Porgy and Bess

An opera by George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin, first performed in 1935. Set in a fictional Black community in Charleston, it combines operatic forms with musical idioms associated with African American music.

George Gershwin: An American composer and pianist whose works joined classical forms with jazz and popular music. He composed the opera’s music, including its orchestral and vocal score.
American opera: Opera composed in the United States or shaped by American subjects, musical traditions, and institutions. Porgy and Bess became a landmark in efforts to create an American operatic tradition.
Porgy (novel): DuBose Heyward’s 1925 novel about a disabled beggar and his community in Charleston. The novel provided the narrative source for the opera.
Dorothy Dandridge: An American actor and singer who played Bess in Otto Preminger’s 1959 film adaptation of Porgy and Bess. Her performance brought the role to a major screen adaptation.
Bess, You Is My Woman Now: A duet between Porgy and Bess in the second act of Porgy and Bess. The duet crystallizes the lovers’ hopes for a shared life.
DuBose Heyward: An American writer whose novel and play about Charleston’s Catfish Row supplied the opera’s source material and libretto. His story and libretto shaped the opera’s characters and setting.
Jazz: A musical tradition developed in African American communities, characterized by improvisation, distinctive rhythms, and varied styles. Gershwin drew on jazz idioms while composing an opera with a fully written score.
Porgy (play): A 1927 stage adaptation of DuBose Heyward’s novel, written by Heyward and his wife Dorothy. The successful play brought Heyward’s story to the stage before Gershwin adapted it as opera.
Leontyne Price: An American operatic soprano who became internationally acclaimed for her performances in opera and concert. Her early portrayal of Bess helped establish the role in major opera houses.
It Ain't Necessarily So: A song in Porgy and Bess in which Sportin’ Life questions biblical stories. Its skeptical lyrics make the character’s irreverence unmistakable.

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