Porgy Bess Movie

The younger pop-influenced and tabloid-friendly Katherine Jenkins might have recently stolen her thunder, but Lesley Garrett was the first, and some would say most authentic, contemporary British female soprano to crossover to the mainstream. While she's recently gained more attention for her appearances on Strictly Come Dancing and Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, and her Classic FM radio show, The Very Best of Lesley Garrett is the chance to remind everyone of the hugely powerful vocals which propelled her from the English National Opera's principal soprano to chart-bothering operatic superstar.

George Gershwin miraculously melded classical idioms, jazz, blues and spirituals in this quintessentially American masterpiece about a crippled beggar, the headstrong woman he loves, and the community that sustains them both. Eric Owens (Porgy) and Laquita Mitchell (Bess) lead an amazing cast, pulling the audience into the intricate world of Catfish Row. Recorded live in 2009 at the War Memorial Opera House, conductor John DeMain, whose 1976 recording of Porgy and Bess won a Grammy, leads the triumphant cast.

The selections included in this collection were chosen for the various uses of the orchestra: Cuba Libre, The Santa Clara Suite, The Suite From the Milagro Beanfield War, The Heart is A Lonely Hunter, and Condor, are all versions of movie themes, stretching over the last thirty years; Summer Sketches was commissioned and recorded live in 1982 at the Budokan in Tokyo; and the Three Cowboy Songs have been orchestrated, up-dated and recorded for this project. The Porgy & Bess Medley is included as an orchestral homage to the Gershwin talents.

Not every movie soundtrack has to go as hard as it does. The best soundtracks exist outside of the movie, giving you all the feels without all the *drama.* It's like a specially curated mixtape (aka a playlist, duh) from your favorite movie to you. There's often that one, epic song that the movie's known for—the one that plays over the end credits and sends you out of the movie theater with a smile on your face—but then there are some hidden gems that maybe only got a few lines in the film but are utter bangers in their own right. Movie soundtracks = an underrated way to find new music!

Singer/actress Lena Horne's primary occupation was nightclub entertaining, a profession she pursued successfully around the world for more than 60 years, from the 1930s to the 1990s. In conjunction with her club work, she also maintained a recording career that stretched from 1936 to 2000 and brought her three Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989; she appeared in 16 feature films and several shorts between 1938 and 1978; she performed occasionally on Broadway, including in her own Tony-winning one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, in 1981-1982; and she sang and acted on radio and television.

The 2008 New Year’s Eve gala from Berlin features the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton or Sir Simon Rattle, plus world-class singers Thomas Quasthoff and Pauline Malefane in an outstanding all-American program ranging from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” and “An American in Paris” to Copland’s “Old American Songs”.