Restored ‘Porgy and Bess’ gets key test on road to Met Opera
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A restored edition of a pioneering, enduring American opera emerges at a time when its racial and social themes are as relevant as the era in which it premiered.
The long-in-the-works “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” gets a test-drive Saturday in Michigan on the road to a planned, official debut in 2020 by the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
University of Michigan musicologist Mark Clague says restoring original elements provides “a deeper artistic engagement” for a 1930s work criticized for cultural appropriation by its white creators but praised for affirming humanity.
The Gershwin expert adds that the opera’s themes of mistreatment at the hands of law enforcement and the justice system remain part of the black experience. With this performance and an accompanying symposium, Clague says, “We’re confronting those moments.”
