In the summer of 1985, Porgy and Bess was a triumphant success at Glyndebourne in England. Gershwin himself called Porgy and Bess a folk opera - a folk tale in which people would naturally sing folk music. The tale is about a crippled beggar, who roamed the streets of Charleston, South Carolina in a goat-cart, and his love Bess. It is drawn from a novel by DuBose Heyward about life and death, hope and despair in a black community called Catfish Row. From the moment he set eyes on the novel in 1926, Gershwin knew it was material for grand opera - his opera.
Opera being opera, the question is certain to ignite passionate discussion even today.
But of course Gershwin succeeded. All rights reserved.