On Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 6:59:23 PM UTC-7, Ricardo Jimenez wrote:
> Gershwin's opera will be presented as part of PBS' "Great Performances
> from the Met" series this weekend. I had long thought it was just a
> musical and never had seen a performance before the DVD, shot on a
> movie set, with the music under the direction of Simon Rattle. It
> turns out that it is a real opera. There is only a small amount of
> spoken dialog, given to the few white characters. Besides some great
> tunes, the harmony, counterpoint and orchestration seemed to me that
> Gershwin had learned his craft pretty well. The description of Porgy
> as the greatest American opera doesn't seem to be unreasonable.
>
> However, not everybody agrees. I once posted Harold C Schoenberg's
> takedown and here is one from a serious musician who also composed
> operas, Virgil Thompson: "The material is straight from the melting
> pot. At best it is a piquant but highly unsavory stirring-up together
> of Israel, Africa and the Gaelic Isles. … [Gershwin’s] lack of
> understanding of all the major problems of form, of continuity, and of
> serious or direct musical expression is not surprising in view of the
> impurity of his musical sources. … I do not like fake folklore, nor
> fidgety accompaniments, nor bittersweet harmony, nor six-part
> choruses, nor gefilte fish orchestration".
>
> What the hell is he talking about?

(2023 Y. upload):

"RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra cond. Robert Russell Bennett - Porgy and Bess (1959)"