BaL 27.04.19 - Gershwin: Porgy and Bess

[Dave2002]

I'm going to stick my neck out of the gloomy silence and put in a good word for the Maazel.

Seconded!

I do have Rattle as well, but sometimes I feel that Maazel has more life.

[Mal]

I was listening to Act II so can’t comment on Summertime. The Sportin Life struck me as a bit undercharacterized,...

I thought he was characterful enough in his big number, "It ain't necessarily so"; maybe more gravel needed. But the highlight of Act !!, for me, was Willard White singing Porgy's big numbers, "I got plenty of nothing" and "Bess, you is my woman now". Such warmth and beauty of tone! The latter, with the LPO strings in full flow, is desert island material.

I can see fans of negro spirituals and soul music perhaps wanting a bit more passion and grit, but the beauty of sound (for me) more than compensates. I'm admiring the LPO soloists, especially clarinet, trumpet, and banjo(!) These have a really jazzy, upbeat, edge to them. And it all hangs together so well, for which, I guess, the conductor must be praised, one can see why Rattle gained such a wunderkind reputation in the 1980s.

the Boat Leavin For New York seemed to be heading for a jaunt across the Channel...

Isn't that start of act III? I'll save that for later...

[richardfinegold]

I thought he was characterful enough in his big number, "It ain't necessarily so"; maybe more gravel needed. But the highlight of Act !!, for me, was Willard White singing Porgy's big numbers, "I got plenty of nothing" and "Bess, you is my woman now". Such warmth and beauty of tone! The latter, with the LPO strings in full flow, is desert island material.

I can see fans of negro spirituals and soul music perhaps wanting a bit more passion and grit, but the beauty of sound (for me) more than compensates. I'm admiring the LPO soloists, especially clarinet, trumpet, and banjo(!) These have a really jazzy, upbeat, edge to them. And it all hangs together so well, for which, I guess, the conductor must be praised, one can see why Rattle gained such a wunderkind reputation in the 1980s.



Isn't that start of act III? I'll save that for later...

not really sure, particularly when background listening, where one act starts and another enhds, but Qobuz had listed this as Act II, perhaps it spills into Act III...
I didn't think the Rattle was awful, just that it pales a bit in comparison to the Houston Grand Opera, which I heard at the time and perhaps will always retain a bias for. For beauty of sound, I'll go with Maaezel

[Mal]

not really sure, particularly when background listening, where one act starts and another enhds, but Qobuz had listed this as Act II, perhaps it spills into Act III...
I didn't think the Rattle was awful, just that it pales a bit in comparison to the Houston Grand Opera, which I heard at the time and perhaps will always retain a bias for. For beauty of sound, I'll go with Maaezel

Thanks for your input Richard (and others...). Good to see critics who don't go along with the professional consensus. I'll be listening for the performances & attributes you admire on BAL, which you've made me think might not be the one horse race I thought it was going to be.

[richardfinegold]

Thanks for your input Richard (and others...). Good to see critics who don't go along with the professional consensus. I'll be listening for the performances & attributes you admire on BAL, which you've made me think might not be the one horse race I thought it was going to be.

I enjoy your posts because your passion for the work is obvious. I’ve got the house to myself here for the next few hours and will try to pull up the Rattle recording on Qobuz. I didn’t realize that it dated back to 1988, just a few years after Maazel and the Houston productions

[mikealdren]

Looks like we're stuck with twofers now.... After 50 years, I'm contemplating giving up on Record Review.

[DracoM]

Ditto.
For the first time in many many years, I turned off.
Please, as many as poss, write to R3 to tell them...............

I did the other week and directed them to the relevant Forum BAL page to show them the rage and frustration twofers elicited from many of their longest standing and best informed listeners i.e. the CORE of that listenership.

[Master Jacques]

Ditto. Turned off.

This is intolerable. Uninformative, repetitive and shoddy. Why bother to employ Ted Seckerson and turn BaL into a chat show?

I've taken your advice and emailed the programme. It simply will not do.

[Belgrove]

Ditto. Turned off.

This is intolerable. Uninformative, repetitive and shoddy. Why bother to employ Ted Seckerson and turn BaL into a chat show?

I've taken your advice and emailed the programme. It simply will not do.

I emailed the programme some weeks ago, without acknowledgement. I've just emailed Alan Davey, but am not expecting either a reply or change to what is now a busted format.

[Pulcinella]

Ditto. Turned off.

This is intolerable. Uninformative, repetitive and shoddy. Why bother to employ Ted Seckerson and turn BaL into a chat show?

I've taken your advice and emailed the programme. It simply will not do.

I have too.
Didn't even tune in this morning, and described myself to them as now an ex listener whenever the format is a discussion rather than an expert presentation.

[gradus]

A dissenting voice here. I enjoyed every minute and wondered again why Ed Seckerson, whose knowledge, love and joy in the piece was evident throughout isn't given his own programme on music theatre. My only quibble -I wish more time had been allowed for Ed to develop his views on the respective merits of the performances.

[DracoM]

Your last sentence says it all!!!!!!!!!!! Which is why I emailed them!!

[Mal]

Discussion begins with comments about Gershwin being an over-writer, and Porgy being a prime example. Makes me think that perhaps my highlights disc will be enough...

Music starts with Maazel's introduction followed by various Summertimes - staring with Rattle's Harolyn Blackwell, "very slow, pure, tiny bit arch, blues projected operatically...", followed by Helen Colbert, rougher, gospel singing approach. Barbara Hendricks for Maazel occupies the middle ground and is preferred by Seckerson (personally I prefer Blackwell's purer soprano.)

The starter for Porgy is a troubled sounding Winters, but I prefer Willard White's warmer performance (Rattle)

For Seckerson, Harnoncourt's Porgy, Jonathan Lemalu, sounds "muddy, caricatured, a pastiche of Al Jolsen". I agree! And he slams Harnoncourt's white chorus (!) "embarrassment, pedestrian, delegation from the Vienna town council..." :)

He uses Houston Grand Opera (DeMain) to demonstrate how the chorus should sound. Wilma Shakesnider "raising the heavens". This is powerful stuff! I can see what got Richard going.

Nashville Symphony Chorus, John Mauceri, "pedestrian", so the locals don't always get it right!

Ed finds a Parsifal section in Rattle, including White's & Hendricks tremendous performance of "Bess, you is my woman now", with Rattle's divine slowness bringing out the full beauty of the song, which is played at length. Well done Seck! "Just gorgeous", he says. But he's missing Broadway. He wants "earthiness" and more of a "conversational tone" and finds it in the other critics favourite Leontyne Price. But I preferred Hendricks, and do you even get Porgy on that disc? Price's disc is ultimately dismissed for being just bits and pieces.

Robert Mack overcooking "It ain't necessarily so", just sounding ridiculous. Rattle's "Sporting Life" can't be accused of this, might be accused of under cooking. That boat "leaving for New York" sounds much better from Larry Marshall, Houston Grand Opera, as Ed says, "you know the right thing when you hear it". You can really feel Bess would run off with Marshall.

Houston blew Seckerson "for six" and is his library choice. Caveat - he's sad about losing Willard White, and I don't think the Houston Porgy comes up to Willard's standard in Porgy's "On his way" song at the end.

In summary, if I was to add anything to my library, I would certainly take Ed (and Richard's...) advice and go for Houston. Listening to Rattle's highlights disc didn't have me jumping up and down thinking, "I must leave for the CD shop to get the full version"; it doesn't have the "shake, rattle and role" in Sporting Life's set pieces to make my want to dive into the full drama.... and the Houston performance sounds to have that, from Ed's examples, and from what Richard says. But I'd want Wlllard White's takes on Porgy's big songs, and Harolyn Blackwell's Summertime, so I'd be keeping my highlights disk.

I thought this was a great BAL.

[Mal]

A dissenting voice here. I enjoyed every minute and wondered again why Ed Seckerson, whose knowledge, love and joy in the piece was evident throughout isn't given his own programme on music theatre. My only quibble -I wish more time had been allowed for Ed to develop his views on the respective merits of the performances.

I thought it was superb, I also enjoyed very minute, more Ed Seckerson please!

[Pulcinella]

I thought it was superb, I also enjoyed very minute, more Ed Seckerson please!

See: you and Draco are in agreement.


Seriously, though: thanks for your summary.
Can you do one each week, then I'll not bother listening if the work or presentation doesn't appeal, but still get the gist of what's been said?
Rattle highlights here, which is enough for me.