Porgy and Bess

Staff

... Conductor and Pianist

George Gershwin

Cast

... Clara	Abbie Mitchell
... Jake	Edward Matthews
... Serena	Ruby Elzy
... Porgy	Todd Duncan
... Bess	Anne Brown

Tracks

Issued around 1991 on the CD Gershwin Performs Gershwin on the Jazz Heritage label. There were 16 other tracks taken from radio performances, but the Porgy and Bess selections were recorded at a CBS studio on July 19, 1935, more than a month before Gershwin completed the opera's orchestrations. William Paley, head of CBS, allowed Gershwin to have a studio for a rehearsal with several principals who had already been cast. A 43-piece orchestra was also there. Gershwin wanted to rehearse some of the music to hear how it sounded. A CBS engineer, Jean V. Grombach, recorded several of the numbers that were performed.