'Porgy and Bess' in concert at Strathmore makes for a superb evening

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra had a tiger by the tail last Saturday; its performance of Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" before a packed Strathmore audience received the longest, loudest ovation I have ever heard for this ensemble. Admittedly, much of it was for the singers, but still. Conductor Marin Alsop, director Kwame Kwei-Armah, the Morgan State University Choir and a dazzling cast brought the work to life in a "concert version" that lacked only stage scenery. The cast and chorus all perform...