Forgive the cross post, but I didn't remember if this had been mentioned
on this list. (RBH)
From [EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------
posted for Wilson Ochoa [dwochoa at nashvillesymphony dot org]
Original 1935 production version of "Porgy and Bess"
As has already been mentioned on this discussion, the Nashville
Symphony and Guest conductor John Mauceri will performing a concert
version of the Original 1935 Performance Version of "Porgy and Bess"
and recording it for Decca soon thereafter.
This is actually a very interesting project (although pretty much a
nightmare from the music library preparation point of view!). The
publisher published "Porgy and Bess" well before it went in
rehearsals (unusual for Gershwin). His usual method was to make
changes in rehearsals that helped the final outcome. (For example,
he made cuts in "American in Paris" before it was ever published,
based on what he heard in rehearsals. And, he did this with every
Broadway show he ever wrote.)
The original 1935 orchestral parts and score exist in the rare book
library at Yale, (along with additional scores from that production
also existing in the New York Public Library and in the Library of
Congress), and researching them has yielded an unbelievable amount
of information on how this was performed, with Gershwin himself
making cuts (AND additions) to make it work better. There are lots
of minor details (an additional 4 measures to start Act 1 Scene 2,
small cuts here and there, and many changes in dynamics, etc.) and
many major details (cuts of entire sections that slow down the
story, or dilute the dramatic element).
As a former horn player who has previously performed this opera, at
first I missed the music in a couple of cut sections. But if you
really look at the dramatic element of the opera, the cuts really
help propel the story along, and it will be much tighter. The final
opera in this version will be 2 hours and 20 minutes or music
(instead of 3 hours of music).
In any event, this meant over 80 separate cuts and inserts into our
set of parts. But, it's been kind of fun restoring a banda that
hasn't been seen in 70 years (in Act 2), among other things.
In addition to all of the changes, the parts yielded even more
information about how sections were to be performed in regards to
tempo, style, balance, etc. A wealth of markings (which we have
compiled into a list) was made along the way, all marked
meticulously, and uniformly, into each and every part.
It's a fascinating project--and the parts we are preparing for this
particular version will be left as they have been prepared, and made
available by European American Music rental library in the future.
D. Wilson Ochoa
Principal Music Librarian
Nashville Symphony
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