No song in American music has been recorded and covered more than the sublime opening tune to "Porgy and Bess." And it helps to explain why the Gershwins' classic is regarded as the great American opera.

First performed in 1935 on Broadway, "Porgy and Bess" struck a most resonant chord as a serious attempt to depict the black experience on stage featuring all black performers reflecting the culture and music of a population that had mostly faced mockery and stereotype. But it's still a show about black folks written by white guys, and for that, it's been dogged by complaints of racism. That aside, the production I saw on that Metropolitan Opera stage was profoundly poignant and musically flawless.

The story of the disabled Porgy and his love for the deeply troubled Bess, based on a novel by Dubose Heyward, is set amid the backdrop of Catfish Row, a fictitious tenement district in South Carolina. Director James Robinson evokes a strong sense of the community, impoverished but surviving day to day. Through gorgeous tableaux on that immense Metropolitan stage, the bravura cast is filled out with a borrowed chorus of black performers, no less talented. The Met simply doesn't have enough people of color to fill all the roles in this one.

Conductor David Robertson delivers magnificently — executing Gershwin's eclectic score with great vitality and passion — from the classical opera strains to the jazzy folk rhythms and spirituals, the orchestra sounds divine.

It's all punctuated with Camille A. Brown's African-inspired choreography. And watching the terrific dancers flailing with seeming abandon is an altogether added thrill.

As for the performances, we've come so far from the park-and-bark knock on opera singers.  These folks can act. Latonia Moore's soul-stirring widow Serena deserved her ovation on opening night. Angel Blue portrays Bess as a good woman tortured by addictions beyond her control. It's a different take on the character, typically seen as a passive victim at the hands of dangerous men. And with Eric Owens as the decent, naive Porgy, their love as misfits in an unforgiving world evolves over three-plus hours with incomparable heart-rending naturalism.

No matter how much "Porgy and Bess" has been derided for its cultural appropriation and stereotyping, it is impossible to deny the artistry inherent in this work. As classic opera and theatre, it is the real deal.