An American in Paris

Gershwin began An American in Paris during his second stay in the French capital. He called it a ‘rhapsodic ballet’, and the music carries both the bustle of Paris and the homesickness of an American abroad. Taxi horns cut through the orchestral colour; at the centre, a blues episode becomes a moment of inward reflection. The première took place on 13 December 1928 under Walter Damrosch. Reactions were divided, but admirers included Francis Poulenc and Arturo Toscanini. The work also opened a new path for Gershwin himself: in 1929 he conducted its first Paris performance.