George Gershwin - Porgy & Bess / Trevor Nunn · Sir Simon Rattle · W. White · C. Haymon · Glyndebourne Opera
by Trevor Nunn
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Cynthia Clarey, Cynthia Haymon, Gregg Baker, Marietta Simpson, Willard WhiteDirector: Trevor Nunn
Writer: Trevor Nunn
Producer: Dennis Marks
Producer: Greg Smith
Producer: Jac Venza
Writer: Dorothy Heyward
Writer: DuBose Heyward
Writer: Yves Baignères
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; German (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 184 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-07-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: EMI Classics
Movie Reviews of George Gershwin - Porgy & Bess / Trevor Nunn · Sir Simon Rattle · W. White · C. Haymon · Glyndebourne Opera
Movie Review: Gershwin's masterpiece receives a performance worthy of it.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Porgy & Bess" is George Gershwin's masterpiece and one of the 10 greatest operas ever written (see my list on Amazon). For a long time (and even now ... Leonard Maltin's review, e.g.) condescendingly called a "folk opera" (translation: "the Met won't do it"). Bollocks. True, Gershwin himself used the term, probably an attempt to slip it into acceptance through the back door. It's not only one of the grandest of grand operas, it's the ultimate verismo opera, outshining anything from Italy.
Porgy was first performed in 1935. It only slowly gained acceptance, mostly because of racial prejudice. However, if Porgy itself were racist, as claimed by some cretinous looneys, the establishment would have had it performed all over. A version of Porgy, severely chopped by about half, was filmed in 1959. In 1976, a complete performance was mounted by the Houston Grand Opera. The Met premiere followed in 1985. No film recording of either has ever been released. In 1993 Simon Rattle recorded a performance on outside sets (the actual singing provided - as in many films - by lip-synch. This is the current DVD. In 2002 a revival of the Houston version was recorded at the Lincoln Center, but not yet released. The appearance of the 1959 film is held up by difficulties with the Gershwin family.
Added note: a number of low-rating reviews on this site seem to believe that the 1959 hack-job film is the "original" or "real" Porgy and Bess. Hearty-har-har. Come on, people; try to get the facts before sticking your feet in your faces. The "original" or "real" Porgy was on stage in 1935 and is twice as long as the deeply mutilated version filmed in 1959.
Of these versions, Houston's is the best. The 1959 version was savagely hacked but had some first-rate performances. I've not seen the Lincoln Center offering. Rattle's disc is very, very good.
Rattle had a fundamental and creative understanding of the jazz idiom. If anyone harbors the misconception that Porgy is a light-weight work, Rattle will put quits to it. (Compare, for instance, Gershwin's storm with those of earlier opera masters such as Rossini or Wagner: he stands with them as at least an equal.)
Porgy is here well staged. The sets are a masterful recreation of a poor fishing village in 1930s South Carolina. Much of the singing and of the sparse dialogue are lip-synched. This is a common procedure in Hollywood, but these performers, though well-rehearsed, are just not as experienced as American actors. The result is the occasional mismatch. No biggie. The outdoor staging allows some extra perks, such as taking us outside into the storm when Crown goes in search of Clara. The performance, however, is incomplete. Rattle makes the traditional cut (which Houston restores) of the poignant Buzzard Song in Act II. As a great bonus, this isn't the usual stand-up-and-sing performance in which, during big arias, everyone else stands there and tries to vanish into the scenery.
Rattle's cast is first-rate. Porgy is Willard White, a classically trained singer with a commanding stage presence and bass-baritone voice. When this man threatens to take Sportin' Life apart, or to kill Crown, we know he can do it. In the 1959 film, Poitier's excellent Porgy still has a more limited range and isn't as dominant on-scene. His singing voice is that of Robert McFerrin Sr., father of the better-known Bobby McFerrin. McFerrin's voice is fine for the part, and he sings with intelligence and art; however, he's not quite as authoritative as White.
Bess is Cynthia Haymon, a classically trained soprano who is as much at home with Monteverdi or Puccini as with Gershwin. If anyone is Bess, she is, to the nines. Her face is not only beautiful, it is interesting and enormously expressive. Her singing is poignant and her performance riveting. In the 1959 film, Dorothy Dandridge is equally attractive and expressive. Her singing voice is that of Adele Addison, a classically trained soprano who mastered many styles from Baroque forward, but was particularly associated with 20th-Century composers such as Foss, Poulenc, and Bernstein. Her performance is perhaps a little less ravishing than Haymon's, but nonetheless first-rate. There is a wide-spread opinion that Dandridge should have been allowed to do her own singing. True: an "opera" voice was substituted for an idiomatic voice.
The rôle of Sportin' Life is in some ways absolutely central to a successful Porgy. He is a refreshing contrast to the almost oppressive religiosity in Catfish Row. He drives or helps to drive, much of the action; he is central to the opera's ending. Rattle's Sportin' Life is Damon Evans, a classically trained singer whose range of venues has been enormous - including a stint as Lionel Jefferson in "The Jeffersons". In the 1959 film, Sportin' Life was Sammy Davis Jr., the biggest talent in the show. Davis' Sportin' Life wheedles and cajoles, a siren at the gates of Hel*. Evans' Sportin' Life croons and beguiles, oiling the downhill slide. It's hard to decide which of them is the greatest Tempter. Both give fabulous performances.
(* "Hel" is the correct Nordic spelling. The double "ll" is merely a Christian affectation.)
In Rattle's version. Crown is portrayed by Gregg Baker, a classically trained baritone who has appeared only twice on film. His voice is clear and honest, and his acting is appropriately vigorous. He makes an imposing and convincing Crown. The 1959 Crown was Brock Peters, an actor with over a hundred film appearances to his name - in 1959 his only previous appearance had been in "Carmen Jones". Baker is a more effective and menacing Crown, although Peters' performance is excellent.
I can't recommend this DVD too highly. It's a tribute to Gershwin's genius and a genuinely involving performance. As an added bonus, the English subtitles are the actual libretto! And the good tunes never end.
An added bit of trivia: in 1959 2 uncredited bit parts were performed by Nichelle Nichols and Maya Angelou.
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