Related Research Articles
Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play Porgy, itself an adaptation of DuBose Heyward's 1925 novel of the same name.
John Francis Mauceri is an American conductor, producer, educator and writer. Since making his professional conducting debut almost half a century ago, he has appeared with most of the world's great orchestras, guest-conducted at the premiere opera houses, produced and musically supervised Tony and Olivier Award-winning Broadway musicals, and served as university faculty and administrator. Through his varied career, he has taken the lead in the preservation and performance of many genres of music and supervised and conducted important premieres by composers as diverse as Debussy, Stockhausen, Korngold, Hindemith, Bernstein, Sibelius, Ives, Elfman and Shore. He is also a leading performer of music banned by the Third Reich and especially music of Hollywood's émigré composers.
Alexander Smallens was a Russian-born American conductor and music director.
Porgy and Bess, the opera by George Gershwin, has been recorded by a variety of artists since it was completed in 1935, including renditions by jazz instrumentalists and vocalists, in addition to operatic treatments.
Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture is a 1942 orchestral medley arranged by George Gershwin's good friend and sometimes assistant, Robert Russell Bennett, which includes most of the best-known songs from the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess, although not in the exact order of their appearance. Though the Symphonic Picture is sometimes dismissed as a sequence of the opera's "greatest hits," the first well-known melody, "Summertime," is not heard until nearly seven minutes into the work. While some of the more esoteric parts of the opera are absent, many of the catchier tunes that can be heard in this suite are absent in others, including Gershwin's own Catfish Row Suite, which tended to highlight the more cerebral elements of the work.
Stephen Paulus was an American Grammy Award winning composer, best known for his operas and choral music. His style is essentially tonal, and melodic and romantic by nature.
John DeMain is an American conductor who serves as music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin, as well as serving as artistic director of Madison Opera.
Ransom Wilson is an American flutist, conductor, and educator.
John McHenry Boatwright was an American operatic bass-baritone and singing teacher.
Marvis Lynn Martin is an American operatic soprano, best known for her concert performances and recitals, including her renditions of Joseph Canteloube's Songs from the Auvergne, and of Bess in Bobby McFerrin's touring concert version of Porgy and Bess.
Robert Mosley was an American operatic bass-baritone. Part of the first generation of African-American opera singers to achieve wide success, he performed in numerous opera productions, recitals, and in concerts from the 1950s through the 1990s. In 1957 he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He drew particular acclaim for his portrayal of Porgy in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, a role which he portrayed in the landmark 1976 Houston Grand Opera production, on Broadway, and at the Metropolitan Opera among other opera companies both in the United States and in Europe.
David Charles Abell is an American conductor of opera, orchestral music and musical theater. Described as “a protean talent” with “impeccable and inspired” skill as a conductor, he is active in symphonic music, opera and musical theatre. Abell was one of Leonard Bernstein's last protégés, and collaborated with Bernstein on many works during the 1980s.
John Harger Stewart is an American tenor, conductor, and voice teacher who had an active international singing career in concerts and operas from 1964 to 1990. He began his career singing regularly with the Santa Fe Opera from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s; after which he appeared only periodically in Santa Fe up through the mid-1980s. He was particularly active with the New York City Opera during the 1970s and 1980s, and with the Frankfurt Opera from the mid-1970s through 1990. He also appeared as a guest artist with several other important American opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera and the Washington National Opera, and at other European opera houses like the De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Grand Théâtre de Genève in Switzerland, and the Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland. Now retired from singing, he is currently the Director of Vocal Activities at Washington University in St. Louis where he also teaches singing and conducts student opera productions and choirs. He also serves as the opera conductor at the Johanna Meier Opera Theater Institute at Black Hills State University.
Roberta Alexander is an American operatic soprano. She began her career as a lyric soprano in 1975 and spent the next three decades performing principal roles with opera houses internationally. Particularly celebrated for her performances of Mozart heroines, she was a leading soprano at the Metropolitan Opera from 1983 to 1991. In addition to principal Mozart roles like Countess Almaviva, Elettra, Fiordiligi, and Donna Elvira, she had particular success with the parts of Mimì in Puccini's La bohème and the title role in Janáček's Jenůfa. More recently she has performed secondary character roles on stage, including performances at the Grand Théâtre de Provence in 2013, La Scala in 2014, and La Monnaie in 2015. She performed the Fifth Maid in Strauss's Elektra at the Met in 2016 and Curra in Verdi's La forza del destino at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 2019.
Chris Nance was an American conductor and music educator. Primarily active as an opera conductor, he served on the conducting staff of the New York City Opera from 1969-1974 and was the music administrator and conductor of the Houston Grand Opera from 1974-1977. Thereafter he worked as a freelance conductor with opera companies throughout the world. He became particularly associated with George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess for which he was frequently hired to conduct at opera houses both in the United States and abroad.
Carroll Freeman is an American operatic tenor, opera director, and music educator. He began his career as a prominent boy soprano in the 1960s. From the late 1970s through the mid 1990s he performed widely as a tenor with opera companies and orchestras in the United States. After that he worked as a director of opera productions with opera companies throughout North America. He is the former director of the opera program at the University of Tennessee and currently directs the opera program at Georgia State University. He is also the former Artistic Director of Mississippi Opera, Opera in the Ozarks at Inspiration Point, and opera studios at Knoxville Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera.
Kathryn Day is an American opera singer who has had an active international career spanning five decades. She began her career as a leading soprano under the name Kathryn Bouleyn in the 1970s and 1980s with companies like the New York City Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and the Opera Theater of Saint Louis. With the latter institution she created the role of Cora in the world premiere of Stephen Paulus' The Postman Always Rings Twice (1982).
Albert Horne is a South African-born chorus master and orchestral conductor, whose focus is opera chorus preparation and operatic performances. He worked for the Cape Town Opera and has been chorus master and conductor at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden since 2014.
Isabelle Kabatu is a Belgian operatic soprano with a Congolese father and a Belgian mother. She has appeared internationally, with a focus on the Italian repertoire such as Verdi's La traviata and Aida, and Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Tosca. She appeared as Bess in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess beginning at the Houston Grand Opera and touring the world. In 2012, she appeared in the world premiere of Franck's youthful work Stradella.
Gordon Hawkins is an American baritone known for his work on both the operatic and concert stage, particularly as one of the foremost interpreters of the roles of Porgy and Crown in Porgy and Bess. His music career began in the 1980s with him singing major concert repertoire and opera roles in his native Maryland. Since then, Hawkins has performed for national and international opera houses and venues, including the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and more. In addition to performing, he is currently on the voice faculty at Arizona State University.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "C.W. Harwood, 36; Conductor Of 'Porgy' In New York In '83". The New York Times . April 28, 1984.
- ↑ Robert Sherman (February 20, 1977). "Debussy: Premiere At Yale". The New York Times .
- ↑ Frank Rich (April 8, 1983). "Stage: New 'Porgy And Bess' Stars Original Score". The New York Times .
- ↑ "A Village Singer". The New Yorker . Vol. 55. F-R Publishing Corporation. 1979. p. 97.
- ↑ Donal Henahan (June 20, 1982). "Opera: 'Postman Always Rings Twice' In St. Louis". The New York Times .
- ↑ Donal Henahan (August 2, 1982). "Opera: Melville's 'Confidence Man' In Santa Fe". The New York Times .
- ↑ Donal Henahan (June 10, 1983). "Opera: World Premiere Of Delius In St. Louis". The New York Times .
- ↑ Tim Page (February 17, 1985). "Music Notes; By Bus And Truck With City Opera". The New York Times .