Porgy Willard White Bess Cynthia Haymon Sporting Life Michael Forest Crown Daniel Washington Serena Cynthia Clarey Maria Marietta Simpson Clara Maureen Braithwaite Mingo/Peter/Crab Man Frederick Martell Lily/Annie/Strawberry Woman Hyacinth Nicholls Jake/Frazier Jonathan Veira Robbins/Undertaker/Nelson Wills Morgan Jim Vanya Abrahams A Woman Kay Smith Detective Ethan Freeman Policeman/Coroner James Carroll Jordan Archdale Stuart MacIntyre Scipio Derryk Nasib Conductor Wayne Marshall Director David Edwards BBC Concert Orchestra BBC Singers, Bournemouth Symphony Chorus That should be Porgy and Bess(sm) according to the notice in the front of the programme. Gershwin(r) is also a registered trademark... This was a premium performance of Porgy and Bess in every way. The cast was pretty much uniformly excellent, as was the chorus and orchestra. And it was the full version, including Jasbro Brown's music (played by Wayne Marshall, with hat) and the Buzzard Song. Porgy and Bess clearly provided a model for the major post-war American musicals. Tonight I noticed foreshadowings of West Side Story in the complex multiple voices in Doctor Jesus, and of Guys and Dolls in the gambling scenes, but also in the revivalist music. But this performance really brought out the musical depth and drama that make it a rather grand opera. Willard White made the Buzzard Song sound positively Verdian, and the last act (which can be a disappointment because it lacks big numbers) became an integrated piece of through-composed music theatre that Strauss or Puccini might have been proud of. The reprises of earlier themes seemed slightly irritatingly banal, in fact, though Puccini at least might well have done the same. The production was semi-staged, which meant entrances and exits, casual dress for the men and assorted chairs on a stage in front of the orchestra. White and Cynthia Haymon as Bess were in the Glyndebourne production. They have performed these roles together many times, and seem to live them. When they were sitting on stage while not singing, it was difficult to say whether they were still in character, or were old friends who would naturally touch each other and smile. My only problem with White in the role is that even in a goat cart he would be highly desirable. Most of the other singers delivered at least one moment to raise the hair on the back of the neck. Maureen Braithwaite as Clara (who I think I remember as a delightful Anne Page in an otherwise excruciating RCM showcase of The merry wives in about 1982) got the most magical moment of all, the beginning of Summertime. Her voice is very sweet, though not very big, and made it ethereal rather than earthy. Cynthia Clarey as Serena, on the other hand, was robust and intense, on the same scale as Lorraine Hunt. My man's gone now got the first within-scene applause of the evening, and she kept it up for the rest of the performance. Marietta Simpson as Maria was not a woman to pick a fight with. (She can play Diane Abbot in the opera based on the tragi-comic fiasco of the Millenium Dome.) Her invective against Sporting Life was a tour-de-force. Michael Forest as Sporting Life was perhaps not as nasty as he might have been. He reminded me somehow of Nicely Nicely Johnson. It ain't necessarily so (my favourite religious song) lacked bite, though he sang it attractively -- he has a beautiful voice. I think Sporting Life needs to be more complex. He's really as evil as Crown, perhaps worse if you consider his intellectual sophistication. Daniel Washington was good and sinister as Crown, raising Verdian echoes in his final exit to struggle with God. Fredrick Martell, another lovely tenor voice, provided another magical moment with the Honey Man's first song. Derryk Nasib, who must be about five years old, was irresistably cute as Scipio. I suspect he's related to Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes in real life, but there was an outbreak of broodiness in the arena. (Not me, of course -- I've seem them grow up into Sporting Lifes and Crowns.) This was the third superb Saturday night in a row at the Proms. The audience understandably loved it, even more than Falstaff, which was somehow less engaging though equally dazzling. Unfortunately, the next three Saturday aren't opera. Simone Boccanegra from Glyndebourne on 29 August had better be good.