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Composer(s): Gershwin, George
Lyricist(s): Gershwin, Ira; Heyward, DuBose
Conductor(s): Bennett, Robert Russell; Engel, Lehman
Orchestra(s): Lehman Engel Orchestra; RCA Victor Orchestra
Choir(s): John Rosamond Johnson Chorus; Robert Shaw Chorale
Artist(s): Cattenhead, Harrison; Coleman, Warren; Dilworth, Hubert; Dowdy, Helen; Fisher, George; Glover, Wiiliam A.; Long, Avon; Matthews, Eddie; Matthews, Inez; McGill, Sadie; McMechen, June; Washington, Irving; Williams, Camilla; Winters, Lawrence; Yeats, Ray; Johnson, J. Rosamond; Merrill, Robert; Stevens, Risë
Label: Naxos Historical
Series: Great Opera Recordings
Genre: Opera
Period: 20th Century
Catalogue No: 8.110287-88
Barcode: 0636943128725
Distribution Note(s):
Not available in the United States due to possible copyright restrictions
Not available in the United States due to possible copyright restrictions
Release Date: 07/2004
GERSHWIN: Porgy and Bess (Winters, Williams, Long) (1951)
At its first performance Porgy and Bess was called ‘a folk opera’, and since then a debate has been raging whether Gershwin’s masterpiece is a music comedy or an opera. The present recording, made in 1951 with a specially chosen tem that was not specifically attached to a production of the show, is a canny compromise, combining the energy of musical comedy with the vocal richness of opera. There are trims and edits throughout, which considerably reduce the running time, but the important thing is that the piece, as an entity, is presented with its artistic integrity intact. The fillers feature two operatic stars in one of the earliest ‘cross-over’ recordings.
Tracklist
Disc 1
Gershwin, George
Gershwin, Ira - Lyricist
Heyward, DuBose - Lyricist
Gershwin, Ira - Lyricist
Heyward, DuBose - Lyricist
|  | 1 | Act I Scene 1: Introduction | 01:02 |
| | 2 | Act I Scene 1: Summertime | 02:30 |
| | 3 | Act I Scene 1: Seems like these bones | 03:40 |
| | 4 | Act I Scene 1: What, that chile ain't asleep yet?... (A woman is a sometime thing) | 02:16 |
| | 5 | Act I Scene 1: Here comes de honey man | 04:38 |
| | 6 | Act I Scene 1: Here comes Big Boy! | 04:19 |
| | 7 | Act I Scene 1: Oh, little stars | 02:38 |
| | 8 | Act I Scene 1: Wake up an' hit it out | 03:32 |
| | 9 | Act I Scene 2: Where is brudder Robbins?... (Gone, gone, gone) | 02:56 |
| | 10 | Act I Scene 2: Come on, sister, come on, brother... (Overflow) | 02:29 |
| | 11 | Act I Scene 2: Um! a saucer-buried setup, I see | 03:15 |
| | 12 | Act I Scene 2: My man's gone now | 03:30 |
| | 13 | Act I Scene 2: How the saucer stan' now, my sister? | 01:50 |
| | 14 | Act I Scene 2: Oh, the train is at the station | 01:40 |
| | 15 | Act II Scene 1: Oh, I'm a-goin' out to the Blackfish banks | 03:02 |
| | 16 | Act II Scene 1: Oh, I got plenty o' nuttin' | 02:43 |
| | 17 | Act II Scene 1: Mornin', Lawyer, lookin' for somebody? | 04:07 |
| | 18 | Act II Scene 1: Dey's a Buckra comin'! | 03:06 |
| | 19 | Act II Scene 1: Buzzard, keep on flyin'over | 02:44 |
| | 20 | Act II Scene 1: 'Lo, Bess. Goin' to the picnic | 02:38 |
| | 21 | Act II Scene 1: Bess, you is my woman now | 04:52 |
| | 22 | Act II Scene 1: Oh, I can't sit down! | 04:02 |
| | 23 | Act II Scene 2: Ha-da-da, ha-da-da | 01:18 |
| | 24 | Act II Scene 2: It ain't necessarily so | 02:43 |
| | 25 | Act II Scene 2: Hey there! Holt yo' holt | 02:42 |
| | 26 | Act II Scene 2: Oh, what you want wid Bess? | 03:13 |
Disc 2
| | 1 | Act II Scene 3: Honey, dat's all de breakfast I got time for | 04:10 |
| | 2 | Act II Scene 3: Oh, Doctor Jesus | 01:29 |
| | 3 | Act II Scene 3: Oh dey's so fresh an' fine | 02:16 |
| | 4 | Act II Scene 3: Now de time, oh Gawd, now de time | 02:53 |
| | 5 | Act II Scene 3: I loves you, Porgy | 02:15 |
| | 6 | Act II Scene 3: Why you been out on that wharf so long, Clara? | 01:20 |
| | 7 | Act II Scene 4: Oh, de Lawd shake de Heavens... (Summertime) | 03:04 |
| | 8 | Act II Scene 4: Oh, dere's somebody knockin' at de do' | 01:31 |
| | 9 | Act II Scene 4: You is a nice parcel of Christians | 02:34 |
| | 10 | Act II Scene 4: A red-headed woman makes a choochoo jump its track | 02:33 |
| | 11 | Act III Scene 1: Clara, Clara, don't you be downhearted | 03:47 |
| | 12 | Act III Scene 1: You low-lived skunk | 01:32 |
| | 13 | Act III Scene 1: Summertime | 01:21 |
| | 14 | Act III Scene 1: Bess, this is Crown | 01:42 |
| | 15 | Act III Scene 2: Wait for us at the corner, Al | 03:32 |
| | 16 | Act III Scene 2: Oh, Gawd! They goin' make him look on Crown's face! | 01:25 |
| | 17 | Act III Scene 2: There's a boat that's leavin' soon for New York | 03:34 |
| | 18 | Act III Scene 3: Good mornin', sistuh! Good mornin', brudder! | 01:42 |
| | 19 | Act III Scene 3: It's Porgy comin' home | 04:09 |
| | 20 | Act III Scene 3: Oh, Bess, oh, where's my Bess | 01:37 |
| | 21 | Act III Scene 3: Bess is gone | 01:37 |
| | 22 | Act III Scene 3: Oh, Lawd, I'm on my way | 01:34 |
| | 23 | Summertime | 03:05 |
| | 24 | A woman is a sometime thing | 03:33 |
| | 25 | My man's gone now | 04:09 |
| | 26 | Oh, I got plenty o' nuttin' | 02:52 |
| | 27 | Bess, you is my woman now | 05:04 |
| | 28 | Ha-da-da, ha-da-da... It ain't necessarily so | 04:05 |
| | 29 | Oh, Bess, oh, where's my Bess | 02:18 |
| | 30 | Oh, Lawd, I'm on my way | 01:21 |
Total Playing Time: 02:35:29