Customer Reviews

Porgy & Bess (1959 Film Soundtrack)

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the greatest crimes ever committed against the music and video buying public is the Gershwin Estate's denial to us of seeing and hearing and, most important of all, judging for ourselves, the merits of the Samuel Goldwyn film of PORGY AND BESS. Even worse, today's video buyers have to suffer through a boring, execrable EMI video made for public television in order to view PORGY AND BESS, thereby seeing Gershwin's masterpiece in the worst possible light. The 1959 film starred Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge, but both had their songs dubbed by operatic singers. Unlike the long out of print American Columbia sound track LP, this CD import actually credits the voice of Robert McFerrin (the father of jazz singer Bobby McFerrin) as Porgy. Still uncredited are singers Adele Addison (Bess), Loulie Jean Norman (Clara) and Inez Matthews (Serena). A special treat on this album is Cab Calloway as "Sportin' Life", who replaces Sammy Davis Jr. from the film, whose voice could not be used on the sound track album due to his exclusive contract with another record label. Calloway is far better suited to this role and his performance adds an edge to the character missing in Davis' more comic turn in the film. Calloway's vocals are backed up by the identical orchestral tracks (conducted by Andre Previn) used in the film for Davis. Although this version of Porgy and Bess was not well liked by the Gershwin family because it was treated more as a Broadway Musical than an opera, this film was immensely popular in its time and has gained stature over the years. The film was recently named one of the 100 greatest film love stories by the American Film Institute. The release of this matchless film on home video would be a cause for rejoicing. Andre Previn's conducting and especially Ken Darby's excellent choral direction have never been bettered in any performance of PORGY AND BESS. The 1959 sound track contains all the major musical sequences from the film and is arguably the finest version of Gershwin's score ever released to the music buying public. Amazingly, this album has never been released in the US on CD (with very limited distribution elsewhere). This import CD offers the most ideal way of hearing this magnificent sound track music short of a domestic CD release.

This 1995 CD from the German Back Bite label is a curious release. The occasional ticks and pops indicate that it is an LP-transfer to which too much noise reduction has been applied. The tape hiss is gone, but so are the upper ambient frequencies, giving it a peculiar "boxed-in" sound. Recorded in stereo, it has a very nice spatial feel with the orchestra placed behind the singers. However, at times the chorus seems too distant, too far away from the action. (Sounds great in the car, however.)

I agree wholeheartedly with Michael Portantiere's comments in The TheaterMania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings: ". . . Cab Calloway['s] . . . engaging performances . . . lack the sense of menace that the character needs. Despite its flaws, this recording is worth tracking down if only for baritone Robert McFerrin's extraordinary performance of Porgy's music . . . and Adelle Addison's lovely singing for Dandridge . . . both rein in their operatic voices for the film but they still sing beatifully, under the tasteful, respectful musical direction of Andre Previn and Ken Darby."

Perhaps Ms. Addison "reins in" her voice just a bit too much; I would have preferred a little more passion, especially in "What You Want With Bess?" and "I Loves You Porgy." (For an excellent example of "stage vs. movie" singing, compare Giorgio Tozzi's Emile De Beque on the 1959 film soundtrack of SOUTH PACIFIC and the 1976 Lincoln Center Cast recording.)

Not having seen the film, I can only assume that director Otto Preminger softened the roles of Bess and Sportin' Life to conform to the regulations of Hollywood's infamous Production Code (aka the Hayes Office). It most certainly would have been denied a code of approval if two of the major characters were a whiskey-guzzling "easy" woman and a drug dealing pimp - especially since neither had to "pay for their sins." Preminger challenged the Code with three other films - The Moon Is Blue (1953), the first film to use the words "virgin," "seduce," and "mistress;" The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), a film which graphically dealt with drug abuse; Anatomy of a Murder (1959), rape is the central issue - but I have a feeling he played it safe with Porgy, a major studio Samuel Goldwyn Production. (For further information about the film, go to the ISAM [Institute for Studies of American Music] website at htpp://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/isam.)

Because Ira Gershwin and the Gershwin estate were unhappy with Preminger's film treatment, rights to the movie were rescinded during the 70s. As a result, the film has never been legally transferred to video and only a few public showings have been allowed. When the hassles regarding the film are finally settled, hopefully the engineers at Sony/BMG will track down the original master tapes and produce a truly fine restoration of this long-lost movie soundtrack. All the proper ingredients are there; they just have to be pulled together.

Additional weirdness abounds on the CD's sleeve. None of the singers are listed - (Pearl Bailey and Brock Peters did their own singing, Loulie Jean Norman dubbed Clara's songs, and Inez Matthews sang the role of Serena. Sammy Davis, Jr. also sang his own songs, but Cab Calloway replaced him on the recording - due to contractural reasons) - and all of the photos are from some unidentified production of the opera, not from the movie. This recording may not be perfect, but right now it's all we have.

Recommended.

Cab Calloway, as Sportin' Life, steals the recording. (For contractual reasons, he had to replace Sammy Davis Jr.(?), who was in the film. Lucky for us.)
Despite the Gershwins' own criticism, I believe this is the definitive version of the opera.
Let's hold our breath for the release of the film.
~!an

While the soundtrack does not include some wonderful songs (e.g., The Buzzard Song), the calibre of the voices on this recording is unequalled, both musically and interpretatively. Robert McFerrin as Porgy is breath-taking, inhabiting the role in way that brings the character to life with passion and dignity. Adele Addison is easily his equal as Bess, and it's a crime that she's never been credited for this incredible performance.

Another real (and very rare) plus on this recording is Cab Calloway singing Sportin' Life. Sammy Davis, Jr., played the part in the movie but because of some contractual dispute did not record the soundtrack. A good thing, too, since there's no comparison; Davis has nothing like the talent or style that Calloway brings to the role and to the music.

I don't know why this version is so hard to find (I'm guessing it's to do with rights) but whatever it costs it's well worth it if, like me, you love this music.

I've had the LP version of this since 1958 and it is scratched to death - and the cover is in tatters and almost in shreds! The original liner notes and disk lists have disappeared as has the little 'hanky' with all the musicians' signatures. I've looked for several years to find either the LP or a new CD - and NOW - great news. Thanks to Shout! factory for reissuing the great Bethlehem catalog gems! This is something special to be savored for generations of jazz aficionados!

Having had the Columbia LP since the mid '50's, I have long desired CD of this sound track as it is perhaps the best presentation and I have heard several. Sound quality, fidelity is very good plus, stereo separation is also very good. A music geek may not agree, but most of us are not. If this album was a favorite in the past, and tired like mine, this is a great CD.

I have a long out of print Japanese issue of the Columbia soundtrack LP. It has very good to excellent mastering from original LP sources. The LP was a big seller for Columbia records and was readily available until CDs took over during late 1980s. An extremely popular, if not accurate, version of the Gershwin original with wonderful orchestrations. It deserves to be available again on CD. It would be great if Columbia/Sony/BMG could revisit the movie's music masters and give a complete redtion with Sammy Davis' vocals and more of the Oscar winning underscore, perhaps on 2 cds. However, considering PORGY & BESS's troubled leagal history this may be a long stretch.

This is just execrable. It bears as much resemblance to the Gershwin masterwork as ordure does to a diamond (the blow-by-blow narrative accompanying the fugue where Porgy kills Crown is just one example of the kind of extremely bad taste characterizing this project). Later in life, Mel Torme regretted having been involved in this, and for good reason.

In short, this so-called "complete" Porgy and Bess is a complete sham, a textbook example of what not to do when "jazzing" the classics. If you want to hear the opera as Gershwin intended for it to be heard, get one of the complete recordings [either by Lorin Maazel (Decca) or Simon Rattle (EMI)]. If you want a jazz take on Porgy, look for the Miles Davis / Gil Evans Porgy and Bess Suite, which is respectful and strangely true to the spirit of Gershwin, arguably America's greatest and certainly our most beloved composer of art music.

(By the way, Porgy is not a "jazz opera", as one of the reviewers puts it; it is not a precursor of "Tommy" or any other lamentable so-called "rock opera"; nor is it pre-soul or even "pop". The composer called it, at different times, grand or folk opera, but never jazz. Gershwin employed popular elements, it is true, but so did all of the great composers of opera, Mozart, Verdi, Bizet.)

Porgy & Bess (1959 Film Soundtrack) There exists a neat and legal CBS CD release of the soundtrack of this Opera/Musical film, copyrighted (P)1974 CBS Records Inc./(C) 1989 CBS Schallplatten GmbH Germany, product# CBS S 70007, and approved by BIEM (Bureau International des Sociétés Gérant les Droits d'Enregistrement et de Reproduction Mécanique - coordinating statutory license agreements among different countries) and the Dutch music rights authority STEMRA (representing the interests of music authors in the Netherlands). Its cover is the same as the one used for the original CBS Records #60002/Philips #ABL.3282 LP covers, but without the label (Columbia, CBS nor Philips). Strangely enough the cover doesn't even mention any performer at all! But the imprint on the disc itself (in the center ring) is Sony Music IFPI L555 S0707000710-0101, and that looks pretty original! No LP cracks or ticks as mentioned in an other review.

Approximately 55 years ago, this recording was part of our fasmily's jazz collection. Twenty-five years ago, after I'd moved away and had my own family I paid a collector $40 for a vintge LP/album. Given that it is someplace in a box in my daughter's attic, AND that I no longer have a record player, you can imagine how happy I was to find a CD!

The quality is great, the prompt service from Amazon was supurb!