IDEAS: On Music

An American in Hamburg

After György Ligeti's »Le Grand Macabre« (2019) and »Saint François d’Assise« by Olivier Messiaen (2020 – cancelled due to Corona), George Gershwin's world-famous opera »Porgy and Bess« is the operatic centrepiece of the 2021 Hamburg International Music Festival, with chief conductor Alan Gilbert directing the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra from the rostrum. As a New York native, Gilbert is thoroughly familiar with the work and with Gershwin's world. Tonight he talks to well-known TV presenter Susanne Stichler, giving some insights into the way he thinks about music and particularly into the timeless message that »Porgy and Bess« conveys.