Porgy & Bess : Original Broadway Cast

Locations
Call Number: CD Opera Gershwin Porgy 1992
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 3rd Floor, CDs 2-week checkout	CD Opera Gershwin Porgy 1992	2-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 3rd Floor, CDs 2-week checkout	CD Opera Gershwin Porgy 1992	2-week checkout	On Shelf

"Originally released as two separate 'Selections from' 78 r.p.m. albums, Decca 145 and Decca 283, in 1940 and 1942, respectively, except for Avon Long's 'I got plenty o' nuttin', ' originally released 1942 as Decca 78 r.p.m. single 18323"--Insert.
Compact disc.
Original liner notes by Louis Untermeyer and reissue notes by Max O. Preeo (10 p. : ill.) inserted in container.
Overture ; and, Summertime -- A woman is a sometime thing ; Introducing Summertime (Edward Matthews, Harriet Jackson) -- My man's gone now -- It take a long pull to get there (Edward Matthews) -- I got plenty o' nuttin' -- Buzzard song -- Bess, you is my woman -- It ain't necessarily so -- What you want wid Bess? -- Strawberry woman's call ; Crab man's call (Helen Dowdy, Gladys Goode; William Woolfolk, Georgette Harvey) -- I loves you, Porgy -- The requiem -- There's a boat dat's leavin' soon for New York (with Avon Long) -- Porgy's lament and finale -- I got plenty o' nuttin (Avon Long with Leo Reisman's orchestra; recorded Apr. 1942).
Anne Brown, soprano ; Todd Duncan, baritone ; other singers ; Eva Jessye Choir ; Decca Symphony Orchestra ; Alexander Smallens, conductor.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Early Broadway submitted by Meginator on August 12, 2020, 6:12pm Content warning: some racist language in the liner notes
The liner notes seem to indicate that this is an original recording, which is quite extraordinary and seems believable given the general audio quality and the singers’ classic vocal styles. The musical clearly takes its clues from orchestral music and opera rather than the modern Broadway musical, but the seeds are clearly there in the ways that the music and lyrics advance the plot. The album is notable for many reasons, not the least of which are classics like “Summertime” and “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’”, which are still emotionally effective today. This recording probably deserves a remastering, but the vocal quality is clear even amid the static and the whole product is certainly worth listening to for fans of musical theater curious about its roots.