Porgy and Bess (2006)

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Porgy and Bess, (2006) first recording of George Gershwin's original 1935 production. This studio recording is based on semi-staged performances which took place on February 24 and 25, 2006 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, with Alvy Powell as Porgy, Marquita Lister as Bess, Nicole Cabell as Clara and Robert Mack as Sportin' Life. The Nashville Symphony Orchestra was conducted by John Mauceri.

During preparations for the 1935 opening at Broadway's Alvin Theatre, Gershwin continued to revise his work. But the score had already been published, so a version incorporating his modifications was never made available. Subsequent productions did not include the changes that were Gershwin's final thoughts on the subject.

Musicologist Charles Hamm brought Gershwin's revisions to the music world's attention in 1987. Musical director and conductor, John Mauceri, researched and restored these changes using marked-up scores and handwritten notes from the première production.

Gershwin's additions to this version include a street festival scene in Act 1 which features an 11 piece on-stage band. For the Nashville production members of the Tennessee State University band joined the cast. An interesting addition was a 'Symphony of Sounds' replacing the opening of Act Three, Scene Three. In this 'occupational humoresque', the community awakens with rhythms of commonplace noises - snoring, sweeping, hammers pounding - that build into music.

[edit] Cast of the 2006 version

Porgy	bass-baritone	Alvy Powell
Bess	soprano	Marquita Lister
Clara	soprano	Nicole Cabell
Sportin' Life		Robert Mack
Crown	baritone	Lester Lynch