3CDs + book

Porgy, a disabled black street beggar living in the slums of Charleston, South Carolina, attempts to rescue Bess from the clutches of Crown, her violent and possessive lover, and drug dealer Sportin' Life.

Includes the classic Gershwin songs 'Summertime', 'A Woman is a Sometime Thing' and 'It Ain't Necessarily So'.

Willard White, Leona Mitchell, Florence Quivar, Barbara Hendricks, McHenry Boatwright and François Clemmons star in George Gershwin's revolutionary 1935 Black-cast opera, with Lorin Maazel conducting the Cleveland Chorus and Cleveland Orchestra.

"If anyone was ever in doubt whether in Porgy and Bess Gershwin had really written an opera as opposed to a jumped-up musical, this superb recording with Cleveland forces conducted by Maazel establishes the works formidable status beyond question. For one thing, Maazel includes the complete text, which was in fact cut even before the first stage presentation. With a cast that makes up an excellent team, there is no attempt to glamorize characters who are far from conventional, and the story is the more moving for that... the recording is one of the most vivid that even Decca has produced" - The Penguin Guide.

Very minor damage to jewel case interior.