Release Date: 07 January 2004
Label: Naxos - Historical / Naxos Historical
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 636943128725
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: GERSHWIN
Description
George GERSHWIN (1898-1937)Porgy and BessThe debate as to whether Porgy and Bess is amusical comedy or an opera has been raging ever sinceGeorge Gershwin's masterpiece made its Broadwaydebut in 1935. At that first performance it was called, infact, 'a folk opera', and the newspapers sent both theirdrama and music critics to review it. Interestinglyenough, the initial round of notices treated it morefavourably as theatre than as opera. Since that time, thependulum has swung back and forth, with variousstagings, both populist and grand, vying for the public'saffection.The present recording, made in 1951, is a cannycompromise that brings together the best of bothworlds, which is perhaps one of the reasons it hasendured so well over the years. Goddard Lieberson ofColumbia Records was the driving force behind theproject and on this occasion, as on so many others,musical theatre fans owe him at a debt of gratitude.Lieberson not only loved musicals, he understood howto make them come to life in a recording, even if hischanges and transpositions could come dangerouslyclose to ghost-writing on occasion. He felt the need fora first-rate, full-length recording of Gershwin's massivework, even though what emerges here is not, strictlyspeaking the 'complete' version of the show that it wasinitially advertised as. There are judicious trims andedits throughout, which considerably reduce therunning time, but the important thing is that the piece, asan entity, is presented with its artistic integrity intact.The libretto of Porgy and Bess was written byDuBose Heyward, based on his acclaimed 1925 novel,Porgy, and the play that his wife Dorothy subsequentlyfashioned from it in 1927. Heyward was inspired by thetrue-life story of one Sammy Smalls, a crippled beggarwith a goat-cart who lived in the black tenement area ofCharleston, South Carolina known as 'Cabbage Row'.A series of events led Smalls to commit a crime ofpassion, attempting to shoot a woman he felt hadbetrayed him. Something about the individual and thesetting inspired Heyward and before too long he hadchanged the locale to 'Catfish Row', and reinventedSmalls as Porgy.The enormous success of the 1927 stage version ofPorgy led a variety of people to contemplate turning itinto a musical, including Al Jolson, who wanted to playthe title-r?â??le in blackface, but Heyward wisely resistedall offers until he met George Gershwin, then at thepeak of his composing career. Gershwin convincedHeyward of his desire to write 'an American opera' andpromised to remain faithful to the original milieu.George's brother, Ira, joined in to help write thelyrics, but it took the collaborators years to finish theirpiece. When it finally opened at the Alvin Theatre on10th October, 1935, the critical response, as noted, wasmixed, and it only ran for 124 performances, impressivefor an opera, but a failure by musical comedy standards.A series of revivals in the 1940s made the workmore of a popular success, but Lieberson and IraGershwi
Tracklisting
William Primrose
William Primrose
Vinay:Nbc So&Chorus:Toscanini
Vienna Po:Knappertsbusch
Vienna Po:Furtwangler
Vienna&Berlin Po:Furtwangler
Various Composer
Various (1923-1955)
