Blogging Porgy

Since I started blogging, I have reviewed four performances of Porgy and Bess. 

Willard White film  (2006)  My first review of Porgy and Bess was the film starring Willard White and based on a production from Glyndebourne.



San Francisco Opera live  (2009)  This Porgy and Bess starred Eric Owens and Laquita Mitchell.  Now that I have paid more attention to the words, I know why Bess has red hair.  Perhaps she should always have red hair to explain the song about a red haired woman. 
I didn't know at the time that the conductor John DeMain had a history with Porgy and Bess.  He researched the original Gershwin version, perhaps the one that played at Carnegie Hall in 1934, with the original orchestration.  DeMain's version played at Houston Grand in 1976 and went on to San Francisco that same year.  I commented in my review that the conductor was significant and virtually ignored by the San Francisco audience. 


Film of Audra McDonald  This is the only time I have seen the Broadway version with lots of spoken dialog.


Live in HD from the Met