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December 28, 2025, 05:22
Opera Choir in Discord Over “Porgy & Bess” Performance
The Theater Basel opera choir is facing a crisis over the holidays, with internal disputes threatening harmony as rehearsals for upcoming performances begin.
28.12.2025, 05:2228.12.2025, 05:22
Most people seek peaceful moments with family during the holidays, but disagreements frequently enough arise-proximity can breed friction, and expectations rarely align perfectly.
George Gershwin wouldn’t have liked to see that either: a “Porgy & Bess” ballet performance at the Zurich Opera House from 1950 – with white artists wearing black make-up.Bild: getty
The Opera Choir of the Theater Basel, comprised of 40 professional singers from 15 nations, is currently grappling with a similar discord. Creating a unified ensemble is always a challenge for professional choirs, but heightened awareness of individual concerns and minority protections has amplified the tensions.
Questions of solo assignments, seating arrangements, rehearsal attendance, and even the historical content of performed works-specifically passages deemed racist, ableist, or misogynistic-are fueling the conflict.
The first film adaptation of the material from 1959 (director: Otto Preminger).Bild: getty
The immediate catalyst for the choir’s division is the upcoming performance of George Gershwin’s “Porgy & Bess.” The opera, instantly recognizable for its song “Summertime,” tells the tragic love story of Porgy, a disabled beggar, and Bess, a woman working in Charleston’s African-American community.
A Complex Legacy and Strict Rules
Created during the era of racial segregation in the 1930s by an all-white creative team-George Gershwin composed the music, with his brother Ira and author DuBose Heyward writing the libretto-the opera carries a complicated history.Gershwin was a vocal opponent of blackface, the now-condemned practice of white performers darkening their skin to portray Black characters.
To prevent performances with blackface in 1935, Gershwin stipulated that “porgy & Bess” could only be
