a fascinating look into the biographical process, the unique sources Crawford used, and the decisions he made when writing his book.

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In 1970, Porgy and Bess was staged in the city of its origin, Charleston, South Carolina. A recent article in the Charleston Post and Courier looks back at how the production changed the culture of the city. James Edwards, a well-known Charleston educator, who directed the chorus and appeared in the production, passed away of natural causes on March 30, 2020, at the age of 85. We extend our condolences to his family and friends.

Be well and keep safe!

— Michael Owen