Well, did you evah?    How many others air-punched on hearing Andrew McGregor introducing extracts from the 1952 production of Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess" which visited the really cavernous Stoll Theatre (Kingsway, central London) with a cast which included William Warfield as Porgy, Leontyne Price as Bess, and the irrepressible Cab Calloway as Sportin' Life.   This was part of an international tour with a cast of 75.   In a year in which we now have the Goodall 1968 "Mastersingers", it's a huge bonus to have this recording on 2 cds by Guild, albeit the shortened Broadway version.

Coincidentally, I did a stint of my National Service at this time and used to volunteer for courier duties to the Air Ministry, also in Kingsway.   I'd catch the milk train from RAF Innsworth (nr Gloucester), travel in mufti, and complete my duties with the upper echelons, allowing time for a matinee and evening performance.  In the late evening, I'd walk over Waterloo Bridge and lodge at the Union Jack Club for 2/6d (12 and a half pence) cubicle, or 1/6d (7 and a half p) in the dormitories!   Reveille at 07.00 hrs, promptly.    The now released "Porgy & Bess" - I'm still stricken with excitement - was one such visit; t'others include Orson Welles as "Othello" and Peter Finch as Iago at the St James's Theatre; and in early 1953 John Gielgud's season at the Lyric, Hammersmith; 'Richard II', 'Way of the World' and 'Venice Preserv'd' with a company including Paul Scofield, Pamela Brown and Margaret Rutherford.  Worth covering on Great Performers, in due course.   

William Warfield arrived with memories of his Joe in the 1951 film version of "Show Boat" preceding him.  Like Paul Robeson he also had a powerful stage presence to match his vocal prowess.   Catfish Row, Charleston, and the atmosphere of the South Carolina waterfront rang true and the touching tale of a crippled beggar and his wayward sweetheart had a potent legitimacy in this setting;  the performance was given a total commitment.   Like 'The Mastersingers' a fine company can generate the energy which feeds on itself.

  A gap of 56 years was immediately traversed this morning.  'Ah, yes, I remember it well'.

Thanks, autoharp.   I have a hunch that I have the RCA recording on LP.   However, a quick check on the CD shelves shows the obligatory Glyndebourne 3 CD set with Simon Rattle and the LPO.   Additionally, a 1CD highlights with the Cleveland Orchestra/Lorin Maazel; Willard White & Leona Mitchell on Decca.    A really cool recording is Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on the Verve label, 1958.

I saw a film version of "Porgy & Bess in widescreen at the Dominion, Tottenham Ct Rd in 1960.   A lavish but laboured version, directed by Otto Preminger.   Sidney Poiter and Dorothy Dandridge, dubbed by Robert McFerrin & Adele Addison, but the film did benefit by Sammy Davis as Sportin' Life, Pearl Bailey/Maria and Diahann Carroll/Maria.    Cinema distribution was later curtailed and the film didn't even make it to video.  Apparently, the Gershwin estate keep it firmly under lock and key.

I missed the R3 review of the 1952 performance of Porgy, but I read about it in Gramophone some time ago. I looked for it in HMV in Oxford Street on Friday and was told that it was expected in next week. What amazed me was the price quoted - £13 for 2 CDs! When I got home I checked the Guild website and found that they are selling it for £9.20 (+ postage from Switzerland, I imagine!) What a bargain for what Gramophone described as 2 full-price discs.

I'll probably end up buying it from my usual mail order supplier in Bognor Regis; great service and prices, though I'd better not mention their name.

Seconded! Bring it them on Descombes.

 Delighted, Descombes, to hear that 'The Woods' are still thriving.   I haven't traded with them for several years but remember trying to trace an import, 'Cleo Laine, Live in Manhattan,' which was well reviewed but unavailable in the UK.     As you say, it took a bit of time but they delivered.

CD Review played a fairly hefty extract from the 1952, 'Porgy & Bess'; by no means state-of-the-art sound but the sheer vitality of the cast reminded me of their magnificent performance, at The Stoll, in 1952.     A "MUST" for the shelves.       O Lawd, I'm on my way...

 Thanks, Descombes.    I tracked the Guild "P & G" at hmv.online at £9 99, available now.

Yes, the computer keys is more or less a way of life for me these days, although I barely pass muster on proficiency.   Your reference to the 'keys' reminded me of a Home Service programme - bet none of you ever heard of it! - 'Kay on the Keys' but I can't recall her full name.  Very 1940s. 

  Anna.  Thank you.     Yes, yes, yes.  YES!     Kay Cavendish, of course.    Lovely speaking voice, too.   She did a lunchtime programme, after the 1 o'clock news.   Lots of standards, I remember.   A good learning curve for a youth - no such thing as a teenager in the late 40s.     I also remember Doris Arnold who had a similar slot, 'These You Have Loved'.        Ta, very much.       

Real joy for a dank day.      The arrival of the 2CD set of 'Porgy and Bess', a live recording from the Titania Palast (love that name!  "And there, Titania, sometimes i' the night, lulled by the moon and dances her delight...")) Berlin on 21st Sept 1952.      Live really means live, stage noise et al.  The sheer energy and vitality makes it a memorable experience.    The liner notes refer to earlier, virtually all -black cast musicals and I'd dearly love to see Virgil Thomson's, 'Four Saints in Three Acts' (1934), Delius's 'Koanga' (1897) or Scott Joplin's ;'Tremonisha' (1910) in concert performance, or semi-staged at The Proms.