No character embodies the split genre of George Gershwin’s jazz-tinged opera “Porgy and Bess” better than
Sportin’ Life. The other denizens of Catfish Row sing their hearts out with larger-than-life lyricism, but the
silver-tongued dope peddler—a role shaped by such song-and-dance men as Cab Calloway—slithers about the
triplets and tritones of “It Ain’t Necessarily So” like a snake in the grass. The American tenor Frederick Ballentine
(above) slips into Sportin’ Life’s duds for the Metropolitan Opera’s season-opening production, on Sept. 23.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CATHERINE SERVEL
GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN
SEPTEMBER 18 – 24, 2019
