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Gershwin's Porgy and Bess Restored to Original Production Form by John Mauceri and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra

Mar. 01, 2006

Considered by many to be the first and finest of American operas, it is a wonder that very few operagoers have ever seen Geroge Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in the form of its first production. Until February 24, when the Nashville Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Mauceri performed Porgy and Bess, over seventy years had passed since the work had been performed according to Gershwin’s revised specifications. In fact, the composer never saw any other version. Of course, one may ask, Porgy and Bess has not been absent from the stage in this seventy-year span, so why was this so?

The piano-vocal score of Porgy and Bess was published before rehearsals began for its 1935 premiere in New York’s Alvin Theatre. Therefore, all of the markings, omissions, and additions made by Gershwin in his score in the run-up to the opera’s first performance were not included in the published score. But in 1987, musicologist Charles Hamm uncovered these edits and disclosed their existence in the Journal of the American Musicological Society, setting the stage (pun intended) for the reemergence of Gershwin’s authorized changes.

Under the scrutiny of John Mauceri, Charles Hamm, Wayne Shirley and others, the scores used in the original production were exhaustively analyzed to determine Gershwin’s intentions. Attesting to the authority of this version of Porgy and Bess, Hamm notes that "since these changes were made by, or approved by, Gershwin himself, one could say that they represented a continuation of the process of composition." The end result is a more streamlined Porgy and Bess, with many cuts, including the excision of Porgy’s “Buzzard Song.” Among the additions made was a change to the opening of the final “Catfish Row” scene which makes use of everyday morning sounds—snoring, sweeping, hammering, carpet beating—gradually transforming into music.

Beyond re-premiering this version of Porgy and Bess, Maestro Mauceri and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra are making a recording of this version of the work for release this year on the Decca label.

More information about Gershwin and Porgy and Bess can be found at www.gershwin.com. The Nashville Symphony Orchestra is online at www.nashvillesymphony.org. Decca Records can be found at www.deccaclassics.com.

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