Porgy and Bess- Operatic, or otherwise?

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/13/11 at 2:57pm

Porgy and Bess has been performed with operatic voices and singing/acting styles, and with more traditional theatre stylings. Which way do you prefer it?

[justoldbill]

Posted: 8/13/11 at 3:24pm

PORGY AND BESS may not always be performed in an operatic style, but it is almost always sung by a cast with operatic technique- there's really no way around it (I'm speaking of it as performed on stage, not jazz interpretations in a recording studio). Lullaby or not, accordion or not, the song "Summertime" has to be heard in the last row. Let the audience believe it's not too loud for the baby. Oh, I forgot; A.R.T. thinks their audience won't have that level of sophistication.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/13/11 at 4:16pm

[vf]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 12:56am

Diahann Carroll and Sammy Davis Jr. singing excerpts from Porgy and Bess, starts at 5:00. Bess, You is My Woman starts at 10:45 (for comparison to the next youtube) They're great, though they didn't need the echo chamber effect. Surely they didn't have opera training, but they were just great singers.

Sammy Davis Jr. and Diahann Carroll singing Porgy and Bess Updated On: 8/14/11 at 12:56 AM

[vf]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 1:32am

Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott recently performed Bess, You Is My Woman at a concert in Germany and I think they sound great too. (I think Paulo Szot and Deborah Voigt also performed this recently) Personally, I think it depends on the singer, not the training.
Anna Netrebko & Erwin Schrott- Bess, You Is My Woman

[A Director]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 4:56am

One of the best recordings of selections from Porgy and Bess is by Ella and Louis. On the other hand, if this folk opera is going to be staged, then use opera singers. Porgy and Bess is not a musical; it is an OPERA!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 10:45am

I love the Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong Porgy and Bess, but I don't think I would have wanted to see it on stage.

http://youtu.be/juW7SC_7bfM


I might, however, have liked to have seen Billie Holiday play Bess:

http://youtu.be/jpxfZKeqw48

Updated On: 8/14/11 at 10:45 AM

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 11:00am

"If this folk opera is going to be staged, then use opera singers."

Audra McDonald, although trained in opera, is a Broadway and concert singer but I doubt anyone will argue that she can't or shouldn't sing Bess. Shirley Verrett was an opera singer, but when she appeared on Broadway in Carousel, then she was a Broadway singer. What's the point of pigeonholing singers in one genre or the other? If Paulo Shotz wants to sing South Pacific, or if Kristen Chenowith were to take on Cosi fan Tutte, what's the problem?

[beingalive123]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:13pm

I don't know if its as simple as not "pingeonholng" people to a certain genre, but I do agree that if they do have the appropriate technique to sing in a different genre of music, why stop them. With that said, I never want to see Raul Esparza sing Rodolfo or Marcelo Alvarez play Bobby.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:22pm

It may not be the most popular recording out there but my absolute favorite recording of PORGY & BESS is actually the soundtrack album from the much maligned film with the voices of Adele Addison, Robert McFerrin, Cab Calloway, Pearl Bailey and Loulie Jean Norman.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:47pm

And then, of course, there's Judy Garland's version:

http://youtu.be/npKM9nRr25c

[Pippin]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 3:57pm

"Audra McDonald, although trained in opera, is a Broadway and concert singer but I doubt anyone will argue that she can't or shouldn't sing Bess."


Agreed.




Audra sings "My Man's Gone Now"

[A Director]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 5:05pm

How can Audra McDonald sing Bess when she doesn't understand the character?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 5:40pm

Um...Bess doesn't sing "My Man's Gone Now." Ruby does.

[A Director]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 5:46pm

Ruby does not sing "My Man's Gone Now," Serena does.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 5:54pm

Ya got me! I looked at the wrong column--Serena was originally played by Ruby Elzy.



This is the curtain call from the world premiere performance.

That's Ruby Elzy at the far left in the apron, Todd Duncan, Anne borwn, George Gershwin in the center, Ira and Du Bose behind him, Anne Brown with her hand on Todd Duncan's shoulder.

[A Director]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 6:57pm

I'm familiar with the photo.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/14/11 at 7:59pm

Who are the two on the right side of the photo?

[justoldbill]

Posted: 8/15/11 at 12:58am

The people in the photo are (left to right)- Ruby Elzy (Serena), Todd Duncan (Porgy), Anne Brown (Bess), Rouben Mamoulian, George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, Warren Coleman (Crown) and Abbie Mitchell (Clara).