![]() “Our new editions of ‘Porgy and Bess’-as well as ‘American in Paris’ and ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ - bring a fresh spirit to these masterpieces.”Īccording to Shirley and Getman, many of the restored notes and corrections may not be immediately recognizable to the untrained ear. “While readily accessible in print and recordings, the scores and parts to many Gershwin works circulate in substandard editions that contain notational errors and confusing inconsistencies,” said Jessica Getman, managing editor of the George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition. In an effort to publish their extensive and treasured catalog, the Gershwin family partnered with the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance in 2013 to establish the U-M Gershwin Initiative. ![]() In fact, many of George and Ira Gershwin’s works have never received the benefit of scholarly editing or official publication, which was partially due to George’s premature and tragic death from a brain tumor at age 38. ![]() “It’s a rite of passage and it has never happened for ‘Porgy and Bess’ until now.” “ One of the things that happens to important operas is that they get published into a full orchestral score-they get into libraries,” said Shirley, a former specialist in the Music Division at the Library of Congress. Shirley, who has been working with a team of students and faculty from the University of Michigan’s Gershwin Initiative to complete the new performance edition, says the musical score never received a proper editing in the years since its first debut on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre in October 1935. ![]() The performance also marks the first time that George and Ira Gershwin’s beloved and controversial “folk opera”-adapted from the work of Dubose and Dorothy Heyward-returns to the Met’s stage in nearly 30 years. Courtesy the Ira & Leonore Gershwin Trusts.ĪNN ARBOR- Toward the end of his life, Ira Gershwin said to Robert Kimball, music adviser to the Gershwin family at the time, “We must do right by Porgy and Bess.”Īccording to Wayne Shirley, the music editor tapped to create a new scholarly performance edition of the work nearly 20 years ago, this wish will be realized at the Metropolitan Opera in New York when it premieres Sept. George Gershwin, Dubose Heyward and Ira Gershwin, Boston, Sept.
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