The thoroughly modern genius of George Gershwin

"When he was bestriding the nation, Gershwin was the most modern guy around; 82 years later — guess what? — he still is. The “serious” music that confounded the fogeys nearly a century ago is played in every symphony hall around the world. There’s hardly a popular recording artist — from Garland to Gaga, from Ella to Elvis (Costello) — who hasn’t performed his songs in every manner of interpretation. Since 1983, there have been nine major revivals/reimaginings of his stage works on Broadway. And the magisterial “Porgy and Bess” — itself a signal lodestar for the insistent argument of cultural appropriation — opens at the Metropolitan Opera in a new production this month."