This is an interesting selection of excerpts, ''Buzzard keep on flying''', ''I ain't got no shame'' and ''Now de time'' being unusual choices. (This last, incidentally, leads into ''I loves you, Porgy'', which is not listed on either the sleeve or labels.) At the same time an unbalanced outline of the opera is given because Crown, the third main character, is not represented. And with Roberta Alexander and Simon Estes, singing nearly all the other characters—Diane Curry makes two small appearances as Maria—we miss contrasts of voices. An instance is when ''Summertime'' (Clara) is followed by ''My man's gone now'' (Serena), and the voice stays the same.
Another reservation concerns matters of balance. The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra play beautifully for Leonard Slatkin, showing a sure sense of this music's style, but ought to have a stronger presence. The Berlin Radio Chorus, whose performance is of a similar standard, fares rather better in terms of balance, and is excellent in ''Oh, I can't sit down'' and ''I ain't got no shame''. Towards the end of ''Summertime'', however, the dice game is too subdued—it is supposed to be a distraction. And although Siegfried Stockigt plays Jazzbo Brown's piano music respectably, he sounds too far away.
That said, this is a most enjoyable issue, finely recorded in terms of sound quality, with surfaces as quiet as I have ever encountered on an LP. Both Roberta Alexander and Simon Estes have richly expressive voices and enter fully into the two main roles, to moving effect, especially in the duets, ''Bess, you is my woman now'' and ''Now de time''.'