Great art is malleable.
I remember fondly a performance of Shakespeare’s As You Like It set in the 1980’s in Newfoundland and another of The Taming of the Shrew set in Rome in the 1960s, complete with Vespas. Shakespeare’s plays are infinitely malleable – the art comes through regardless of the context.
In the same way, the works of Gershwin are malleable: place them in a different meter, rhythmic feel, musical context, backstory and the power of the song remains.
Great paintings welcome multiple interpretations; indeed, they seem to require them. The same with great movies, novels, poems.
It seems to me that one of the best ways to determine if art is truly great is to ask if it welcomes multiple interpretations. Can I change the context without ruining the art? That’s the mark of greatness.
Great art is malleable.