Gershwin: Porgy and Bess

Disc 1
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Disc 2
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Disc 3
1	Porgy and Bess, opera: Ac
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Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
1.	Porgy and Bess, opera 3:09:09
	Composed by George Gershwin
	Performed by Gregg Baker, Harolyn Blackwell, Maureen Braithwaite, Maureen Braithwaite, Cynthia Clarey, Barrington Coleman, Damon Evans, Michael Forest, Colenton Freeman, Colenton Freeman, Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, Cynthia Haymon, Bruce Hubbard, Paula Ingram, Camellia Johnson, Camellia Johnson, William Johnson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wayne Marshall, Raemond Martin, Ted Maynard, Billy J. Mitchell, Autris Paige, Craig Rutenberg, Marietta Simpson, Linda Thompson, Alan Tilvern, Ron Travis, Mervin Wallace, Curtis Watson, Willard White, Johnny Worthy, Ritchie Pitts, Anne Fridal, Jim Malary, Hyacinth Nicholls, Hyacinth Nicholls and Blair Wilson
	Conducted by Simon Rattle

Barnes & Noble

At its premiere in 1935, Porgy and Bess was too jazzy for the longhairs and too symphonic for the Broadway crowd. Duke Ellington was one of many who criticized its "lampblack Negroisms." However it remains the most successful opera by an American composer, and Gershwin's stipulation that it be performed only by African Americans has ended up launching many a career. The opera is Gershwin's masterpiece. He carefully researched the setting, spending a month in Charleston, South Carolina, absorbing the different musical idioms of Catfish Row and Folly Island, thereby insuring a degree of authenticity remarkable for the 1930s. Based on Dubose Heyward's tale of the crippled Porgy's love for Bess, who is beholden first to the rough stevedore Crown and later to the sly drug dealer Sportin' Life, Gershwin created a true folk opera, weaving a succession of great, memorable tunes through a unified symphonic structure tinged with bluesy harmonies and syncopated rhythms. The EMI recording captures Porgy's roots in grand opera better than any other, without sacrificing any of its jazziness. With a committed cast and outstanding sound, this is a Porgy for the ages. Howard Goldstein

Gramophone

We've a real sense here of Gershwin's community, a feeling of oneness with the piece from singers who've not only lived with, but through, their characters. I doubt we'll ever hear the score in a better light.... And behind it all is Rattle himself, so attuned and so alive to every aspect of the score. Edward Seckerson