MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gershwin: Porgy & Bess (complete opera)

Gershwin made extensive cuts and additions to the published version of Porgy & Bess before its New York premiere in 1935. Since that time it is the published version that has usually been performed. Now this great masterpiece of American theatre has been recorded for the first time in the original production version - as George Gershwin himself wanted it performed. 'This is the last version that Gershwin supervised and signed off on,' says conductor John Mauceri, '...it's a much better opera this way.'

It was in 1987 that musicologist Charles Hamm called attention to Gershwin's edits to Porgy & Bess. He researched hand-written notations which he discovered in the scores used during rehearsals for the 1935 Broadway premiere at the Alvin Theatre. These revisions tightened dialogue and action and cut unnecessary repeats.

Gershwin's additions to this version include a street festival scene in Act 1 which features an 11 piece on-stage band. For the Nashville production members of the Tennessee State University band joined the cast and they also take part in this Decca recording.

Perhaps the most fascinating addition is the 'symphony of sounds' that begins the opera's final scene. The original orchestral interlude is replaced by a minute long soundscape of domestic sounds - cooking, sawing wood, a man snoring - gradually building into a sound picture of everyday life.

Mauceri sees Gershwin's revision of the score as one in a long line of great operatic revisions which includes Puccini's reworking of Madama Butterfly and Verdi's revised La Traviata . '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,' he says.

An outstanding vocal cast led by Alvy Powell and Marquita Lister includes Decca's most recent signing - American soprano Nicole Cabell - singing the role of Clara and giving a radiant performance of the best-loved song from the score 'Summertime'