Watch out for Porgy and Bess! Or, better, keep an ear to the ground…by Michael Miller

Laquita Mitchell as Bess and Alfred Walker as Porgy in the Tanglewood performance of Porgy and Bess. Photo Hilary Scott.

Boston audiences may possibly have something truly wonderful to look forward to in September following the gala season opener. Bramwell Tovey will repeat his splendid 2011 Tanglewood performance of Porgy and Bess. At Tanglewood it was an extraordinary musical experience — a performance of the operatic version of George Gershwin’s “folk opera” — which is not all that common an event and is likely to become even less common, since the Gershwin estate has approved a “lite” Broadway version running about 90 minutes with a severely simplified score. Add this to the current infatuation of cash-strapped American opera houses with musicals, and the prospect is depressing.

Read the full article on the Berkshire Review, an International Journal for the Arts!