Gershwin: Porgy and Bess

“William Warfield's Porgy is a noble achievement… Price's voice is at its youthful best… No one who admires Gershwin's work should ignore this unique document. As Angelou put it: "Even the chorus performed with such verve that a viewer could easily believe each singer was competing for a leading part."” Gramophone Magazine, August 2008

“…this remarkable Porgy and Bess. It was made during the Berlin run of the famous 1952-3 European tour… of a production by Robert Breen, with an all-black company under the work's original conductor Alexander Smallens. The chorus sings with precision and fervour, and there are characterful performances in the many smaller roles. The young Leontyne Price signs of he future greatness as Bess... William Warfield makes a virile Porgy, and Cab Calloway does a star turn as Sportin' Life. And altogether this recording, refurbished in startlingly immediate mono sound, is both a fascinating document and thoroughly enjoyable in its own right.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2008 ****

'All of us hope to leave behind an authentic and vital text from which other performers can find inspiration. No masterpiece deserves less and surely Porgy & Bess is our great American opera.'

"The New Zealanders cope splendidly with the Gershwin idiom - gone are the embarrassing days when orchestras couldn't swing - and bring a catchy rhythmic zip both to An American in Paris and the Cuban Overture...The recording is vivid." - Peter Dickinson, Gramophone July 2002

[CD1] ‘Marvellously punchy and spontaneous... there is the thilling sense of risk in the whole performance which alerts the listener to the fun and colour of the Gershwin style... this collection is as good a Gershwin starter disc as any I have heard.’ Classic CD