Porgy & Bess

This is a massive, messy, modern production of the Gershwins’ great 1935 bluesy opera that hasn’t been heard in this full a form since Trevor Nunn’s Glyndebourne production. There is video film, black and white footage, a bunch of dancers as commentary to the action and visual reference to black American history from the civil rights marches to yesterday’s television film of police brutality.

The show, directed and choreographed by Jose Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu, comes from the Opera de Lyon and is certainly impressive, if not always in a good way. Audibility across the big orchestra pit is a problem, though Janice Chandler-Eteme’s Bess is thrillingly sung; she’s much more powerful than Derrick Lawrence’s wheelchair-bound Porgy, and meets her musical match (tragically) in Gregg Baker’s imposing bad apple Crown.

The waves of the ocean break on film over Catfish Row and the street scenes are pointlessly re-enacted on film, too. This trick pays off in the close-up black and white of personal scenes, but the impact is diminished in the surrounding visual chaos. But it’s an abiding treat to hear this great score – both popular and endlessly challenging — played ravishingly under conductor William Eddins.