Gershwin – Porgy and Bess
Eric Owens; Laquita Mitchell; San Francisco Opera; John de Main
EuroArts Blu-ray 2059634 (also on DVD)
Porgy and Bess was conceived by Gershwin to be an American folk opera. After a preliminary run in Boston, Porgy and Bess premiered in New York City on October 10, 1935 at the Guild Theater, playing only 124 performances. Productions of varying versions were mounted over the years but it was not until 1976 when the acclaimed Houston Grand Opera production, featuring the complete score with an all- black cast, that Porgy and Bess was widely recognized as an opera. That production came to Toronto in 1976 and those of us who attended it well remember that special and unique evening. A driving force behind that Houston production, David Gockley is the executive producer of the very impressive 2009 live production from San Francisco seen here.
The two leads are sung by bass-baritone Eric Owens and soprano Laquita Mitchell. Owens appears at the Met and was seen and heard around the world as Alberich in the Met’s 2010-11 Ring cycle transmissions. Locally, he’s in the current COC production of Handel’s Hercules. Mitchell, whose repertoire also includes Verdi, Puccini and Mozart, is sought after by important opera houses including Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Washington and the Opéra Comique in Paris. Included in a perfectly cast production are Karen Slack as Serena, Chauncey Packer as Sportin’ Life and Lester Lynch as Crown.
I was initially concerned about the operatically trained voices enunciating the patois of the text while singing at a speaking tempo. Either they got better at it or I became accustomed to it. The many well-known songs (hard to think of them as arias) are framed by the action and sound spontaneous. The set, choreography and stage direction create a mise-en-scène that immediately draws us into Catfish Row.
All in all, this is a performance of genuine stature and an important release.
