Porgy and Bess
Brandon Gaorian/Henry Allison
Music History After 1914, 10am section Porgy Through the Ages George Gershwin’s operatic masterpiece Porgy and Bess proudly stands as the first widely regarded piece of truly “American” opera. Its lyrical melodies and catchy tunes have endured the test of time. Songs taken from the opera remain today a quintessential part of American musical culture, such as the first act’s “Summertime”, which has been recorded or sampled thousands of times by artists of all genres and eras, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and ska-punk band Sublime. However, though venerated the piece may be, it carries a substantial history of controversy and baggage, stemming from the depiction of African-Americans and the libretto’s racial slurs.
The roots of the Gershwin’s operatic debut extend back to 1925 with the release of DuBose Heyward’s novel, Porgy. The author worked very closely with George Gershwin and brother Ira Gershwin, in writing the lyrics and libretto for the piece. The initial reception of the piece was very positive, as it merited 124 performances on Broadway (1). At first, the African-American community regarded the opera as a highly sympathetic work, even though racial slurs littered the libretto as if it were nothing. Joe Nocera writes of the slurs, “None of the opera’s early critics seemed to notice; whether black reviewer or white, they primarily critiqued “Porgy and Bess” as a theatrical experience, focusing in particular on the highly original way Gershwin fused blues tonalities, spirituals and other elements of African-American music into a full-length opera” (1). The positive reception of the folk opera shows how deeply Americans had embedded these racial slurs into their culture at the time, and how even African-Americans praised the piece for its immersion into the negro culture of that time.
Then in the early 1940’s, a Porgy and Bess Broadway revival prompted a revision of the original text. Ira Gershwin, brother
Music History After 1914, 10am section Porgy Through the Ages George Gershwin’s operatic masterpiece Porgy and Bess proudly stands as the first widely regarded piece of truly “American” opera. Its lyrical melodies and catchy tunes have endured the test of time. Songs taken from the opera remain today a quintessential part of American musical culture, such as the first act’s “Summertime”, which has been recorded or sampled thousands of times by artists of all genres and eras, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and ska-punk band Sublime. However, though venerated the piece may be, it carries a substantial history of controversy and baggage, stemming from the depiction of African-Americans and the libretto’s racial slurs.
The roots of the Gershwin’s operatic debut extend back to 1925 with the release of DuBose Heyward’s novel, Porgy. The author worked very closely with George Gershwin and brother Ira Gershwin, in writing the lyrics and libretto for the piece. The initial reception of the piece was very positive, as it merited 124 performances on Broadway (1). At first, the African-American community regarded the opera as a highly sympathetic work, even though racial slurs littered the libretto as if it were nothing. Joe Nocera writes of the slurs, “None of the opera’s early critics seemed to notice; whether black reviewer or white, they primarily critiqued “Porgy and Bess” as a theatrical experience, focusing in particular on the highly original way Gershwin fused blues tonalities, spirituals and other elements of African-American music into a full-length opera” (1). The positive reception of the folk opera shows how deeply Americans had embedded these racial slurs into their culture at the time, and how even African-Americans praised the piece for its immersion into the negro culture of that time.
Then in the early 1940’s, a Porgy and Bess Broadway revival prompted a revision of the original text. Ira Gershwin, brother
Cited: The New York Times, http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/theater/porgy-and-bess-with-audra-mcdonald.html?_r=0 Last accessed on March 14, 2013. The New York Observer, http://observer.com/2012/01/necessarily-so-porgy-and-bess-may-not-be-known-as-a-dance-show-but-its-choreography-can-make-a-difference/ Last accessed on March 13, 2013. The New York Observer, http://observer.com/2012/01/for-porgy-and-bess-the-livin-is-easy-on-broadway/ Last accessed on March 14, 2013 The New York Times, http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/theater/gershwins-porgy-and-bess-on-broadway-is-more-for-theater-fans.html?ref=georgegershwin&pagewanted=print&_r=0 Last accessed on March 14, 2013 The New York Times, Sunday Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/opinion/sunday/nocera-in-porgy-and-bess-variations-on-an-explosive-theme.html?pagewanted=all Last accessed on March 13, 2013 Opera News, http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2012/1/Features/The_Renovation_of_Catfish_Row.html Last accessed on March 14, 2013 The Times Literary Supplement, http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/public/article872743.ece Last accessed on March 14, 2013