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Edinburgh International Festival: Porgy and Bess

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Opera? Musical? Folk story? George Gershwin called Porgy and Bess “an American folk opera” and this is the perfect description of his collaboration with Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward.

It was as visionary as it was daring when premiered in 1935 and the Edinburgh Festival production by Opera de Lyon is equally imaginative but also provocative and ultra-modern, with projected images that both attracted and distracted.

I could not help but think these were purely cosmetic, in a bid to bolster a work that has all the normal ingredients one would expect from an opera but lacking the bite of Verdi or the drama of Puccini.

Musically the score is a triumph, with Gershwin’s incorporation of jazz and blues totally captivating. The composer considered it his finest work and there cannot be too much argument to that.

One would expect that the title characters would have carried the most weight but one was in danger of being upstaged. Derrick Lawrence, as the crippled Porgy, sang his socks off but the limitations endured by being wheelchair-bound did tell.

Gregg Baker’s Crown was a real triumph in both an acting and singing capacity, oozing malevolence at every move, and Ronald Samm’s Sporting Life was a nice mix of the sinister and the cynical with It Ain’t Necessarily So a musical highlight.

Janice Chandler-Eteme’s Bess was a splendid characterisation of the femme fatale on the cusp of good and evil, her softer side coming over loud and clear in I Loves You Porgy.

Magali Leger’s Summertime was certainly the best I have ever heard and LaVerne Williams’ interpretation of Maria injected timely moments of humour into a plot that is quite depressing. Andrea Baker’s Serena was another splendidly delivered performance.

The chorus a mixture of locals, fishermen, children and dockers were the ideal backing, each seemingly establishing their own individual characterisations.

The direction and choreography of Jose Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu fast-forwarded the scene 70 years or so but the incorporation of modern dance and mime did not seem out of context, dovetailing well with dialogue and song.

The overall production was hard-hitting and graphic this is where the back projections came into their own and there was thankfully no attempt to dumb down the controversial elements of the story.

The opera is lengthy but such was the style of performance and production the time did not drag at all. The production runs until Tuesday night and is well worth a visit.