Behind the scenes of “Porgy and Bess” (12 min.)

Everyone knows melodies from George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess such as “Summertime” and “I Loves You, Porgy”. On the other hand, the complete work, which the composer absolutely wanted to be called an opera and not a musical, is rarely heard. Despite having participated in countless performances of the work, the wonderful Cape Town Opera Voice of the Nation Chorus, which was engaged for the concert of the Berliner Philharmoniker in September 2012, had never sung the unabridged version – until this performance with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker. In this documentary, Philharmoniker horn player Sarah Willis attends a chorus rehearsal and talks to the vocal soloists of the performance, including the soprano Latonia Moore, who took over the title role of Bess for an indisposed colleague at short notice.