This release presents a unique portrait of Gershwin’s landmark folk opera, Porgy and Bess, and of the artists, including Lawrence Tibbett, Helen Jepson, Paul Robeson and Jascha Heifetz, who brought it to life. It brings together the recordings made during the first ten years after the opera’s premiere. The first disc assembles the Decca and Brunswick recordings made between 1935 and 1942 with members of the original cast and orchestra. The second disc features the first contemporary recordings of the score, including perhaps the most intriguing non-vocal treatment of Porgy and Bess, by Jascha Heifetz. Concluding this collection is the first recording of Robert Russell Bennett’s orchestral adaptation, Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture, which has since become a standard in the orchestral ‘pops’ repertoire. Conductor(s): Greenwood, Clifford; Shilkret, Nathaniel; Smallens, Alexander; Wallenstein, Alfred. Orchestra(s): Decca Symphony Orchestra, Leo Reisman Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Choir(s): Eva Jessye Choir. Artist(s): Bay, Emmanuel; Brown, Anne; Dowdy, Helen; Duncan, Todd; Heifetz, Jascha; Jepson, Helen; Long, Avon; Matthews, Edward; Robeson, Paul; Tibbett, Lawrence. Playing Time: 137,14 min.