I very much wanted to see the production of Porgy and Bess that the Lyric Opera of Chicago presented this year, but the cost of a Lyric ticket is a little prohibitive for me, and none of my usual suspects who unload unwanted opera tickets on me complied--a testament to how much interest this production garnered, I believe. So in lieu of seeing the show live, I'll have to settle (for now) to listening to a 1942 recording of the score with many of the original performers recreating their vocal performances--including Todd Duncan and Anne Brown (shown, right) as the title characters.
Ms. Brown passed away in March of this year, and I was surprised to know she was still living--after all Porgy premiered in 1935--74 years ago. Ms. Brown was 96 at the time of her death, which means she debuted as Bess at age 22--remarkable.
A lot of people talk about the two "personalities" of George Gershwin--his popular, tin-pan-alley songs (including his Broadway scores), versus his classical compositions. Leonard Bernstein is another composer who seemed to have more than one musical voice. Does that really happen these days? Many composers have written so-called cabaret songs--Benjamin Britten comes right to mind--but are there composers crossing the great divide between the classical concert stage and the Broadway theater? Perhaps we are too much a society of specialists to allow much of that today.
No one ever talks about the lyrics of Porgy. Poor Ira Gershwin must have spent the 51 years after the premiere of the show until his death in 1983 hearing about what a genius his dead brother was and how P & G epitomized that genius. Well, Ira deserves some praise, too. Certainly he got help from DuBose Heyward, who is credited with the libretto and shares credit for the lyrics, but what in Ira's resume prior to 1935 gives any indication he can write the lyrics to a serious-themed opera/musical, let alone one that is set in the South among poor Black Folks?
Granted, Ira had lyrics on display in a remarkable 31 Broadway productions before Porgy premiered, but is there anything in Oh, Kay! or Of Thee I Sing that shouts "Yes, let's trust the New York Jew to write words that won't sound silly or offensive coming out the mouths of these characters." Remember, this is the era before Broadway had book musicals--so while Ira's musical lyrics are rightfully remembered as tremendously clever, they weren't expected to necessarily drive the plot forward--as the lyrics in an opera must do, at least some of the time.
Well, Ira, hats off to you for what must have often felt like being second fiddle. You kept going after George left you and wrote lyrics with an A-list of Broadway composers--Kurt Weill, Arthur Schwartz, and Jerome Kern.
I haven't Thought about nearly enough Gershwin this Year.
Porgy and Bess
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Libretto by Dubose Heyward (based on his novella and play)
Opened 1935
Cast (in this studio recording from 1942): Anne Brown, Todd Duncan, Avon Long, Edward Matthews, Eva Jessye Choir
Ms. Brown passed away in March of this year, and I was surprised to know she was still living--after all Porgy premiered in 1935--74 years ago. Ms. Brown was 96 at the time of her death, which means she debuted as Bess at age 22--remarkable.
A lot of people talk about the two "personalities" of George Gershwin--his popular, tin-pan-alley songs (including his Broadway scores), versus his classical compositions. Leonard Bernstein is another composer who seemed to have more than one musical voice. Does that really happen these days? Many composers have written so-called cabaret songs--Benjamin Britten comes right to mind--but are there composers crossing the great divide between the classical concert stage and the Broadway theater? Perhaps we are too much a society of specialists to allow much of that today.
No one ever talks about the lyrics of Porgy. Poor Ira Gershwin must have spent the 51 years after the premiere of the show until his death in 1983 hearing about what a genius his dead brother was and how P & G epitomized that genius. Well, Ira deserves some praise, too. Certainly he got help from DuBose Heyward, who is credited with the libretto and shares credit for the lyrics, but what in Ira's resume prior to 1935 gives any indication he can write the lyrics to a serious-themed opera/musical, let alone one that is set in the South among poor Black Folks?
Granted, Ira had lyrics on display in a remarkable 31 Broadway productions before Porgy premiered, but is there anything in Oh, Kay! or Of Thee I Sing that shouts "Yes, let's trust the New York Jew to write words that won't sound silly or offensive coming out the mouths of these characters." Remember, this is the era before Broadway had book musicals--so while Ira's musical lyrics are rightfully remembered as tremendously clever, they weren't expected to necessarily drive the plot forward--as the lyrics in an opera must do, at least some of the time.
Well, Ira, hats off to you for what must have often felt like being second fiddle. You kept going after George left you and wrote lyrics with an A-list of Broadway composers--Kurt Weill, Arthur Schwartz, and Jerome Kern.
I haven't Thought about nearly enough Gershwin this Year.
Porgy and Bess
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Libretto by Dubose Heyward (based on his novella and play)
Opened 1935
Cast (in this studio recording from 1942): Anne Brown, Todd Duncan, Avon Long, Edward Matthews, Eva Jessye Choir
