Everyone’s reaction, when you tell them, is the same: “He’s what? Really?” The surprise, actually the mild shock, at the news that Nikolaus Harnoncourt decided to record, of all things, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess as an 80th birthday present to himself, tells us interesting things about the way we perceive him, and indeed Gershwin. Harnoncourt – and Gramophone readers know this as well as anyone – is one of those few figures of whom it can seriously be said that they’ve changed the way music is performed. Many times I have interviewed a conductor only to be told, “This I learnt from Harnoncourt.” While even those who chose not to follow his period-instrument lead in the works of Beethoven and beyond have more often than not been influenced by his approach (witness the kind of modern-orchestra-but-with-period-sensibility Beethoven practised by the likes of Paavo Järvi, Osmo Vänskä, even perhaps Sir Charles Mackerras). So serious-minded a figure is he thought to be, in such reverence is he held, that the twinning of his name with George Gershwin’s never crossed anybody’s mind (though actually, he did drop a couple of hints in his last interview in these pages, in the December 2007 issue). But why on earth not? Lorin Maazel and Sir Simon Rattle on record (and in the opera house Andrew Litton and others) have shown us the depth of the American composer’s self-proclaimed “folk opera”. Can it really be true that we still don’t take it seriously? Yet stylistically Harnoncourt and Gershwin seem an odd couple. And since the conductor tends to discover new approaches in every score, it would always be fascinating to see what he can discover in Catfish Row. A different kind of work requires a different approach, so I asked Philip Clark – a jazz as well as classical music expert – to undertake the (world exclusive) interview. He’s done a fine job, his questions as unusual as some of the answers are unexpected. And, as for Edward Seckerson’s review of the set, there are perhaps surprises there too. Since Harnoncourt had previously said he never wanted to be photographed ever again, we were delighted to be granted a shoot and sent the award-winning Rory Carnegie. Fascinatingly, Carnegie reported that the conductor is in fact a keen follower of photography. “He just loves the creative urge,” said Carnegie. “It’s what really seems to drive him.” Which makes a lot of sense. james.inverne@haymarket.com