Porgy and Bess (1951 album)

Last updated
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess (1951 album).jpeg
Studio album by
Various artists
Released1951
RecordedApril 1951
Genre Opera
Length129 minutes
Label Columbia Masterworks Records
Producer Goddard Lieberson
Various artists chronology
Selections from George Gershwin's folk opera Porgy and Bess
(1940)		Porgy and Bess
(1951)

This 1951 recording of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess was the first "complete" recording of the work from beginning to end, not a series of selections of popular songs from the work. (The recording did not include most of the music written by Gershwin which had been customarily cut from productions in the United States, however. As opposed to the complete three-hour opera, the album was two hours and nine minutes.)

George Gershwin American composer and pianist

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928), the songs Swanee (1919) and Fascinating Rhythm (1924), the jazz standard I Got Rhythm (1930), and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935) which spawned the hit Summertime.

Opera Artform combining sung text and musical score in a theatrical setting

Opera is a form of theatre in which music has a leading role and the parts are taken by singers, but is distinct from musical theater. Such a "work" is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor.

<i>Porgy and Bess</i> English-language opera composed in 1934 by George Gershwin

Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by the 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.

Contents

The recording came about as a result of Lehman Engel and Goddard Lieberson's desire to record albums of Broadway shows whose scores had never been put on disc. Among the musicals the team had recorded (or would record) were Oh, Kay! , Babes in Arms , Girl Crazy , and Pal Joey . Although there had been an album of Porgy and Bess since 1940, there had never been a 3-LP version. The 1951 album set contained more than two-thirds of the opera, for the first time ever in the history of recording.

Lehman Engel American conductor

A. Lehman Engel was an American composer and conductor of Broadway musicals, television and film.

Goddard Lieberson recording industry professional

Goddard Lieberson was the president of Columbia Records from 1956 to 1971, and again from 1973 to 1975. He became president of the Recording Industry Association of America in 1964. He was also a composer, and studied with George Frederick McKay, at the University of Washington, Seattle. He married Vera Zorina in 1946 and with her had 2 children.

<i>Oh, Kay!</i> American musical

Oh, Kay! is a musical with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse. It is based on the play La Présidente by Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Veber. The plot revolves around the adventures of the Duke of Durham and his sister, Lady Kay, English bootleggers in Prohibition Era America. Kay finds herself falling in love with a man who seems unavailable. The show is remembered for its enduring song, "Someone to Watch Over Me".

The album was recorded between April 5 and April 13, 1951.

The album was originally released on 3 twelve-inch 33​1⁄3 rpm LPs. Columbia Masterworks assigned the album the catalog number OSL 162. The recording was later remastered by Naxos Records and re-released on CD.

Naxos Records record label

Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock and roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong. Since 2009 Naxos has distributed Blu-ray discs, streaming web radio, and podcasts. Naxos allows members of subscribing public libraries and music schools such as Hong Kong Public Libraries, Auckland Libraries, Wellington City Libraries, and Toronto Public Library free streaming of Naxos classical and jazz collections.

Compact disc Optical disc for storage and playback of digital audio

Compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony and released in 1982. The format was originally developed to store and play only sound recordings (CD-DA) but was later adapted for storage of data (CD-ROM). Several other formats were further derived from these, including write-once audio and data storage (CD-R), rewritable media (CD-RW), Video Compact Disc (VCD), Super Video Compact Disc (SVCD), Photo CD, PictureCD, Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-i), and Enhanced Music CD. The first commercially available audio CD player, the Sony CDP-101, was released October 1982 in Japan.

Several members of the original Broadway cast of Porgy and Bess appeared on the album.

Cast

Lawrence Winters(néLawrence Lafayette Whisonant; 15 November 1915 King's Creek, South Carolina – 24 September 1965 Hamburg, Germany), bass-baritone, was an African-American opera singer who had an active international career from the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s. He was part of the first generation of black opera singers to achieve wide success and is viewed as part of an instrumental group of performers who helped break down the barriers of racial prejudice in the opera world. He began his opera career at the New York City Opera in 1946 during a time when the NYCO was one of the few American opera companies hiring black artists. He sang a varied repertoire there through 1955, after which his career was largely based in Europe until his death at the age of fifty.

Camilla Williams American operatic soprano

Camilla Ella Williams was an American operatic soprano who performed nationally and internationally. After studying with renowned teachers in New York City, she was the first African American to receive a regular contract with a major American opera company, the New York City Opera. She had earlier won honors in vocal competitions and the Marian Anderson Fellowship in 1943–44.

Warren Coleman was an American operatic baritone. He created the roles of Crown in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and the role of John Kumalo in Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars, in the premieres of each show on Broadway.

Related Research Articles

Leontyne Price American soprano

Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in Laurel, Mississippi, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was the first African American to become a leading performer, or prima donna, at the Metropolitan Opera, and one of the most popular American classical singers of her generation.

Anne Brown American singer

Anne Brown was an American soprano who created the role of "Bess" in the original production of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess in 1935. She was also a radio and concert singer. She settled in Norway in 1948 and later became a Norwegian citizen.

Edward Matthews was a pioneering African-American baritone opera singer.

<i>Blue Monday</i> (opera) one act jazz opera by George Gershwin

Blue Monday was the original name of a one-act "jazz opera" by George Gershwin, renamed 135th Street during a later production. The English libretto was written by Buddy DeSylva. Though a short piece, with a running time of between twenty and thirty minutes, Blue Monday is often considered the blueprint to many of Gershwin's later works, and is often considered to be the "first piece of symphonic jazz" in that it was the first significant attempt to fuse forms of classical music such as opera with American popular music, with the opera largely influenced by Jazz and the African-American culture of Harlem.

<i>Highlights from Porgy and Bess</i> 1935 studio album by various

Highlights from Porgy and Bess, the 1935 album of George Gershwin's opera, was recorded just days after Porgy and Bess opened on Broadway on October 10, 1935. While the opera was performed by an all-African American singing cast, the 1935 album featured mostly white opera singers. Gershwin's involvement is clearly stated on the album cover, which reads "Recorded under the supervision of the composer."

<i>Selections from George Gershwins Folk Opera Porgy and Bess</i> 1940 studio album by various

Decca Presents Selections from George Gershwin's folk opera Porgy and Bess consists of two volumes of records, the first from 1940, and the next from 1942.

<i>Porgy and Bess</i> (1950 album) 1950 studio album by Various artists

This album is a 1950 recording of selections from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, sung by the noted opera stars Robert Merrill and Risë Stevens. The album featured no black singers at all, even though the opera was written for a mostly African-American cast. It was recorded by RCA Victor on September 12 and September 13, 1950. The album was originally released on one twelve-inch 33​1⁄3 rpm LP with the catalog number LM 1124.

<i>The Complete Porgy and Bess</i> 1956 studio album by various

This 1956 recording based on George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess was the second "complete" recording of the opera after the 1951 version, and the first recording of the work to feature jazz singers and musicians instead of operatic singers and a classical orchestra.

<i>Porgy and Bess</i> (Glyndebourne album) 1989 studio album by various

Porgy and Bess is a recording of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera version of the George Gershwin opera of the same name. The cast were accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Simon Rattle. The recording took place in February 1988 in No.1 Studio of Abbey Road in London. It was released in 1989.

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.

"I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was published in 1935.

Bruce Hubbard was an American operatic baritone. A Drama Desk and Laurence Olivier Award nominee for Best Actor, he performed on Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera, BBC television, in concert and made several recordings. He is most famous for appearing as Joe in Show Boat, and as Jake, as well as Porgy, in Porgy and Bess on Broadway, the West End, and in several major opera houses and regional theatres. He graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

<i>Porgy & Bess</i> (Joe Henderson album) 1997 studio album by Joe Henderson

Porgy & Bess is a 1997 album by jazz saxophonist Joe Henderson, released on Verve Records. It contains Henderson's arrangements of music from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess.

Porgy and Bess is an opera by George Gershwin.

"Bess, You Is My Woman Now" is a duet with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. This song comes from the Gershwins' opera Porgy and Bess (1935) where it is sung by the main character Porgy and his beloved Bess. They express their love for each other and say that they now belong together.

<i>Porgy & Bess</i> (Mundell Lowe album) 1958 studio album by Mundell Lowe and his All Stars

Porgy & Bess is an album by American jazz guitarist Mundell Lowe and his All Stars featuring their interpretations of the George Gershwin folk opera Porgy and Bess recorded in 1958 for the RCA Camden label.

Camellia Johnson was an American concert and opera singer. She began her career performing works from the mezzo-soprano repertoire, but after encouragement from the staff at the Metropolitan Opera retrained her voice as a soprano. She successfully made that transition after winning the Young Concert Artists competition in 1993. She went on to perform as a leading soprano with orchestras and opera companies internationally.

<i>A Salute to American Music</i> 1992 live album by James Conlon

A Salute to American Music is a 113-minute live album of music, both classical and popular, performed by Steven Blier, Renée Fleming, Paul Groves, Jerry Hadley, Karen Holvik, Marilyn Horne, Jeff Mattsey, Robert Merrill, Sherrill Milnes, Maureen O'Flynn, Phyllis Pancella, Leontyne Price, Samuel Ramey, Daniel Smith, Frederica von Stade, Tatiana Troyanos, Carol Vaness and Denise Woods with the Collegiate Chorale and members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under the direction of James Conlon. The album was released in 1992.

References


    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.