Gershwin / Heyward: Porgy & Bess (1935)

Gershwin / Heyward: Porgy & Bess (1935)

Gershwin / Heyward: Porgy & Bess (1935)
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Composer: George & Ira Gershwin
Composer: Dubose & Dorothy Heyward
Conductor: John Mauceri
Orchestra: Nashville Symphony & Chorus
Performer: Alvy Powell
Performer: Marquita Lister
Performer: Robert Mack
Performer: Nicole Cabell
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2006-09-12
Music Label: Decca
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Introduction
  2. Summertime
  3. Seems Like Those Bones Don't Give Me Nothin' But Boxcars Tonight
  4. Summertime
  5. What, That Chile Ain't Asleep Yet?...A Woman Is A Sometime Thing (Lissen To Yo' Daddy Warn You)
  6. Honey Man! Honey Man! Here Come De Honey Man
  7. They Pass By Signin' (No, No, Brudder, Porgy Ain' Sof' On No Woman)
  8. Here Comes Big Boy!
  9. Crown Cock-Eyed Drunk...Oh, Little Stars
  10. Oh, Stop Them! Don't Let Them Fight!
  11. Wake Up An' Hit It Out. You Ain't Got No Time To Lose
  12. Gone, Gone, Gone (Where Is Brudder Robbins?)...Overflow
  13. Um! A Saucer-Buryin' Setup, I See
  14. My Man's Gone Now
  15. How De Saucer Stan' Now, My Sister?
  16. Leavin' For The Promise' Lan' (Oh, The Train Is At The Station)
  17. It Take A Long Pull To Get There (Oh, I'm A-goin' Out To The Blackfish Banks)
  18. Oh, I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'
  19. Mornin', Lawyer, Lookin' For Somebody?
  20. Dey's A Buckra Comin'
  21. 'Lo, Bess, Goin' To De Picnic?
  22. Bess, You Is My Woman Now
  23. Oh, I Can't Sit Down
Music CD 2
  1. Allegretto Barbaro Ha Da Da, Ha Da Da
  2. It Ain't Necessarily So
  3. Crown! - You Know Very Well Dis Crown
  4. Oh...What You Want Wid Bess?
  5. Honey, Dat's All De Breakfast I Got Time For
  6. Well, If It Ain' Ole Peter!
  7. Oh, Doctor Jesus
  8. Oh Dey's So Fresh An' Fine...I'm Talkin' About Devil Crabs
  9. Porgy, Porgy, Dat You There Ain't It?
  10. I Loves You, Porgy
  11. Why You Been Out On That Wharf So Long, Clara?
  12. Storm
  13. Oh, De Lawd Shake De Heavens
  14. One Of Dese Mornin's...Oh, Dere's Soebody Knockin' At De Do'
  15. You Is A Nice Parcel Of Christmas
  16. A Red-Headed Woman
  17. Jake's Boat In De River, Upside Down!
  18. Clara, Clara, Don't You Be Downhearted
  19. Ha Ha Ha
  20. Summertime
  21. Introduction/Wait For Us At The Corner, Al
  22. Listen: There's A Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon For New York
  23. Occupational Humoresque/Good Mornin'
  24. It's Porgy Comin' Home
  25. Oh, Bess, Oh Where's My Bess
  26. Where Bess Gone?...Oh Lawd, I'm On My Way

Music reviews of Gershwin / Heyward: Porgy & Bess (1935)

Music Review: This is a tough call.
Rating: 3 Stars

OK. Here's the deal, at least as I see it.

We have an embarrassment of riches here: Depending on your definition of the word "complete", there are now as many as four complete recordings of George Gershwin's astounding masterpiece, "Porgy and Bess", for us to choose from, or, for that matter, to pick and choose from.

Why "as many as"? Well, because the eminent conductor/musicologist in charge of this newest recording took the scholarly position of wanting to present a "Porgy and Bess" which adhere's to Gershwin's final intentions. Admirable, of course, but a treacherous road to take, full of pot holes and worse.

I'm not going to get into which of the four complete recordings (Lorin Maazel's beautifully recorded and performed `70s version on Decca has just been reissued) is best, because it is simply an unanswerable question. Each version has its' definite pluses and minuses. But laudable though this newest version may be, I am forced to conclude it has the largest number of minuses. So many and so serious, in fact, that I fear it does not survive them.

First and foremost are the cuts. They are substantial and noticeable. Featured characters fade into insignificance. But principal characters lose music as well. The problem is, after all these years, we are finally getting to know "Porgy and Bess." We are becoming emotionally attached, as we would to any piece of music we happen to like, to certain elements of the score that others might find unimportant, or, worse yet, unauthentic. When we hear this new recording, for all its' merits, and there are many, we find something missing. Literally, unfortunately. Although the trims help move the action along at a brisker clip, I'm not convinced this is always a desired result. And that's even taking into account that Gershwin the performer, was not known to twaddlle. Have you heard any of his recordings? Another problem here are the singers. Now any stage production would be proud to have put together this cast. But we're not in the theater here. We're listening on our CD players, our iPods, our phones, for God sake. Vocal weaknesses become more and more noticeable upon the repeated hearings the stage performance isn't exposed to.

Not everything is negative here. Maestro Mauceri's conducting is, as always, first rate. He obviously knows this score forward and backward, and probably upside down as well. The recorded sound is excellent. The orchestra, somewhat thinned down when compared to the other recordings, performs transparently and with a wonderful sense of spirit. They should be proud of their work. And, due to the cuts and the somewhat brisker performance in general, the whole thing has been squeezed onto two CDs rather than three. Economics are always important, no less so in these.....uh......"troubled" times.

My preferred "Porgy"? I'm afraid the answer is "no". Worth a listen or two? Oh, yes. Please do. Absolutely.

So, what about the other three? Well, I think they should be reviewed on their own, not here. It must be said I have a personal involvement with the Maazel recording that may influence my objectivity., I love it a great deal and find it to be invariably moving. However, and giving credit to all, especially Maestro Maazel, for wonderful work, I think some might find it just a tad too serious. Maazel tends to slightly de-emphasize the tin-pan alley heritage from which this score comes. But it will always hold pride of place as the first "complete" recording. And the sound, always a knockout, is even better in this CD release. That leaves Glyndebourne and Houston. And that's where it leaves me, too. I find both recordings to be outstanding. And I find it impossible to pick between them.

So, pick and choose? Sorry, I can't do it. I have to have both of them. And, well, of course the Maazel, for my own reasons. And now that I think about it, there were some things in the Mauceri version that I might want to hear again when the dust settles. Better hang onto it to. Oh, God. I'm right back where I began.

Well, that's "Porgy and Bess' for you!
More Gershwin / Heyward: Porgy & Bess (1935) free music reviews:
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Description of Gershwin / Heyward: Porgy & Bess (1935)

This is the first recording of George Gershwin's classic to incorporate the composer's final revisions for the 1935 premiere. Apparently it differs from the original published score though it won?t sound all that different to a layman who?s heard the versions dating from the 1970s onward, which replaced spoken dialogue with the sung recitatives Gershwin wanted. Musicology aside, there are gains and losses in this new set. The gains are a tighter, more focused narrative line due to the cuts, which amount to about half-an-hour of music. But those cuts are losses too, since they include some familiar and well-loved numbers. The performance is a good one though, if not necessarily preferable to previous recordings by Maazel, DeMain, and Rattle, all of which have their own shortcomings. Alvy Powell makes for a finely honed Porgy, and while one could ask for a bigger-voiced Bess, Marquita Lister sings and acts well. Many of the smaller roles are admirable too, with Lester Lynch scoring as a menacing Crown but Nicole Cabell, the Clara, has a wide vibrato on sustained high notes marring her "Summertime," here performed in the faster tempo of the 1935 score. --Dan Davis

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