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Camilla
Williams singing Bess in the most famous recording of Porgy & Bess
in 1951. The picture was taken from the pages with notes in the original
Columbia 3 Lp box.
She
had already sung Summertime on the B Side of RCA Victor V-46-0004,
a 78 rpm shellac from 1947, with Al Goodman and his Orchestra and The
Guild Choristers. The label says "from the musical production".
On Side A there is an adaptation of Rhasody in Blue with pianist Vladimir
Sokoloff.
(Image and sound sample provided by Sophia Hsu, USA)
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THIS PAGE
The late Mrs. Laszlo Halasz (cellist Suzette Forgues, before she married
the conductor who founded the New York City Opera Company), told me
the story of soprano Camilla Williams singing Cio Cio San in Madame
Butterfly (Puccini, 1946). After I had put this recollection of a remarkable
event on 
The Remington
Site, I received an e-mail from a gentleman friend of Camilla
Williams who had told the soprano about it. Camilla Williams sang Bess
in the first "complete" recording of George Gershwin's great
opera, conducted by Lehman Engel and produced by Goddard Lieberson for
Columbia Records in 1951. And while I had a page about Porgy and Bess
in mind, she would love to give more details and information and would
authorize me to publish a page about Camilla Williams herself.
That was in 2000 when I had started the project about the nineteen fifties
label Remington and gave it a sort of encyclopedic form which is the
same today as it was then. However separate individual pages about Porgy
and Bess and about Camilla Williams never materialized as after a computer
crash all e-mails had been erased, addresses had 'evaporated' and my
good intentions had gone up in smoke. Remember, in those days an external
500 Gigabyte hard disk to back up an entire system was non existent.
No way to reestablish the contact.
Now, many years later, I have started to publish a page on Porgy &
Bess. It may seem rather pretentious as already so much has been written
by experts on George and Ira Gershwin, on Edwin DuBose Heyward and his
wife Dorothy, about the people involved in the first production, how
George Gershwin himself did the casting of the (main) characters and
the chorus for the premiere in Boston in 1935... so much has been written
and said, that there would hardly be anything left to report on.
But as a record collector - I grew up with Gershwin's music as did so
many of my generation - I thought it would be interesting to give a
round up of recordings, publish details, and show a few memorabilia,
connected to the opera and the artists. Especially because there is
the complete original, lengthy 1935 score version available now on CD,
recorded by Decca, released in 2005. You will have to judge for yourself.
I
will add ad lib and ad random. You will understand. This page is dedicated
to Camilla Williams and to all the Besses, but also all the Porgys,
Sportin' Lifes, Crowns and Marias, and all those who contributed to
the fantastic performances in theatres and on recordings.
Click
here for a sample of Camilla Willams singing Summertime in 1947.
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Dust
jacket and knicked hard cover from 1925.
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EDWIN DUBOSE HEYWARD
Porgy,
the novel, was written by Edwin DuBose Heyward. He lived in Charleston,
South Carolina. When he fell ill with polio, he started writing poetry
and later prose. I edited his picture, taken from the back of the somewhat
stained dust cover of the book, published by Grosset & Dunlap, New
York, by arrangement with George H. Doran Company, Copyright 1925.
DuBose Heyward was in his thirties when he wrote his masterpiece and
39 when it was first published.
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THE PLAY
Dorothy and Edwin DuBose Heyward turned the novel into a play. It was
first staged in October 1927. The play was to be the basis for the libretto.
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In National Geographic, Volume 172, No. 6, December 1987, an article
appeared with the title "Sea Change in the Sea Islands - Nowhere
to Lay Down Weary Head". The article was written by Charles L.
Blockson, based on material collected by the late Patricia Jones-Jackson
who lived intermittently for 13 years in the Sea Islands of South Carolina.
The article tells about the history, the changes, the customs and the
language. It is critical on the interference and exploitation of the culture.
In it you will find the word "buckra" for "white man"
and a map suggests that Kiawa Island must have become Kittiwar
in DuBose Heyward's novel and Kittiwah Island in George Gershwin's
opera.
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CRITICAL ASSESSMENT
Reading
the novel is not too easy, at least at first sight. It initially asks
for a lot of concentration because of the writing of the spoken language,
no matter if it is a true rendition of the Gullah language or not. This
is not a criticism. There are other aspects of the novel, the play and
the opera, which have been criticized by several people. These aspects
are about ethics, about the distortion of the originality of the characters
that existed, and the way the play and the opera have been exploited
right from the early days. You may read the assessment written by
Kendra
Hamilton: 'I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina'.
It is good to view Porgy & Bess from a different perspective.
Her criticism is partly of a technical nature. The question is: Were
the facts distorted? It is also a sociological issue: the disintegration
of society which was the result when Charleston became a tourist attraction.
There is also the feeling that "whites" came up with novel,
play and opera. (Duke Ellington apparently despised the work. Yet he
performed and recorded at least Summertime with singer Betty Roché,
and finally contributed to a 3 Lp jazzy version.) But to the true beholder
the white initiative seems less important in the end. Porgy & Bess
is a mirror to one's own soul, to everybody's soul. It is about the
vitality and the despair, the passion and the hope for a better life.
That is the universality of the story which became the folk opera.
Porgy and Bess is about the caring, the empathy and the love people
have for each other. It is also about the dangers the world has to offer.
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The
cover of
National Geographic
Volume 172, No. 6,
December 1987
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THE MUSIC
The score of the opera shows a rich and original orchestration. Songs,
arias, melodies are close to the spoken language and that is what it
makes so natural and is therefore easily accessible. There are remininescences
of spirituals and work songs. And there are a few leading motifs reminiscing
George Gershwin's visit to France and his meeting with Maurice Ravel.
(As there is in "An American in Paris" a reminder of Debussy's
"Par les rues et dans les chemins" - In the Streets and on
the Roads, the first part of "Images pour orchestre".)
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Porgy
- Lawrence Winters - Baritone
Bess - Camilla Willams - Soprano
Serena - Inez Matthews - Soprano
Sporting Life - Avon Long - Tenor
Crown - Warren Coleman - Baritone
Clara - June McMechen - Soprano
Maria / Lilly / Strrawberry Woman -
Helen Dowdy - Mezzo Soprano
Jake - Eddie Matthews - Baritone
Mingo - William A. Glover - Tenor
Robbins - Irving Washington - Tenor
Peter - Harrison Cattenhead - Tenor
Frazier - J. Rosamund Johnson - Baritone
Annie - Sadie McGill - Mezzo Soprano
Jim - George Fischer - Baritone
Undertaker - Hubert Dillworth - Baritone
Nelson / Crabman - Ray Yeats - Tenor
Mr. Archdale - Robert Carroll
Detective - George Matthews
Policeman / Coronor - Peter van Zand
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Highlights from the complete recording on Columbia CL 922. |
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THE COLUMBIA SET
The first "complete" recording was made by Columbia. In the
picture you see Lehman Engel and Goddard Lieberson. Engel was the conductor
and Lieberson the producer for the Columbia recording. The edited images
of Camilla Williams and of Lehman and Godard Lieberson are from the
accompanying notes of the original Columbia SET SL-162 from 1951.
Thpugh it was quite a long version, several cuts were made. There is
no Maria addressing Sporting Life who wants to be friends with her.
And there is not the omen of the "Buzzard Song". For that
song one had to play the wonderfully dramatic and swinging concept of
Miles Davis and Gil Evans on Columbia LP CS 8085.
In 1968 the original 3 LP recording from 1951 was reissued on Columbia
on OSL-162 and later on Odyssey 32 38 0018. Both were "electronically
re-channeled for stereo". The recording dates from 1951 and no
commercial stereo recordings were made at the time.
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Lawrence
Winters who studied with Todd Duncan sang Porgy in the 1942 revival.
Then he was hired by Laszlo Halasz (New York City Center Opera) and
in 1951was Porgy in the Goddard Lieberson production. He later went
to live in Germany, Europe.
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All
images of covers, artists and labels have been scanned from items in
my own collection, unless mentioned differently.
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PORGY
AND BESS ON PHILIPS
The complete 3 Lp Set of the 1951 recording was released by Philips in
a book with a yellow spiral coil at the spine, the way Philips bound complete
sets of operas like Richard Strauss's Salome with soprano Walburga Wegner
and conductor Rudolf Moralt, and I Pagliacci with Richard Tucker and the
Metropolitan Opera conducted by Fausto Cleva.
Around 1953 Philips Records from the Netherlands (Philips Phonografische
Industrie), made a deal with Columbia Records which became effective in
the spring of 1954. Columbia licensed their recordings to Philips (instead
of EMI) for release on the Philips label. These were recordings ranging
from Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Rudolf Serkin, and Zino Francescati,
to Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Errol Garner, and the Rampart Street
Paraders. Original Philips recordings were released in America on the
Epic label, a sub label of Columbia. A few recordings were made in cooperation.
Like the Robert Cassadesus-Eduard Van Beinum recording of Beethoven's
Piano Concerto No. 4 which appeared on Columbia instead of Epic. This
became evident when in 1961 the deal was ended and Philips bought the
Chicago based Mercury Records. When CBS started to market their recordings
in Europe themselves the CBS release of this concerto was pressed from
the Philips HiFi-Stereo plates. More CBS records were pressed from original
Philips HiFi-Stereo matrices, one of these was Dave Brubeck's album Gone
With The Wind.
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Porgy
& Bess on 78 rpm:
Anne Brown (Soprano), Todd Duncan (Baritone), Eva Jessye and her Choir,
Avon Long, and members of the original New York production, with the Decca
Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Smallens.
DECCA 3 Volumes.
Vol. I 4x 12" D-A145
Vol. II 3 x 10" D-A283
Vol. III 3 x 10" D-A351Pictures
from the original 1942 Decca album D-283.
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Anne
Brown and Todd Duncan in front of the microphone.
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ALEXANDER SMALLENS
The
first performance of Porgy and Bess was in the Colonial Theater in Boston,
on September 30, 1935. It was presented by the Theater Guild. The opera
was far too long. It took hours and hours to come to an end. The costly
production was directed by Rouben Mamoulian. The settings were by Sergei
Soudeikine, and the orchestra was conducted by Alexander Smallens. After
the problematic staging in Boston, the production went to New York,
to show in the Avalon Theater.
Like George Gershwin, Alexander Smallens was of Russian descent but
had come to the US as a young child, whereas Gershwin was born in Brooklyn.
For many years Alexander Smallens was the best advocate of George's
masterpiece. He conducted highlights in 1942, released on several 78
RPM shellac records. These were later transferred to Lp: Decca DL 9024.
Smallens was also the conductor of excerpts of the opera recorded by
Victor.
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On
Victor appeared recordings of selections of the opera, supervised by
George Gershwin himself.
VICTOR 78 rpm::
Helen Jepson (Soprano), Lawrence Tibbett (Baritone), Orchestra conducted
by Alexander Smallens. This recording was supervised by George Gershwin.
4x 12" V-C25
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SUPERVISED BY GEORGE GERSHWIN
It
was decided that the opera should be performed on stage by an all black
cast, with the exception of the detective. Yet many a singer recorded
one or more songs or arias. In this respect it is a curiosity that George
Gershwin himself supervised the Victor recording with American Baritone
Lawrence Tibbett singing the role of Porgy: Oh, I got Plenty
o' Nuttin', Buzzard Song, Bess, You Is My Woman Now. The recording dates
are October 14 and 23, 1935, only two weeks after the Boston premiere
on September 30 1935.
More white artists have sung selections: Eleanor Steber (Sumertime,
1/15/1946), Robert Merrill (A Woman Is a Sometime Thing, Bess,
Oh Where's My Bess, Oh Lawd, I'm on my way, 9/12/1950), Risë
Stevens (My Man's Gone Now, 9/13/1950). On that same lp reissue
(RCA AVM1-1742) there is also a selection sung by Cab Colloway:
It Ain't Necessarily So (5/5/1953).
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RCA
Victrola AVM1-17422 (issued in 1976).
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IRVING KOLODIN
Irving
Kolodin is one of the most well known critics from the nineteen forties
and fifties and sixties. He evaluates several performances in The
New Guide To Recorded Music which Kolodin prepared at the end of
the nineteen forties and was published in 1950 (Double Day and Company).
Naturally this guide deals mostly with 78 rpm shellac records and just
a few long playing records, mostly dubbings from earlier shellac recordings.
This is what he says about several recordings available at the time.
Summertime
- "There can be little doubt that the most colorful and understanding
of these performances is Anne Brown's, sounding as it did when she created
the part of Bess. Steber sings with exceptional beauty of sound and
a lovely lyric sympathy that are quite thrilling; moreover against an
orchestral background distinctly superior to those provided for Brown
and Jepson."
I
got Plenty o' Nuttin - "Duncan has both the voice for this
music and the style to utilize it fully."
Bess You is My Woman Now: "Better by Jepson and Tibbett
than Brown and Duncan."
It
Ain't Necessarily So - Kolodin can not endorse the performances
by Avon Long, Lawrence Tibbett or Paul Robeson as Sportin' Life. They
do not match the performance which John Bubbles gave in the original
production of Porgy and Bess in 1935 which Kolodin, then 27, must have
seen. He finds Avon Long to be an affected and self-conscious performer.
It is just that trait which gave producer Godard Lieberson the idea
to have Avon Long play Sportin' Life in the 1951 Columbia recording.
His became such a memorable performance that subsequent performances
were measured against Avon Long's "teasing and slimy" Sportin'
Life.
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Critic,
reviewer, musicologist
Irving Kolodin
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The
picture of Leontyne Price and William Warfield is from the RCA Lp release
with highlights.
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TOURING
THE USA AND EUROPE
Alexander
Smallens was also the conductor of the revival performances in the nineteen
fifties. These were of the adaptation of the opera to make it - as a
sort of musical - easily accessible. The first production of Blevin
Davis and Robert Breen toured the States and returned to open at the
Dallas State Fair, on June 9, 1952. The production visited Chicago,
Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C., and then went on tour in Europe (sponsored
by the US State Department) and performed in Vienna, Berlin (Titania
Palast), London, and Paris (Salle Wagram). This production was also
showed in the Ziegfeld Theater (Broadway). That was the production in
which William Warfield was Porgy, and Bess was the young star Leontyne
Price. The picture of Leontyne Price and William Warfield is from
the RCA Lp release with highlights.
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Leontine
Price - Bess
William Warfield - Porgy
Cab Calloway - Sportin' Life
John McCurry - Crown
Helen Colbert - Clara
Jerry Laws - Mingo
Helen Thigpen - Serena
Joseph James - Jake
Howard Roberts - Robbins
Leslie Scott - Jim
Joseph Crawford - Peter
Helen Dowdy - Lily
Georgia Burke - Maria
Catherine Ayers - Annie
Sam Kasakoff - Policeman
Walter Riemer - Detective
William Veasey - Mortician
Moses LaMarr - Frazier
Elizabeth Foster - Ruby
Ray Yeates - Crab man
Willis Daily - Policeman
Choir production Eva Jessye
Choir of the Blevins Davis & Robert Breen Production
Alexander Smallens - Conductor |
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THE
SECOND TOUR TO EUROPE
During
the second tour of
the Blevin Davis and Robert Breen production of Porgy and Bess in Europe,
the group also came to the Netherlands, to Amsterdam, to perform in
the Carré Theater on the Amstel River in the center of the city.
In 1956 that was. And again Alexander Smallens was the conductor.
Assistant conductors were Dalibor Brazda and Joseph Lewis.
Scenery was by Wolfgang Roth and costumes were by Jed Mace.
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Porgy
1- LeVern Hutcherson - Baritone
Porgy 2 - Leslie Scott - Baritone
Porgy 3 - Irving Barnes - Baritone
Bess 1 - Martha Flowers - Soprano
Bess 2 - Ethel Ayler - Soprano
Serena - Helen Thigpen - Soprano
Sporting Life 1 - Lorenzo Fuller - Tenor or
Sporting Life 2 - Joseph Attles - Tenor
Crown 1 - John McCurry - Baritone
Crown 2 - Al Hoosman - Baritone
Clara - Joy Mc Lean - Soprano
Jake 1 - Irving Barnes - Baritone
Jake 2 - Joseph S. Eubanks - Baritone
Mingo 1 - Jerry Laws - Tenor or
Mingo 2 - George Royston - Tenor
Robbins - Ned Wright - Tenor
Peter - Merritt Smith - Tenor
Frazier - Mozes LaMarr - Baritone
Annie 1 - Catherine Ayers - Mezzo Soprano
Annie 2 - Catherine Van Buren - Mezzo
Dancing Ruby - Leesa Foster - Mezzo
Jim - Alfred Thomas - Baritone
Undertaker - William Veasey - Baritone
Strawberry Woman - Helen Furguson
Nelson - Lawson Bates - Tenor
Crabman - Lawson Bates - Tenor
Mr. Archdale - Sam Kasakoff
Detective - Julio Ruiz-Gonzales
Policeman / Coronor - Peter van Zand
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Three
times Porgy: Baritones LeVern Hutcherson, Leslie Scott,
and Irving Barnes.
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This is the Dutch program of the Second Tour to Europe in 1956. It reads:
H.E. the Ambassador of the United States of America, The International
Clearing House for Cultural Exchanges (Brussels), and the International
Theater Institute (UNESCO), present the Blevin Davis and Robert Breen
production of Porgy and Bess.
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Two
times Bess:
Sopranos Martha Flowers
and Ethel Ayler.
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Martha
Flowers and Leslie Scott
At
the far right: Lorenzo Fuller and Joseph Attles.
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Traveling from one country to another and performing nearly every
night was a heavy burden for all involved. Porgy's role is extra demanding
while he has to be on his knees when on stage. Therefore three singer/actors
were cast to play Porgy: Baritones LeVern Hutcherson, Leslie Scott,
and Irving Barnes. (Irving Barnes had taken his wife Catherine and daughter
Gail with him on tour.)
And for the role of Bess there were two sopranos: Martha Flowers and
Ethel Ayler.
There
were two performers for Sportin' Life, Lorenzo Fuller and Joseph Attles;
two for Jake, Irving Barnes (when he was not playing Porgy) and Joseph
S. Eubanks; and two for Crown, John McCurry and Al Hoosman.
Time
Magazine reported in February 1956 that the same production went to
Russia as well, though not subsidized by the State Department. However
a lot of goodwill was the result.
Wherever the production came to perform, tickets were practically always
sold out.
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The
selections:
Summertime (Martha Flowers): A woman is a sometime thing (Irving Barnes),
My man's gone now (Leesa Foster), Oh, I'm going out to the Blackfish Banks
(Irving Barnes and Chorus), I got plenty of nuttin' (Irv ing Barnes and
chorus), Bess, you is my woman now (Irving Barnes and Leesa Foster), Oh,
I can't sit down and It ain't necessarily so (Joe Attles and chorus),
Oh, doctor Jesus (Leesa Foster), Strawberry woman (Martha Flowers), There's
a boat that's leavin' soon for New York Lorenzo Fuller), Bess, oh where's
my Bess (Irving Barnes), Oh, lawd I'm on my way (Irving Barnes and chorus).
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The
charm of a performance by a touring company.
Martha
Flowers - Soprano
Leesa Foster - Mezzo Soprano
Irving Barnes - Baritone
Joe Attles - Tenor
Lorenzo Fuller - Tenor
With
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus "Concerthall Haarlem", conducted
by Lorenzo Fuller.
Cover
of the original Dutch HMV release FELP 148.
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EXCERPTS RECORDED IN THE NETHERLANDS
Because of the great success of the performances in the Carré
Theatre in Amsterdam, it was arranged that members of the production were
to record excerpts in the Haarlem Concertgebouw with the so-called Concerthall
Haarlem Symphony Orchestra and Chorus - musicians and voices hired for
the occasion. The recording was produced by N.V. Bovema, the Dutch distributor
of EMI in the town of Heemstede, and was taped on Friday, June 1st, 1956.
Instead of Smallens or one of the two assistant conductors,
Lorenzo Fuller was the conductor. And he was an enthousiastic
one. Alexander Smallens was probably under contract with another record
company and to get permissin on short notice was impossible. Or, the recording
was done on the instigation of the performers and Bovema, bypassing the
producers of the tour. It was a low budget recording and a quick fix which
is shown by the rather unprofessional microphone placement. Yet Martha
Flowers sings with her clear and transparent voice a beautiful Summertime
and she is an expressive Strawberry Woman. Leesa Foster is Bess, regrettably
with some rather unstable singing. Barnes, Attles and Fuller are quite
good. It remains a memorable document.
The recording was distributed in various countries. In France on La voix
de son maitre (FALP 30198) and in England, and was also available in the
DDR, the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) on Eterna 820 432 in
a series entitled "Musikalische Kostbarkeiten" (Musical Gems).
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Lorenzo
Fuller conducting the Haarlem Concertgebouw Orchestra and Chorus
(Image
taken from the cover of the original Dutch HMV recording FELP 148.
At
far left the EMI Music for Pleasure release: MFP 1154.
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When on Cadence LP CLP 1004, entitled Piano Perspectives, magnificent
pianist Don Shirley starts playing I can't get started, his introduction
reminds one of I loves you Porgy. Don Shirley knows every brand and
style. His improvisations shift easily from jazz to popular to classical.
That is why Ravel unexpectedly turns up on CLP 1004. And Rachmaninoff
shines through on Cadence CLP 25055 "Don Shirley introduces Martha
Flowers". This record is also a grand introduction to Don Shirley
himself, to his elaborate technique, subtle swinging and inspired harmonies.
It is an introduction for all those people who did not get acquainted
with this phenomenon from the nineteen fifties and sixties. The first
side of the LP (with songs by Victor Young, Richard Rogers, Harold Arlen,
R. Bloom, and George Gershwin) was recorded on August 6, 1962 by engineer
John Quinn. The Porgy and Bess Suite on Side Two was recorded much earlier,
on October 19, 1960, by famous recording technician George Piros.
Both recordings were made at Fine Recording Studios, New York City,
and have all the traits of a perfect Robert
C. Fine production. It is not clear who the
cellist and the string bass player are. Gilberto Munguia and Henry Gonzalez?
Martha Flowers sings with Shirley and a cello and string bass player
the songs she did so well on the Dutch recording made 6 years earlier:
Strawberry Woman, and an ever so compelling Oh, Doctor Jezus.
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Martha
Flowers with Don Shirley and anonymous bass player and cellist.
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History
of Performances:
1935: September 30, Premiere in Boston
1935: October 10, first performance in New York
1938: Performances in Los Angeles and San Francisco
1941: Performances of abridged version in New Jersey
1942: Performances of abridged version in New York
1943: First European staging in Copenhagen, initiated by Ann Brown
1945: performances in Moscow
1949: Sweden
1952: New production: Dallas, Chicago, Pittsburg, Washington
1952: Same production visits Vienna, Berlin, London and Paris,
then back to New York
1953: Second tour to Africa, Spain, Itraly (La Scala), Poland,
Tchechoslowakia, Netherlands (The Hague and Amsterdam Carre Theater)
1958: Performances at Melody Fair at Wurlitzer Park, North Tonawanda.
Lewis T. Fisher, producer. With Urylee Leonardos, Martha Flowers, Andrew
Frierson, John Bubbles, John McCurry.
1959: Film poduction in Cinemascope
1961: New York City Center Opera Company. Julius Rudel conducting;
with Martha Flowers Leesa Foster, William Warfield and Irving Barnes
1962: New York City Center Opera Company. Julius Rudel conductinmg;
with Lawrence Winters and Leesa Foster
1965: Production of the original 1935 New York version in Vienna
by Marcel Prawy.
1976: Houston Grand Opera
1978: New production visits Europe
1987: Production by Dutch Radio VARA (Matinee production)
2008: Production visits Amsterdam Royal Carre Theater
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Sketch
of the set of the production of the second tour.
A=Lilly
and Peter B=Porgy and Bess
C=Jake and Clara D=Jim E=Mingo
F=Serena Robbins G=Maria
H=Ruby I=Frazier
J=Annie K=Sportin' Life
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Marcato
78.113
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LAWRENCE WINTERS
After his success in the 1951 Columbia recording Lawrence Winters
sang together with Patricia Neway, Frances Bible, Mark Harrell, and the
New
York City Opera under Joseph Rosenstock in Dybbuk, one
of the successful opera productions during the rule of Laszlo Halasz.
In the nineteen fifties he also sang the part of Daniel in the one-act
opera The Devil And Daniel Webster composed by Douglas Moore, recorded
by Westminster. After he had gone to live in Germany in 1959, he recorded
I Got Plenty Of Nuttin, It Ain't Necessarily So, September Song, together
with Ol' Man River and other songs, for German Philips 843 741 PY.
On Philips 838 903 SY he sang together with Anabelle Bernhard excerpts
from Porgy and Bess in German(!), with the NDR Radio Orchestra (Rundfunk-Orchester)
conducted by Richard Müller-Lampertz.
The British conductor, bandleader and composer Kenneth Alwyn is
known for the first release in Decca's Full Frequency Stereo Sound catalog,
SXL 2001 Wide Band Label, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in
Tchaikovsky's 1812 Festival Overture (Overture Solennelle).
Lesser known is his rather trivial arrangement of selections from Porgy
and Bess which he recorded with the New World Show Orchestra. Singers
were Lawrence Winters, Isabelle Lucas, Ray Ellington, Barbara Elsy,
Pauline Stevens, and the Linden Singers. This recording was released
on various labels like Marcato (78.113) and Imperial (ILW 513). At left
the cover of the Marcato release. It is copied from the original recording
with Lorenzo Fuller conducting on His Master's Voice FELP 148, the lower
orange strip was there to cover the HMV logo.
Did Lawrence need the money? Probably, otherwise he would not have sung
the excerpts supported by such an orchestration.
Lawrence Winters was engaged at the Hamburg State Opera and can be heard
on record in Nabucco. Winters was born in Kings Creek (USA) in 1915. He
died in 1965 in Hamburg, Germany. The picture of Lawrence Winters at right
was taken from the record cover of the Philips release In Memoriam Lawrence
Winters.
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Another
recording with a lot of good intent is the performance of highlights
conducted by Paul Belanger with singer/actor Brock Peters, sopranos
Margaret Tynes, Miriam Burton and Theresa Merritte, with tenor Joseph
Crawford, and baritones William Dillard and Charles Colman. The Opera
Society Chorus and Orchestra are of course fake names. The Opera Society
/ MMS 2035, not recorded in the Netherlands. For Brock Peters, already
a well known actor, it was the prelude to his strong performance of
Crown in Otto Preminger's movie.
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Edward Jablonski and Lawrence D. Stewart wrote 'The Gershwin Years'
- The Story of George and Ira Gershwin - for a long time the standard
work on the brothers and an abundant source for anyone writing about
these great Americans.
The
good reception of this book in 1958 inspired musicians and producers
in recording more Gershwin compositions. George Bassman, who
had been additional music arranger for the movie 'A Damsel In Distress'
(1937) and for Lady Be Good (1941), recorded selections from Lady, Be
Good, Tip-Toes, Oh, Kay!, Funny Face, Rosalie, Treasure Girl, Show Girl,
Strike Up The Band, Girl Crazy, Of Thee I sing, Pardon My English, Let'Em
Eat Cake, Shall We Dance, A Damsel In Distress, The Goldwin Follies,
and....Porgy And Bess: Introduction, Summertime, There' A Boat Dat's
Leavin' Soon For New York, Bess You Is My Woman Now. It was a 3 LP set
- Decca DXSZ-7160. Singers were Paula Stewart, Richard Hayes, and Lynn
Roberts.
At that
time the movie was in production to be released in 1959.
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Director
- Otto Preminger
Camera - Leon Shamroy
Musical Supervision - Andre Previn
Chorus Master - Ken Darby
Sets - Oliver Smith
Costumes - Irene Sharaff
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The
original release of the sound track was on Columbia OS 2016.
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SAMUEL GOLDWYN'S FILM
The public had to wait for the first stereo recording till 1959
when Samual Goldwyn's lengthy movie 'Porgy And Bess' was released, starring
Sidney Poitiers and Dorothy Dandridge. The movie was very popular and
despite the criticism was an instant success, at least in the town where
I lived.
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Philips
released the sound track of the movie with Sydney Poitiers and Dorothy
Dandridge in a beautifully styled gatefold record cover with plenty of
pictures and notes inside. It was already then a collector's item for
moviegoers. The musical performance was conceived to appeal to a large
audience. Philips HI-FI STEREO 840 033 AY.
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Porgy
- Sidney Poitiers Winters
Bess - Dorothy Dandridge
Serena - Ruth Attaway
Sporting Life - Sammy Davis Jr.
Crown - Brock Peters
Clara - Diahann Carroll
Jake - Leslie Scott
Mingo - William A. Glover - Tenor
Robbins - Joel Fluellen
Peter - Clarence Muse
Frazier - Roy Glenn
Annie - Everdinne Wilson
Strawberry Woman - Helen Thigpen
Mingo - Earl Jackson
Lillie - Margetret Hairston
Jim - Ivan Dixon
Undertaker - Maurice Manson
Nelson - Mozes La Marr
Detective - Claude Akins
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WHERE IS THE MOVIE?
The film did not get the full approval from the Gershwin estate
and was only shown when it was first released and only on two occasions
in the years afterwards. Many people do criticise this as the movie is
an important chance for the youth of today to get into contact with Gershwin's
masterpiece and with his music in general. The slick and somewhat over-sentimental
approach of the performance in musical-style for the general public is
a far move from the original score, but many said "Who cares?"
See for more information
The
Passionate Moviegoer and read the disapproval by many in the forum
at IMdB.com.
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There
are however other recordings which should be criticised more than Otto
Preminger's Porgy & Bess of which the singing and the music were
supervised by pianist-conductor Andre Previn. One of those recordings
to be critical about is the ugly Kenneth Alwyn orchestration and other
obscure recordings like the Golden Tone High Fidelity recording of highlights
on C 4017, coupled with songs from Carousel. This last record contains
either bootlegged compilations or poor recordings of local performances.
And there are many more.
This showed all the more that the world has always been in need of a
good recording of the folk-opera.
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35 MM SOUND RECORDING
The
Command Classic 35 mm recording is special because of three things,
maybe four.
It is one of the recordings of the Symphonic Picture for Orchestra,
an arrangement written by Robert Russell Bennett. Yes, there
are a few other recordings of this orchestral suite, by Antal Dorati,
by Eduardo Mata, by Felix Slatkin. It seems that recording this score
is gone somewhat out of fashion.
Well, what is remarkable is that this Command Classic CC 11037 SD, is
directed by William Steinberg and played by the Pittsburg Symphony,
the house orchestra of the label at the time.
The performance is recorded by Robert C. Fine and Robert Eberenz, who
were responsible for so many outstanding
Mercury
recordings. Outstanding because of the microphone placement, the use
of 35 mm recording film and - last but not least - the way the lacquer
was cut by George Piros. Here it is also Piros who did the cutting.
And finally there are two pictures on the cover. One of William Steinberg.
And one of Fritz Reiner (who is not conducting here, but he commissioned
the work), together with George Gershwin, Deems Taylor, and... Robert
Russell Bennett. It was taken in 1931, long before Porgy & Bess
was conceived. Robert knew George.
There are always people who want to sit stalls for a dime. But they
will find out that buying the cheap 10" Allegro 4114 pictured on the
left with the Broadway Symphonic Jazz Orchestra directed by S. Auber
playing the Suite, is a bad investment.
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The
Grand Prix mono release from Pickwick International with Suite from Porgy
and Bess and Rhapsody in Blue performed by John Senati and The Bravo Pops
Symphony Orchestra, if you don't mind. |
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A
LONDON PHASE FOUR
RECORDING
And
then there is the arrangement by the distinguished Canadian composer
and conductor Robert Farnon - as Decca/London puts it - who has undertaken
a completely new transcription of highlights from Porgy and Bess and
includes themes which cannot be found in the Robert Russel Bennett Suite.
Farnon's arrangement borders on Edmundo Ross and a popular jazzy orchestra
and is entertaining, yet it is a far cry from the disguished Robert
Russell Bennet. PFS 4109.
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JAZZ
Jazz and Gershwin is a long chapter, but putting the link is, of course,
forcing an open door. At left the label of the original British 78 rpm
pressing with the composer at the piano playing Rhapsody in Blue with
Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra. Reference number G-C 1395;
the equivalent of Victor 35 822.
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Miles
Davis and Gil Evans.
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
Ray Charles and Cleo Laine with Frank DeVol (1976).
Oscar Peterson with Ray Brown (Bass) and Ed Thigpen (Drums) on a Dutch
Verve release (1959), covered in beautiful art made by Dutch artist Ruud
De Groot... inspired somewhat it seems by Zadkine?
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Thanks
to the Artist & Repertoire (A&R) Department of Vox Productions,
a good sample of 'Blue Monday' was already available in 1976 on Turnabout
TV 34638S.
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A PREMONITION IN 1922
An artist's creativity, and the pinacle of it, often has its roots in
early childhood. It is a setting of the mind, of the spirit which is
mostly brought about by an occurence, a confrontation, an event - how
sudden and short and how insignificant it may seem - that makes him
realize what the path is which he will follow, in fact is compelled
to follow, and eventually will bring him to the top of that gradually
unwinding road when he creates that final masterpiece, be it a novel,
a painting, a sculpture or a musical composition. Each and every event
in the artist's life leads to the next, and always this kernel, the
thought, the idea, will be residing deep in his brain, will be slumbering,
be it subcounsciously or just as a vague notion. 'Porgy and Bess' may
have begun even before Al Jolson sang Swanee, even before George Gershwin
studied harmony with Edward Kilenyi Sr., even before him being a Tin
Pan Alley song plugger, even earlier did it strike the little boy when
hearing street noise, people talking, someone singing, the playing of
a piano. Every show, every song, every musical composition - as great
as the Rhapsodies, the Concerto in F, and An American in Paris may be
- can in the end be regarded as an exercise, as a study in music and
drama, which would lead the way to 'Porgy and Bess'. Along the road
the idea often emerged in a song or a setting, and also in a Broadway
show, but most clearly in 1922 when George Gershwin wrote BLUE MONDAY,
"A Chamber Opera".
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Blue
Monday
Orchestration adapted from 1925 setting of Ferde Grofe by Gregg Smith
and Edmund Najera.
Joyce Andrews (Soprano)
Patrick Mason (Baritone)
Walter Richardson (Bass)
Thomas Bogdon (Tenor)
Jeffrey Meyer (Tenor)
The Gregg Smith Singers conducted by Gregg Smith
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THE GERSHWINS
This is the authorative and complete book about the Gershwins which
every lover of George Gershwin's music and Ira Gershwin's Lyrics should
own. It deals with all the musical shows, the Rhapsody in Blue, The
Concerto in F, the Second Rhapsody, and the opera. It is written and
compiled by Robert Kimball and Alfred Simon, and places the Gershwins
in the context of the period they lived in. The book is beautifully
designed by Bea Feitler. The very sympathetic preface is written by
Richard Rogers.
The book which was first published in 1973 (Bonanza Books, New York),
may have inspired many a record producer and stage director.
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Porgy
- Willard White - Baritone
Bess - Leona Mitchell - Soprano
Crown - McHenry Boatwright - Baritone
Serena - Florence Quivar - Soprano
Clara - Barbara Hendricks - Soprano
Maria - Barbara Conrad - Mezzo-Soprano
Jake - Arthur Thompson - Baritone
Sporting Life - François Clemmons - Tenor
Mingo - James Vincent Pickens - Tenor
Robbins - Samuel Hagan - Tenor
Peter - William Brown - Tenor
Frazier - Christopher Deane - Baritone
Annie - Alpha Floyd - Mezzo-Soprano
Lily - Isola Jones - Mezzo-Soprano
Strawberry Woman - Barbara Conrad
Jim - Christopher Deane - Baritone
Undertaker - James Vincent Pickens - Tenor
Nelson - William Brown - Tenor
Crab Man - Samuel Hagan - Tenor
Mr. Archdale - John Buck
Detective - Robert Snook
Policeman - Ralph Neally
Coroner - Allan Leatherman
Scipio - Donald Zucca
Jasbo Brown - Joela Jones - piano
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DECCA and RCA
In
April 1976 Decca (London) presented this new recording which is a reference
in it own right - as the 1951 Lehman/Lieberson recording was in the
monaural years. But now with many cuts restored like the Buzzard Song,
and the rap of Maria, addressing Sportin' Life the morning after the
death of Robbins; the earliest rap on stage.
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I hates yo' struttin' style,
Yes sir, and yo' god damn silly smile
an' yo' ten cent di'mons an yo' fi'cent butts.
Oh, I hates yo' guts.
Somebody's
got to carve you up
to set these people free.
An' de writin' on de wall says
it's goin' to be me.
Some
night when you 's full of gin
and don't know I's about,
I'm goin' to take you by de tail
an' turn you inside out.
(...)
Frien's with you low-life
I fears I mus' decline
I sooner cuts mah own throut
'fore I calls you a frien' of mine!
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Barbara
Conrad as Maria in the Lorin Maazel recording addressing Sportin' Life.
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In September of 1977 the RCA set - which was less sweet and gentle,
yet captivating in its rawness - was released. It claimed to be the
first original version, more so than the Decca Maazel recording.
The
late
Marcel
Prawy, dramaturg and producer,
who came to the USA in 1939 and obtained his American citizenship in
1942, protested against the claim by the RCA people. It may have been
the first recording of the original version, but...
This is what he said in his biography:
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Olive
Moorefield (Bess) and William Warfield (Porgy), in the first production
of the original score of Porgy and Bess, Vienna October 19, 1965.
Image
taken from "Marcel Prawy erzählt aus seinem Leben" -
Marcel
Prawy talks about his life - Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna, 2001.
Image
copyright Kremayr & Scheriau.
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"I owe a deep insight into the creativity of George Gershwin to
a wonderful man with whom I became friends in New York. There his name
was Albert Sirmai (also written as Szirmay, ed.)(...), during my time
managing director of the famous Chapell Publishing Company and who earlier
had been a close collaborator of George Gershwin. Nearly all Gershwin's
piano scores show his name as a publisher. Countless times I have visited
him after office hours at Chapell's and did not get tired to listen
to his stories about George Gershwin. Because of his inadequate classical
music studies, Gershwin suffered from poor selfesteem, was a Wagnerian
and Sirmai had always to explain the technique of the 'Leitmotiv' (leading
motif) of his idol. He (Sirmai. ed.) once showed me a 'Meistersinger'
opera vocal score with Gershwin's written remarks. "Porgy"
is indeed the only opera which exists with the most 'leading motifs'
ever. The premiere performance in the year 1935 in the Alvin Theatre
was no good - except for the leading performers Todd Duncan and Anne
Brown. And when I came to America in 1939 people still said to me (...)
that Porgy, the last (composition) of Gershwin, was nothing.(...) Than
they remodeled "Porgy and Bess", inserted spoken dialog (these
are hardly present in the original), the heavy chorusses were abridged,
and changed it into a musical. That was an immense triumph in 1942.
(...) I was present. Suddenly there was a musical which had less similarity
with Gershwin's opera, but had started a triumphant tour.
I was the first who said to director Moser of the "Volksoper":
"What in fact about the original which was never performed? As an opera
house we have all the possibilities - Gershwin never did have these.
Why don't we do that for the first time in Vienna?"
Moser agreed. And in 1965 we did produce for the first time the original
score of "Porgy and Bess", as a large, heavy opera with a
large orchestra, big chorusses, with these difficult things to sing,
for the first time in the world on October 19, 1965, at the Volksoper.
(Olive) Moorefield was Bess, William Warfield Porgy, and I was very
proud of the headline in an American newspaper: "Vienna gave Gershwin
what America did refuse him." - Marcel Prawy
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Porgy
- Simon Estes
Bess - Roberta Alexander
Sporting Life - Charles Williams
Crown - Gregg Baker
Clara - Marvis Martin
Jake - David Arnold
Serena - Florence Quivar
Robbins - Donald Osborne
Jasbo Brown - Joseph Joubert
Mingo - John Freeman-McDaniels
Jim - Michael Smartt
Peter, The Honey Man - Mervin Wallace
Lily - Priscilla Baskerville
Maria - Barbara Conrad
Undertaker - Milton B. Grayson, Jr.
Frazier - John D. Anthony
Scipio - Clinton Chinyelu Ingram
Strawberry Woman - Isola Jones
Crab Man - Jay Aubrey Jones
Mr. Archdale - Osie Hawkins
Detective - Larry Storch
Policeman - Andrew Murphy
Coroner - Hansford Rowe |
ETERNA - GERMAN
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
From
1984 is the Philips recording of highlights performed by Simon Estes
(Porgy, Sportin' Life), Roberta Alexander (Bess, Clara, Serena), Diana
Murray (Maria), the Berlin Radio Chorus, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra,
and conductor Leonard Slatkin. The recording was made in cooperation
with VEB Deutsche Schallplatten of the well known Eterna label from
then the German Democratic Republic (DDR). But the sound of this LP
and CD has the typical lean VEB sound with thin bass and stressed high
frequencies also caused by the early digital recording equipment of
the VEB company. Philips 412 720.
METROPOLITAN
OPERA
Simon
Estes, Roberta Alexander, sung and acted with Charles Williams, Gregg
Baker, Florence Quivar in a Metropolitan production condcuted by James
Levine from 1985 (see the complete list of performers at left). It is
a historic performance in the sense that it was recorded more than two
decades ago on March 23rd. It is made available by
Opera-Club.net,
where downloadable complete recordings of a variety of historic and
not so historic performances are offered, from Armide to Rosenkavalier
to Porgy and Bess. They even have a recording from the 1952 European
tour with William Warfield, Leontyne Price, Cab Calloway, John McCurry,
Joseph James a.o. with the RIAS Unterhaltungs-orchester and The Eva
Jessye Chorus, Alexander Smallens conducting. The performance toolk
place in the Titania Palast, September 21, 1952.
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GLYNDEBOURNE 1989 - BBC 1993
The Glyndebourne production of Porgy & Bess with Maureen Braithwaite,
Barrington Coleman, Sir Willard White, Johnny Worthy, Autris Paige,
Paula Ingram, Gregg Baker, Linda Thompson Williams a.o., and Simon Rattle
conducting was recorded by EMI in the Abbey Road Studios in 1988. This
recording was used for the sound track for a video registration made
in 1993. Two roles were acted by different artists in this filmed version.
This method olf dubbing has been used before. Famous are several sequences
in the West Side Story movie. Other examples can be seen in films produced
with Herbert von Karajan of his Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra players.
The filmed version as well as the original Glyndebourne performance
was hailed by many who never had attended a performance of Porgy &
Bess or had listened to other productions before. The performance was
also criticised, especially by those who had a more deepened knowledge
of the the opera. Since this Porgy and Bess was a filmed performance
without the artists singing, the intensity was not always there. Also
there are instances where the synchronisation is not always correct.
Furthermore it seems that conductor Simon Rattle wanted to make a mark
with a showman's concept rather then a more integer, soul searching
intention. A reviewer of the performance justly mentioned the ultra
slow Summertime which misses the tension of the expectation of the drama
to come, the drama of love, life, crime, deception and hope.
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Porgy
and Bess was presented in the Royal Carré Theatre in Amsterdam
- April 4 till May 12, 2008.
At left the program. Singers, musicians, director and producer gave
their best, but the rather mediocre acoustics, wrongly corrected by
the technicians responsible for optimal sound, prevented the public
to appreciate the performance fully.
This
page will be expanded.
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Text
and research Rudolf A. Bruil - Page first published February 26, 2008.
To be updated.
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