Former Football Star Morris Robinson Takes the Lead as 'Porgy' at La Scala, Nov. 13

Gershwin's opera PORGY AND BESS returns to La Scala November 13-23, 2016 in a semi-scenic version with a conductor that will probably surprise many people: Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The interest of the Austrian maestro for this title dates back to an encounter that an uncle of his, a member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Museum, had with Gershwin, who had been profoundly struck by a meeting with Alban Berg in Vienna at the end of the 1920s and considered Porgy to be "his Wozzeck". Inspired by this story, Harnoncourt has restored, thanks to the collaboration of the Gershwin Foundation, all of the original material from the premiere. We shall therefore be hearing the most authentic version of Porgy and Bess, including a great deal of music influenced by the European avant-garde that is usually struck out but which makes the opera much stronger and dramatic. It is directed by Philipp Harnoncourt, the cast includes Kristin Lewis, Pumeza Matshikiza and Angel Blue.

The cast features former football star, Morris Robinson as Porgy.

Morris Robinson is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the most interesting and sought after basses performing today. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in their production of Fidelio. He has since appeared there as Sarastro in The Magic Flute (both in the original production and in a new children's English version), the King inAida and in roles in Nabucco, Tannhäuser and new productions of Les Troyens and Salome. He has also appeared at the Dallas Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, the Wolf Trap Opera, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

His appearances for the 2014/15 season include returns to the Houston Grand Opera in both Otello and The Magic Flute, Opera Philadelphia as the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, and the Atlanta Opera in Rigoletto.

For more information, visit: MorrisRobinson.com or http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/season/2015-2016/opera/porgy-and-bess.html