Porgy&Bess

I did a report on George Gershwin, so I decided to take a listen to Porgy and Bess. And i really like it!!!!!!


Any thoughts about this?

---

an all-time favorite. gorgeous gershwin score and bravely innovative for the time. i enjoy the voices on the soundtrack recording of the movie.

---

Genius, pure and simple. The greatest score ever written by an American composer -- either for the musical theatre or for opera (it is a hybrid of both).

Listen first to the RCA Highlights album from 1963 with Leontyne Price, William Warfield and John Bubbles and conducted by Skitch Henderson. Price sings all of the female roles (Clara, Bess, Serena) and her renditions are definitive (she was one of the great sopranos of the 20th century).

Afterwards, listen to one of the complete sets (the highlights album only includes about half the score). I personally prefer the Houston Grand Opera recording (1976?) with Clamma Dale, but there are other outstanding sets. And if you really want to be thorough, check out the 1942(?) recording which included the original Porgy and Bess, Todd Duncan and Ann Brown. Brown is only OK, but Duncan may be the best Porgy of them all (a gorgeous tone and a sublime performance).

---

Updated On: 2/16/05 at 06:13 PM

if you are looking for a good one, I suggest either the Highlights one or the one that I have the picture for. It is 3 disks long and everyone is amazing. And the conducting by John DeMain is perfect. I have never seen it performed live but when I do, I hope it sounds like this

---

I love "It Ain't Necessarily So."

---

spiderdj, i have the boxed LP of that recording :)

---

The Hollywood Bowl is doing a concert version this summer with Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Yeah, I have the 1961? recording

I think Ill get the other one too

JEEZ these people are all amazingly talented! and great music too!

---

I think the Houston production would have to be the winner; my copy is worn beyond recognition.

And would Stokes have to be the sexiest Porgy in history? He can park his goat cart under my bed ANY TIME....

I saw the touring production last week. Hearing the score live (and I'm not even sure that some of the performers wore mics) and unamplified was awesome. I was completely sucked in...

I'm not MusicMan but I can say for a fact that this recording is WONDERFUL. The only problem is that there is so little singing. I think there are probably about5 or 6 songs from the show. It's a double CD with other Gershwin orchestral music on it. I mean it's great because Gershwin is great. But hearing and seeing (there was a PBS broadcast of said concert) Audra do My Man's Gone was soooooo breathtaking. A great singer AND actress doing that is a hell of a combo. Stokes is great also. I say buy it.

I prefer the Glyndebourne recording on EMI with Rattle at the helm! It's a great recording of perhaps the best American opera! Another nice American opera is Flyod's Susannah. As far as English language opera goes, I love The Rake's Progress best!

---

I'm not familiar with that work. I also like Peter Grimes, although as a whole, English opera (even P&B) doesn't do much for me. There are certain moments I like in P&B, but as a whole, it's difficult for me to listen to it in it's entirety. I much prefer Italian, German, or Russian.

---