Labels:text | man | human face | person | gentleman | screenshot OCR: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Gershwin, George George Gershwin A well-loved composer, Gershwin was influenced by ragtime and jazz. With a powerful melodic gift, he fused popular and "classical" styles, collaborating with his lyricist brother Ira to create some of the best-known musicals to emerge from the U.S. At age 19 he had his first hit, "Swanee," sung by Al Jolson in the revue "Sinbad," and by 1924 his talent was beginning to mature with the jazz-like "Rhapsody in Blue." His influence on popular music, film, and opera lasted decades after his death. One of his greatest achievements was the opera "Porgy and Bess." Described by critic Edward Greenfield as "a 20th-century portrait of human nature," it included such classics as "I love you, Porgy," George Gershwin, U.S. composer, and "Summertime." Although a popular failure songwriter, and pianist, 1898-1937 when it opened in 1935, the opera's revival in 1942 ran longer than any other in the history of the U.S. musical theater, and it was the first American opera performed at La Scala in Milan. Gershwin's early death at age 39 was seen as a great loss to music. CHRONOLOGY
