Another Take On Our National Opera

Classical Music

By JAY NORDLINGER
September 26, 2006

Given that "Porgy and Bess" is our national opera, it's a bit curious that we don't have more recordings of it — complete, that is. Indeed, the most prominent such recording of recent years is an English product. Simon Rattle led Glyndebourne forces in the late 1980s.

PORGY AND BESS
John Mauceri, cond.

The Decca label — speaking of England! — now brings us a new "Porgy and Bess,"conducted by John Mauceri, with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. This recording's claim to fame is that it presents the opera the way Gershwin intended it: with his final revisions and so on. Dull musicology aside, how's the music-making?

Pretty good: Mr. Mauceri conducts with enthusiasm and heart, and the singers are adequate, sometimes a little better. It's a peculiarity of "Porgy and Bess" that its three great soprano arias — "Summertime," "My Man's Gone Now," and "I Loves You, Porgy" — are sung by three different characters! (Clara, Serena, and Bess.) Of course, if you're Leontyne Price, you record all three and don't worry about it.

(Incidentally, "I Loves You, Porgy" is technically a duet, but may be seen as an aria.)

In the new recording, the Bess, Marquita Lister, stands out.That is a warm, inviting voice.

If I could make a specific criticism of Mr. Mauceri's effort: "Bess, You Is My Woman" is terribly slow and soupy. Without a spine, it's not worth much. (Well, actually, this duet is so great, you can't really ruin it.)

Overall, the Mauceri "Porgy" is commendable, and if you have a thing for this opera, you will want it. You will not want to throw away your Price 'n' Warfield — but then, when could you?

One last thing: The cover says "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess." Look, I admire Ira too, but that is ridiculous.

One additional last thing: Remember what Gershwin said about his opera? "I think the music is so marvelous, I don't believe I wrote it." Believe it, George.

GLAZUNOV
José Serebrier, cond.

José Serebrier, the Uruguayan conductor, has tapped a nice vein: He is recording symphonies of Glazunov, with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The first recording contained the Symphony No. 5 plus "The Seasons," a ballet, which may be the composer's bestknown work. Especially exciting was the symphony's finale — heart-pounding — and, of course, the Bacchanale from the Autumn section of "The Seasons." That is a long-standing world favorite.

Under Mr. Serebrier, the Scottish orchestra sounded like a first-class institution, which we may well have to consider it.

The relevant label — Warner Classics — has now come out with a second album, containing Glazunov's Symphony No.4 and Symphony No.7.These are not exactly immortal works, but they are certainly worth knowing, and Mr. Serebrier and his forces make a wonderful case for them. The performances are polished, rich, and seamless. They are admirable in detail and compelling in overall conception.

Russian Romanticism is not to be neglected, and Glazunov was a prime exponent of it. But if you acquire only one of these albums — make it the first one. That finale is a glorious shot of adrenalin.

SHOSTAKOVICH
Mstislav Rostropovich and others

In its Great Performances line, Sony Classical brings us a truly great performance: of Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 in E flat, played by Mstislav Rostropovich and the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy. The year is 1959, and Rostropovich has just premiered the work in the Soviet Union. Now he is in Philadelphia — at the Broadwood Hotel — making the first recording.

The liner notes — original — are quaint, with their talk of American–Soviet cooperation. They also speak of Rostropovich as "a cellist from Azerbaijan with an almost unpronounceable name." Today, it seems somewhat like John Smith.

And the cellist's playing, of course, is raw, sure, and completely authoritative. Ormandy, too, is good, underrated as he has long been, particularly in modern music (as this concerto then was).

The CD also includes Ormandy and the Philadelphians in Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1, one of the most famous — and best — student pieces ever written.The composer wrote it to graduate from the Leningrad Conservatory.

Speaking of old recordings of Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto: Philips brings us the Austrian cellist Heinrich Schiff in its Legendary Recordings line. Mr. Schiff recorded it, and the Second, in 1985, with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maxim Shostakovich, the composer's son. Both concertos are on the reissued CD.

And Mr. Schiff knows what he is doing. The name might not be as overwhelming as Rostropovich's, but these are deeply understanding and accomplished performances.

MAHLER
Bernard Haitink, cond.

Finally, one other item from Philips's Legendary Recordings: Bernard Haitink with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Mahler's Symphony No. 3. Do you remember Mr. Haitink's Mahler cycle from the 1960s and 1970s? Do you remember it as great? The reissued recording will not betray that memory. Mr. Haitink and the Concertgebouw — no "Royal," at this point – are both profound and thrilling in this staggeringly great symphony. Maureen Forrester, the Canadian contralto, is the soloist. And the second of the two CDs here is filled out with Mahler's "Das klagende Lied."

To use a critic's favorite one-word review: Recommended.