MUSIC REVIEWS : A NEW BESS

Naomi Moody offered maximum erotic allure, sympathy and detailed character development when she joined the Houston Grand Opera production of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”--sponsored in Costa Mesa by Opera Pacific--as Bess Saturday afternoon in Segerstrom Hall. The cast otherwise was identical to forces seen and reviewed Thursday.

Moody, who had sung the role opening night when this production was seen locally in 1977, portrayed a Bess fully aware of her magnetism, capable of using it to wound the women who isolate and reject her, yet foreseeing its degrading potential. Drawn to Porgy for his moral force, she endures a series of inner struggles to let her love develop. In their duet, “Bess, you is my woman,” she expresses what she hopes is true.

Vocally, Moody’s throaty soprano could turn strident at the heights and under pressure. But she could also sing with cutting power and subtlety. In “Oh, what you want wid Bess?” she was pitiable, insinuating, irresistible.

The matinee audience was properly appreciative, but like its predecessors vanished within seconds of the curtain coming down.