A viscerally powerful production of Britten’s masterpiece
John Findon as Peter Grimes and Philippa Boyle as Ellen Orford. Credit James Glossop
In his programme note for Opera North’s performance of Peter Grimesat Lowry in Salford on Friday, Andrew Mellor compares the central character in the opera with the Peter Grimes of George Crabbe’s poem The Borough (1810) that provided Benjamin Britten’s inspiration,
[Grimes] appears in just one poem out ofย Crabbe’s 24. He does so as a scoundrel: aย villain unequivocallyย guilty of murder. As they sketched out their scenario, [Peter] Pears (destined for the title role) and Britten reimagined the character.
Britten, his partner Peter Pears and the librettist Montagu Slater turned Grimes into a morally ambiguous anti-hero, a dreamer and a visionary with a darker, more violent side – like Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In doing so, they raised profound questions about the nature of society and its relationship with outsiders. Phyllida Lloyd’s stunning production takes Britten’s subtle characterisation and adds a further layer of complexity, providing empathy without denying the violent volatility of Grimes’ character: a tragic hero for our troubled times.
John Findon (Grimes) and Toby Dray (John, Grimes’ Apprentice) in Grimes’ hut. Credit James Glossop
In Lloyd’s production, the opera opens in silence with the half-naked figure of Grimes dead on the stage; in the libretto, we learn that Grimes’ boat is ‘sinking at sea’, but we don’t see his body. In the scene in the pub, where Grimes sings his aria ‘Now the Great Bear and Pleiades’, the townspeople gradually rise from the floor and seem briefly to share his vision of the stars beyond our world, before dismissing him as ‘mad. or drunk.’
Later, we see the second Apprentice walking above the stage, before his death, in a ghostly vision, like the ghost of Hamlet’s father on the battlements at Elsinore. Grimes reacts in horror at this premonition of the boy’s death. In a dumb show, we see Grimes and Ellen Orford married (‘I’ll marry Ellen’) and celebrating with the townspeople, illustrating his vision of marital bliss, ‘in dreams I’ve built myself some kindlier home.’ His vision is brutally shattered.
Like many contemporary directors, Lloyd uses the orchestral interludes (four of which Britten later arranged as the orchestral suite Four Sea Interludes) to add further layers to the story. (Britten wrote them to cover scene changes while the curtain was down.) Lloyd uses the fifth interlude at the start of Act III as a threnody for Grimes’ second Apprentice, as Grimes carries the dead boy and holds him aloft in agony. The contrast with the dance music’s frivolity as the townspeople come onstage is heartbreaking.
Friday evening’s performance was a revival by director Karolina Sofulak of Lloyd’s production. The tenor John Findon played the central character in an intensely moving and powerful portrayal. We shared his dreams and recoiled at his violence. He projected his voice superbly, and coped with the high tessitura of the part wth ease. His lower register had a lovely, rich baritonal quality. He was a brooding physical presence, in Britten’s words, a ‘visionary and highly skilled fisherman, [who] is very unpopular with the community, just because he is different.’
Philippa Boyle was a hugely sympathetic Ellen Orford, with a gorgeous, lightly florid soprano voice. The domestic calm of her scene with the Apprentice while the villagers were at church was heartwarming. Her true concern when she discovered that Grimes had bruised the boy was a demonstration of her practical morality, in contrast to the townspeople’s false piety as they sang hymns and intoned prayers in church. Like Grimes, she was an outsider. She was incredibly moving in the scene in which the townspeople confronted her, and she described the shared dream she briefly shared with Grimes of their life together, ‘We planned this time to share…’ Much later, when she found the pullover she had embroidered for the Apprentice, which signified that he was dead, she sang of her ‘dreams of a silk and satin life’ of luxury, contrasting brutally with the reality of the life that Grimes had forced on her.
The Chorus of Opera North. Credit James Glossop
In 1945, Britten wrote of ‘the perpetual struggle of men and women whose livelihoods are dependent on the sea.’ In the early part of the opera, the townspeople’s struggle to make a living and their genuine fear of the oncoming storm were drawn sympathetically. But they soon displayed the terrifying hypocrisy and brutality of humans united in a group against an outsider. When they formed a lynch mob to flush out Grimes from his hut, one of them carried a cross, giving false religious legitimacy to their mission. There was a terrifying scene when they ripped the head off a life-size effigy of Grimes and waved it triumphantly aloft. They left the stage, revealing the real Grimes as a tragic figure, a sweet violin duet adding to the poignancy. The chorus singing was superb throughout; their spine-chilling cries of ‘Grimes’ will live long in the memory.
Claire Pascoe (Mrs Sedley), Nazan Fikret (First Niece), Ava Dodd (Second Niece), holding the effigy’s head, Blaise Malaba (Hobson), and the Chorus of Opera North. Credit James Glossop
The staging was highly imaginative; there were no fixed sets, which allowed the orchestral interludes to be used for dramatic purposes as mentioned above. A huge net represented, at different times, an actual fishing net, the walls of the pub and a physical barrier between the townspeople and Ellen Orford. At the end, the nets swayed gently in silence as normal life returned to the town, a moment of catharsis after the drama and tragedy we had experienced. Simple wooden platforms were used as furniture in Swallow’s court, as a wooden barrier, and as the walls of a dance hall. Grimes’ hut sprang up before our eyes, with a vertiginous drop.
The supporting cast was very strong. Simon Bailey made a robust and sympathetic Captain Balstrode, with superb diction. Claire Pascoe was excellent as the scheming busybody Mrs Sedley. Blaise Malaba, as Hobson, had a lovely, rich voice, similar to Willard White’s. James Creswell was suitably pompous as the lawyer, Swallow. The two Nieces, Nazan Fikret and Ava Dodd, were flirty but steely when rejecting unwanted advances. Hilary Summers was a characterful, down-to-earth Auntie. There was a gorgeous moment when the Nieces, Auntie and Ellen Orford joined in a Mozartian quartet. As conductor Garry Walker wrote in his programme note, the characters are ‘suddenly furnished with great depth by the quality of the music.’ The Orchestra of Opera North was absolutely superb. They played with passion and precision, inexorably ratcheting up the tension in the most dramatic sections, bringing out all the power and relentless rhythmic energy of Britten’s remarkable score.
Performers
John Findon Peter Grimes, a fisherman Philippa Boyle Ellen Orford, schoolmistress, a widow Simon Bailey Captain Balstrode, retired merchant skipper Hilary Summers Auntie, landlady of The Boar Nazan Fikret First niece, Ava Dodd Second niece: main attractions of The Boar Stuart Jackson Bob Boles,a fisherman and Methodist James Creswell Swallow, a lawyer Claire Pascoe Mrs Sedley, a widow Daniel Norman Reverend Horace Adams, the rector Johannes Moore Ned Keene, apothecary and quack Blaise Malaba Hobson, a carrier Dean Robinson Dr Crabbe Toby Dray John, Peter Grimes’s Apprentice Chorus of Opera North Townspeople and Fishermen Children of the Borough Maneli Bahmanesh, Ethel Brand, Olivia Dunning, Isaac Falkingham Charlotte Gould, Charlotte Handforth, Finlay Lothian Holm, Joni McElhatton, Leon Sumi-Cathcar
Garry Walker conductor Phyllida Lloyd director Karolina Sofulak revival director Tim Claydon revival director/movement director Anthony Ward set and costume designer Paule Constable original lighting designer Ben Jacobs lighting designer
Sources
Garry Walker, To Hear and Sea: A Personal Reflection on Peter Grimes (Opera North Programme Notes) Gavin Plumley The Outsider (Opera North Programme Notes) Andrew Mellor Peter Grimes An Opera for the English (Opera North Programme Notes)
Peter Grimes will be performed at Newcastle Theatre Royal on Friday 20 March at 19.00
Soprano Ailish Tynan steals the show in a superb semi-staging of Mozart’s comic opera
Lucy Crowe as Fiordiligi, Ailish Tynan as Despina and Taylor Raven as Dorabella ยฉ Matthew Johnson Photographer
English National Opera is rapidly establishing a foothold in Manchester, with appearances at the Manchester Classical festival last summer, a production of Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring at Lowry, and a forthcoming production of the new opera Angel’s Bone by the Chinese composer Du Yun at Aviva Studios in May. Last weekend, ENO performed Mozart’s Cosรฌ fan tutte on Friday and Saturday in a semi-staged version at the Bridgewater Hall.
Alexander Joel conducted the orchestra, which was on stage throughout, in a stylish rendition of the overture, with well-controlled tempi, a fleetness of foot and a lovely lilting motion. The orchestra continued with precision and excellent ensemble throughout the evening.
Andrew Foster-Williams as Don Alfonso ยฉ Matthew Johnson Photographer
Andrew Foster-Williams, as Don Alfonso,ย the cynical schemer behind the opera’s partner-swapping shenanigans, was nattily dressed as a ‘spiv’ in a bright yellow suit and white-topped shoes. He sang with a rich, warm voice and excellent diction, relishing his role. Lucyย Crowe, asย Fiordiligi, wasย luxuryย casting, with a gorgeous,ย creamy soprano. Mezzo Taylor Raven was Dorabella, with a lovely edge to her voice and magnificent control. Her early duet with Crowe, where they proclaimed that without their lovers they would be in despair, wasย delightful,ย their voices perfectly matched.ย
Darwin Prakash sang Guglielmo with a substantial baritone voice, easily filling the Bridgewater Hall’s cavernous acoustic. Joshua Blue, as Ferrando, sang with great animation. Both singers clearly enjoyed the physical comedy their roles provided. They clearly relished their roles as the disguised lovers, overacting deliciouslyย as they declaredย their ‘love.’ But there was genuine emotion when Blue sang his ardentย aria, ‘I know she adores me’ and broke down. An early highlight was when all five of these singers sang together; Don Alfonso’sย commentย โWhat a performance’ seemedย appropriate here.ย
But the soprano Ailish Tynan, singing with an Irish accent as the maid Dorabella, stole the show. It was impossible to take your eye off her when she was on stage; she was a superb character actor, drawing all the comedy out of any situation with conspiratorial glances and rolled eyes. Even the way she walked was amusing. Yet she was more than just a character actor; her singing in theย ariaย on fidelity was stunning. Sheย hadย great fun when she dressed as the ‘doctor’, in a suit and a white Einstein fright wig and moustache. Her high notes were astonishingly good here.ย
Chorus of ENO ยฉ Matthew Johnson Photographer
The chorus of English National Opera appeared in the final gala concert ofย Manchester Classicalย lastย year, andย also entertained the crowd outside the Bridgewater Hall in operatic excerpts. It was good to see them in a full-length opera, although Mozartย doesn’tย give them a great deal to do. They sang robustly from the Choir Seats in front of the Hall’s magnificent organ. They enthusiastically waved flags as Ferrando and Guglielmo headed off to war, in the splendid chorusย ‘It’sย a soldier’s life for me.’ Whether they were waving goodbye with their flags or using them for semaphore as in the Monty Pythonย Wuthering Heightsย sketch was unclear.ย
Darwin Prakash as Guglielmo, Andrew Foster-Williams as Don Alfonso and Joshua Blue as Ferrando ยฉ Matthew Johnson Photographer
At the start of Act Two, Tynan had another chance to shine as she wittily explained that even a chambermaid such as her could attract admirers. She excelled herself near the end of the opera when she came on dressed as a lawyer, a ‘cowboy’ in both senses of the word, with a prodigious Stetson and an American accent to match. She did a line dance as she described her legal practice, making Saul Goodman (the lawyer from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) seem prim and proper in comparison. Yee-hah!
But this production also brought out the underlying pathos and emotion of Mozart’s comic opera. There was a moment of contemplative beauty when Lucy Crowe sang Fiordiligi’s aria, ‘I have sinned’, bathed in pure white light, standing like a lonely, fallen angel in the Choir Seats. She sang theย ariaย very sweetly, withย a pureย but full voice, genuinely moving. This moment was the highlight of the whole opera. Joshua Blue also revealed genuine emotion of a different kind when he sang his ‘I will be avenged’ย aria, revealing the true depth of Ferrando’s character.
As this was a comedy, all ended well as the reunited lovers sang ‘Peace and love will win the day.โย There was huge, well-deserved applause from the packed house at the end. There continue to be good omens for ENO’s ongoing work in Greater Manchester.ย
Chorus & Orchestra of English National Opera ยฉ Matthew Johnson Photographer
Cast
Lucy Crowe Fiordiligi Taylor Raven Dorabella Joshua Blue Ferrando Darwin Prakash Guglielmo Andrew Foster-Williams Don Alfonso Ailish Tynan Despina
Alexander Joel conductor Ruth Knight concert staging Orchestra and Chorus of English National Opera
A superbly sung and acted new production, exploring the plight of refugees
Robert Hayward as The Dutchman and Layla Claire as Senta. Photo credit: James Glossop
In 2018, Opera North became the first opera company in the UK to be awarded Theatre of Sanctuary status, to recognise the steps taken,
“to ensure refugees and those seeking sanctuary in the city feel included, valued and celebrated through increased accessibility to the arts.“
In 2019, the company staged Martinลฏ’s opera The Greek Passion, which is specifically about refugees. It’s not immediately apparent that Wagner’s opera The Flying Dutchman is also about refugees, with its tales of a speeding ghost ship, a sea captain with untold riches, women spinning cloth, redemptive love and transfiguration. But director Annabel Arden and designer Joanna Parker made a surprisingly compelling case last Saturday in this new production for Wagner’s opera to have a strong refugee theme.
Wagner himself knew what it was like to be a refugee. The opera was partly inspired by his flight aged 27 from Riga to Paris in 1839, during which he and his first wife Minna Planer suffered two terrifying storms at sea. They were stowaways on a merchant ship heading for England. Their passports were withdrawn, and Wagner’s family had abandoned him due to a ‘disagreement with your direction of life.’ His words describing his experience as an exile have contemporary resonance; he was ‘turned away from every door… dragging myself from street to street.’
The programme note points out that the central character of the Dutchman can be viewed as a refugee, a stateless character endlessly travelling the world, unable to find rest. The author, Suzanne McGrath Dale had previously drawn the parallel with contemporary life,
“Today there are many like the Dutchman who can find no port, no place to land. A dichotomy of law has developed which effectively prevents these newer Dutchmen from finding a harbour.”
Wagner’s libretto makes the Dutchman’s predicament very clear. Daland describes him as ‘ banished from his native land’. The Dutchman describes himself as ‘a foreigner’ and he sings,
“It’s impossible, I think, to name all the countries where I’ve been; the only one for which I yearn I never find, my homeland.”
At the start of each of the three acts of the opera, we heard the moving recorded testimony of refugees who had crossed the sea, like Wagner and the Dutchman before them. Before the overture, we heard the voice of the sole survivor of 42 people who died at sea. We saw the poignant image, projected on the stage curtain, of a refugee floating in limbo between two images of the sea mirrored at the top and bottom of the screen. The shadowy figures of refugees shuffled across the stage, one carrying a baby. The image of the refugee floating in space reappeared on a screen during Act III, a bitter commentary on the drunken partying of Daland and his crew.
The Dutchman, magnificently sung and acted by Robert Hayward, was dressed in black like the refugees, with unkempt hair and careworn features. His stunning stage presence drew us into the depths of the Dutchman’s soul with a superb range of vocal colours. As Wagner wrote, an ideal performance must express his ‘utter weariness and despair’ and he must ultimately become ‘a human being through and through’ rather than a mythic, ghostly figure. Of course, a crucial difference between the Dutchman and many refugees is his immense wealth. But as he says, ‘Never shall I reach my home: what avails the wealth I’ve won?’
Daland, excellently sung and acted by veteran Clive Bayley, was a powerful contrast with the Dutchman. He and his crew were dressed in smart office wear in the first act, Daland immaculately coifed and dripping with the excesses of capitalism. At one point the chorus excitedly waved letters they had received, which presumably contained details of their annual bonuses. Their ship was converted into the ‘Home Office’, and Daland was described in the programme as the ‘Home Secretary’. The Dutchman and his crew were ‘displaced people seeking refuge.’
Robert Hayward as The Dutchman with the Chorus of Opera North. Photo credit: James Glossop
Bayley played the role with some humour, partly based on a satire of capitalism. His disdain for the scruffy Dutchman changed to delight when he learned he was being offered riches in return for sanctuary. He raised a laugh when he chased Mary, his secretary (characterfully played by Molly Barker) with a lascivious glint in his eye. Wagner wrote, ‘I entreat the performer of Daland not to drag his role into the realm of comedy’, describing him as a ‘rough and hardy character.’ Bayley played him as brutal, cynical and avaricious, a contemporary take on roughness and hardiness disguised by a smart suit. And there is Wagnerian precedent in this portrayal. According to Katherine Syer, Wagner’s grandson Wieland, directing the opera in 1959, took a more extreme comic approach,
“Wieland [Wagner] approached Daland… as a sharply contrasting comic caricature, rejecting Wagner’s 1852 caution against just such a portrayal.”
Before the opera began, it was announced that Daland’s daughter Senta would be ‘walked through’ by soprano Layla Claire and sung by Mari Wyn Williams due to Claire’s illness. Disappointment turned to astonishment when the two women created a stunning composite of the role between them. Claire acted the part with great versatility and dramatic verve, lip-syncing perfectly with Wyn Williams who stood at the side of the stage with a score singing the part with a golden tone, intensely powerful and emotive. This was Wyn Williams’ debut with Opera North; hopefully she will return to the stage again soon.
Layla Claire as Senta with the ladies of the Chorus of Opera North. Photo credit: James Glossop
Claire played Senta as an otherworldly young woman, dressed like a teenager at a pop festival – she described herself as a ‘child’ – in contrast with the more conventionally dressed women of the chorus. She also dressed in a hat and coat at times, matching the Dutchman’s costume and also showing that she would eventually become united with him. The fact that the characters were two halves of the same person was stressed by a projection in Act III showing two halves of the characters’ faces creating a single face.
The central part of the production was the extraordinary duet between Senta and the Dutchman. John Deathridge describes the scene as ‘for singers and listeners alike… one of the most exhausting numbers in the opera… it sounds heavy handed.’ Last Saturday, the scene was spellbindingly sung and intensely dramatic. As has often been pointed out, it’s not a conventional love scene, more a meeting of minds powered by Senta’s deep desire to redeem the Dutchman, to be released from his curse, and his desire for release. In a fascinating staging, the two sat across from each other at either end of a long table. Senta mounted the table and crawled towards the Dutchman with a full glass of red wine (see image above), pouring the wine into his glass as the fluids mingled and overflowed. In other circumstances, this could have been erotic and suggestive, but here it showed Senta’s sacred purpose and purity of heart. The wine became a sacrament, or a metaphor for Senta’s supreme sacrifice.
Robert Hayward as The Dutchman, Clive Bayley as Daland and Edgaras Montvidas as Erik/ Steersman. Photo credit: James Glossop
Another pivotal scene was Senta’s response to Erik’s gripping monologue about his dream, in which he described her meeting with the Dutchman. The story transfixed Senta; Wagner describes her in his stage directions as ‘sinking into a magnetic sleep’. This brought out the psychological drama at the heart of the opera. Senta had a vision of the Dutchman as Erik narrated the story, and clasped him as if he were the Dutchman, and writhed in spiritual ecstasy. Erik, who also played the Steersman, sang his parts beautifully with a ringing, Italianate tone and passionately lyrical tone in his Act III aria; in another opera, he would have been the ideal romantic hero.
Edgaras Montvidas as Erik/ Steersman, Layla Claire as Senta and Robert Hayward as The Dutchman with members of the Chorus of Opera North. Photo credit: James Glossop.
The main characters were superbly supported by the Chorus, who sang with great gusto and phenomenal power when required, but also with great poignancy. When the women of the Chorus joined Santa at the end of her Ballad in Act II, they were sweet-voiced and touching in their delivery, a brief moment of solidarity before they became anxious about Senta’s obsession with the Dutchman. In the third act, there was an incredible contrast between the robust singing of Daland’s crew and the silence that came in reply from the Dutchman’s ghostly crew. The orchestra, conducted by Garry Walker, were excellent, incisive, sparkling and, at times, electric.
Performers
Clive Bayley Daland, Sentaโs father Edgaras Montvidas Erik / Steersman Robert Hayward The Dutchman Molly Barker Mary, Dalandโs secretary LaylaClaire (sung by Mari Wyn Williams on 1 February) Senta Chorus of Opera North Dalandโs staff, women workers, the dispossessed Garry Walker Conductor Annabel Arden Director Joanna Parker Set & Costume Designer, Video Designer Kevin Treacy Lighting Designer Movement Director Angelo Smimmo Christine Jane Chibnall Artistic Advisor
Sources
Opera North Programme Notes Suzanne M. Dale, The Flying Dutchman Dichotomy: The International Right to Leave v. The Sovereign Right to Exclude (Penn State International Law Review 359 (1991)) Katherine Sayer, Of Storms and Dreams. Reflections on the Stage History of Der fliegende Hollรคnder (Overture Opera Guide 1982) Richard Wagner, The Flying Dutchman Libretto, translated by Lionel Salter (ibid.) Richard Wagner, Remarks on Performing the OperaDer fliegende Hollรคnder (1852) translated by Melanie Karpinski (ibid.) John Deathridge, An Introduction to Der fliegende Hollรคnder (ibid.)
Further Performances
February: Leeds Grand Theatre (8, 11, 14, 21) March: Newcastle Theatre Royal (8) Lowry, Salford Quays (15) Theatre Royal, Nottingham (22) Hull New Theatre (28)
An imaginative production brings out the humanity in Mozart’s last opera
Pasquale Orchard as Papagena and Emyr Wyn Jones as Papageno. Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
Last Friday the revival of Opera North’s 2019 production of Mozart’s Magic Flute came to a packed Lowry Theatre in Salford. The opera opened with a little girl, dressed in bright yellow pyjamas and dressing gown, getting ready for bed, while a party took place in the next room. In a clever conceit, the girl put on a vinyl record and as the crackles began the orchestra of Opera North started playing the overture. The girl remained on stage for large parts of the opera. Director James Brining had the imaginative idea of framing the opera with the girl’s presence at the beginning and end, as a possible ‘rationalisation’ of The Magic Flute‘,
“is [the opera] merely a figment of the girlโs imagination? Is the story of a young princess [Pamina] who is fought over by Sarastro and the Queen of the Night a symbol or a fantasy for a child caught in the middle of a domestic dispute in a real, alternate universe.”
Director James Brining in rehearsal for the Leeds Playhouse/ Opera North co-production of My Fair Lady, 2024. Photo credit: Pamela Raith
At the end of the opera, the girl took centre stage while Sarastro stood at the side, reinforcing the idea that the opera was a product of her imagination. Brining was inspired by Swedish film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 film of the opera, which shows his daughter Linn’s reaction to the opera she is watching at various points during the film.
Ingmar Bergman’s daughter Linn from The Magic Flute (1975) directed by Ingmar Bergman. Produced by Sveriges Radio, TV2, AB Svensk Filmindustri, Svenska Filminstituet.
On Friday, the opera itself began with Prince Tamino (Russian-Ukrainian tenorEgor Zhuravskii) being attacked by a dragon, wittily inspired by Dr Who monsters such as the Macra, whose crab-like arms poked through the scenery at either side of the stage, provoking laughter from the audience. The Three Ladies, handmaids of The Queen of the Night, appeared with more icons from popular culture – lightsabers! – to attack the dragon and then fought over the handsome Prince, almost tearing him limb from limb. The Ladies were a compelling mix of pantomime characters, Valkyries and women from Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale with white face-obscuring bonnets and ominous-looking blood on their outfits. Charlie Drummond, Katie Sharpe and Hazel Croftsang with gorgeous ensemble and the orchestral pacing beneath them under conductor Oliver Rundell was perfect. Rundell’s conducting was excellent throughout, dynamic, delicate, sensitive, responsive and clear.
Katie Sharpe as Second Lady, Egor Zhuravskii as Tamino, Charlie Drummond as First Lady, and Hazel Croft as Third Lady. Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
The Magic Flute is an opera of opposites such as day and night and man and woman. Director James Brining said he was profoundly influenced by the dichotomy described in William Blake’s poem ‘The Clod and the Pebble’ from Songs of Innocence and of Experience, published only three years after the opera was written.
‘The Clod and the Pebble’fromSongs of Innocence and of Experience(1794)
Love seeketh not Itself to please, Nor for itself hath any care; But for another gives its ease, And builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair.
So sang a little Clod of Clay, Trodden with the cattles feet: But a Pebble of the brook, Warbled out these metres meet.
Love seeketh only Self to please, To bind another to Its delight: Joys in anothers loss of ease, And builds a Hell in Heaven’s despite.
William Blake
The sets were designed to illustrate the stark contrast between the world of nature, represented by The Queen of the Night, and the world of reason represented by Sarastro and his followers. The natural world was in Brining’s words,
“… in a state of ruin, with organic things, like trees being hung in mid-air, with blood… with organic things, like trees, being hung mid-air, with blood dripping off the fruits, birds and animals.”
In contrast, in Sarastroโs world, everything was,
“…. vivid, very clean and clinical. Men and women are segregated, people are divided and ordered.”
Newton by William Blake. Source: Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons/Tate Britain
Brining was also influenced by Blake’s print Newton, which shows the scientist Isaac Newton surrounded by nature and ignoring it in favour of rationality. But Brining didn’t want the production to be a simple dichotomy between reason and imagination. The act of saving Pamina showed ‘compassion and sensitivity’ that went beyond binaries.
The contrast was also seen in the costumes. According to designer Colin Richmond, the Queen of the Nightโs costume was like โan odd mix of queen, scarecrow, plucked bird and 1930s Hollywood glamour gone to seed.’ Sarastro was nobly arrayed in a costume that was a cross between a prince and a priest, with henchmen wearing sunglasses that gave them a slightly seedy air. His followers were dressed in red, like women from The Handmaid’s Tale. Monostatos was dishevelled and superbly played like a creepy uncle by Colin Judson, attracting a hearty ‘boo’ from the audience at the end as a pantomime villain.
The imaginative set and staging were matched by the quality of the singing. Egor Zhuravskii as Tamino had a sweet, ardent light tenor, his arias, as Jessica Fitton wrote, looking forward to the Italian bel canto era. Anna Dennis as the Queen of the Night was superb. In her moving first aria, she brought out the pathos and humanity of losing her daughter Pamina to Sarastro’s clutches. She negotiated the stratospheric top Fs of her later aria ‘Hell’s vengeance…’ [‘Der Hรถlle Rache…’] with smooth control and apparent ease. Sometimes singing four octaves (!) below her, Msimelelo Mbali as Sarastro had a lovely, dignified deep bass voice and a speaking voice to match. Claire Lees as Pamina sang beautifully, in a lyrical, legato style. She was equalled in vocal quality and interpretation by Pasquale Orchard asPapagena, who also brought humour to her part with a jolly, witty dance with Papageno, bringing an element of subversion as she raised her skirts in apparent contravention of the strict dress code of Sarastro’s followers. The Three Boys,Isla Jones, Isabelle Baglio, Hector Wainman were all excellent.
Anna Dennis as the Queen of the Night with Egor Zhuravskii as Tamino. Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
But the star of the show was Emyr Wyn Jones as a very human Papageno. The lovely, warm rich tones of his voice matched the warmth of his personality. Wyn Jones was born in Aberdare, South Wales and his gentle Welsh accent was very attractive in the spoken word sections. Many critics have found these sections problematic, dating right back to the premiere when a German critic wrote that the opera failed, ‘to have the hoped for success, the content and the dialogue of the work were just too terrible.’ But if they are removed – as they have been in some productions – there’s a danger that the opera can lose some of its ability to communicate. And Wyn Jones was a great communicator; some of the other singers were at times a little stilted in the spoken word parts. He brought great humour when he counted to three and asked the women in the audience if any of them would have him – judging by their reaction, there were many potential takers!
Claire Lees as Pamina (far left), Emyr Wyn Jones as Papageno, Paul Gibson as Second Priest, Msimelelo Mbali as Sarastro and Tom Smith as First Priest with members of The Magic Flute cast and Chorus of Opera North. Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
This was a very attractive, lively performance of Mozart’s great opera. The emphasis was on communication – the opera was sung in English with subtitles, and the sets and costumes clearly delineated the opera’s themes. Some superb singing and orchestral playing helped engage the audience in the strange world of this opera; several teenage school children sitting in the audience were clearly entranced.
Performers
Egor Zhuravskii Tamino Charlie Drummond First Lady Katie Sharpe Second Lady Hazel Croft Third Lady Emyr Wyn Jones Papageno Anna Dennis The Queen of the Night Colin Judson Monostatos, servant of Sarastro Claire Lees Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night Three Boys : Isla Jones Isabelle Baglio Hector Wainman Andri Bjรถrn Robertsson The Speaker Msimelelo Mbali Sarastro Pasquale Orchard Papagena Tom Smith First Priest Paul Gibson Second Priest Satriya Krisna First Armed Man Richard Mosley-Evans Second Armed Man Chorus of Opera North Children: Reuben Amedzro, Leroy Ayidana-Ayalingo, Otis Borlant-Mills, Felicity Lovejoy, Emilia McLean, Harry Ndawula, Maria Vasilache, Niamh Walker Oliver Rundell Conductor Colin Richmond Set and Costume Designer Chris Davey Lighting Designer Douglas OโConnell Video Designer Tim Claydon Choreographer
Sources Duncan, Dean, Ingmar Bergman’s Film Version of The Magic Flute in The Cambridge Companion to The Magic Flute (Cambridge University Press 2023) Bergman, Ingmar, The Magic Flute (1975) Noor, Shamima, Magical Thinking (Opera North Programme Book) Fitton, Jessica, The Magic Flute in a Nutshell (Ibid.)
The Magic Flute returns to Lowry, Salford Quays on 13/14 March 2025. Other dates in 2025: Leeds Grand Theatre 12, 13, 15, 22 February; Newcastle Theatre Royal 6, 7 March; Theatre Royal Nottingham 20, 21 March; Hull New Theatre 27, 29 March.
A moving and passionate performance of Britten’s pacifist masterpiece
The Bach Choir perform Britten’s ‘War Requiem’ with The Philharmonia Orchestra at Westminster Cathedral, conducted by David Hill. Image ยฉ Andy Paradise
“My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity… All a poet can do today is warn.”
Preface to Wilfred Owen’ s Poems (1920), quoted by Britten on the title page of the score
Benjamin Brittenโs classic recording of his War Requiem of 1962 was released by Decca in 1963 and has just been re-released in high definition/Dolby Atomos versions. The adult chorus on that version were the Bach Choir, who sang in last Wednesday eveningโs superb concert at Westminster Cathedral in London.
In December 1963, Britten wrote in a letter to The Times that he had written the piece, โfor a big reverberant acoustic, and that is where it sounds best.โ Westminster Cathedral was an appropriate setting; there was sufficient room for the performers to be separated according to Brittenโs wishes. The small chamber orchestra that accompanied the two male soloists in settings of Wilfred Owen’s war poems were at the front, very near conductor David Hill. The soprano soloist, Elizabeth Watts was placed, symbolically, in the pulpit so that her liturgical incantations soared above the audience. The main orchestra and adult choir were in the middle, presenting excerpts from the Latin Mass in dramatic, often operatic style. Behind them, and completely hidden in the Apse (East End) of the Cathedral were the boysโ choirs and chamber organ, delivering plainsong-like excerpts from the Requiem Mass.
When the War Requiem was premiered, it was only 17 years from the end of World War II. And World War I, which took place over a century ago now, had ended just 44 years earlier. Britten wrote the solo parts for the German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the English tenor Peter Pears and the Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, to represent the reconciliation of nations that fought in WW II. According to the bitter sarcasm of Owen’s The Next War (used in the ‘Dies Irae’), โbetter men would come/ And greater warsโ would come after WWI, which was described at the time as the war to end all wars. In context, the ‘greater wars’ included WWII, but since that war ended there have been at least 25 conflicts according to the Imperial War Museum website, so the casting of soloists from three of the WWII countries has become less relevant with time. Last week, all the soloists were English โ Elizabeth Watts (soprano), Andrew Staples (tenor) and Mark Stone (baritone). Ironically, Vishnevskaya wasnโt allowed by the Soviet authorities to perform at the premiere in 1962, although they did allow her to take part in his recording in January 1963. She was replaced by the British soprano Heather Harper.
Requiem Aeternam
The work began with the first statement of the Latin Requiem Mass, with bells that were so much like church bells that they could have been sounding the half hour in the cathedral itself. The precision and intensity of the adult choir was evident as they sang the opening ‘Requiem Aeternam’, marked pp (very soft) in the score. The Bach Choir’s attention to dynamics, under conductor David Hill, was stunning, rising to forte (loud) on the words ‘ex lux perpetua luceat eis’ (let everlasting light shine upon them] and down to pppp (incredibly soft) at the end of the movement.
This was the first opportunity to hear the boys’ choir, made up of the London Youth Junior Boys & Cambiata Boys Choirs, hidden from the audience until they appeared at the end of the concert for well-deserved applause, when it became apparent just how young some of them were. Their contribution throughout was robust and enthusiastic; they clearly relished Britten’s writing for children’s voices (see also the writing for the fairies in the recent Opera North production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
The movement also featured the first Owen poem, Anthem for Doomed Youth, sung by tenor Andrew Staples, who engaged the audience with his precise diction, sometimes sounding like the great Peter Pears, as in the moving final words, ‘And each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds.’ He was accompanied by a chamber orchestra of 12 players to the right of David Hill, who conducted the main orchestra and choir as well; in the premiere, Britten confined himself to conducting the chamber orchestra and the male soloists, leaving the rest to Meredith Davies.
Hill brought out the detail and intensity of the word-painting in the writing for chamber orchestra, with limpid textures, in what Katherine Richman in her programme note described as ‘a much more stark, often virtuoso, style’ than the deliberately more convention style of much of the writing for choir and main orchestra.
The movement ended with the choir singing the ‘Kyrie Eleison’ [lord have mercy upon us], using the ambiguous and unsettling tritone interval on the notes C and F#, with gorgeous waves of sound, perfectly balanced. The resolution from the anguished F# to the final, consonant chord of F major was spellbinding.
Dies Irae
The ‘Dies Irae’ was the longest movement at nearly half an hour. It began with an operatic chorus, Britten drawing on all his experience as a composer of ten operas by the time he wrote the War Requiem. There were strong parallels with Verdi’s Requiem, first performed in 1874, described by the German conductor Hans von Bรผlow as, ‘Verdi’s latest opera, in ecclesiastical dress.’ Mervyn Cooke wrote that Britten’s interest in the Requiem text,
“…sprang more from an awareness of its dramatic possibilities than from a keen interest in liturgical observance… [Britten’s] musical response to the Latin words bears all the hallmarks of the sophisticated musico-dramatic techniques he had developed as a composer of stage works.”
The opening featured superb articulation from the Bach Choir, rhythmic precision and intense concentration, evident on the singers’ faces. Joined by a rumbling bass drum, and splendid brass fanfares, the spatial effect in the Cathedral’s acoustic was formidable. Although there was bitter irony in the way Britten juxtaposed the Latin texts of organised religion with the English language texts, the effect of the music for the chorus was excitingly visceral, making the contrast even more bleak. Soprano Elizabeth Watts joined this movement, her voice soaring from the pulpit above the nave of the Cathedral. Her delivery was less histrionic than that of Vishnevskaya in Britten’s recording, but her voice was still declamatory and oracular, bringing out the full irony of the Latin text. Her majestic performance throughout the work was extraordinary.
Andrew Staples and Mark Stone. Image ยฉ Andy Paradise
In contrast, baritone Mark Stone, heard here first in ‘Bugles sang‘, had a rich, warm, expressive voice, gentle, sparing in vibrato, with a bass timbre, sounding very human. There was perfect ensemble in his duet with tenor Andrew Staples on ‘Out there, we’ve walked quite friendly up to death’, stressing the camaraderie between soldiers from both sides in WWI. As the English poet and composer Ivor Gurney wrote,
“In the mind of all the English soldiers I have met there is absolutely no hate for the Germans, but a kind of brotherly though slightly contemptuous kindness – as to men who are going through a bad time as well as themselves.”
Letter from Ivor Gurney to Marion Scott 17 February 1917
The men of the choir were superbly drilled, singing as one voice in ‘Confutatis maledictis’ [when the damned are cast away], leading to the terrifying description of a ‘Great gun towering toward Heaven’, sung with superbly robust tone and diction by Mark Stone. A horrifyingly dramatic climactic return of the ‘Dies Irae’ theme led to a beautifully fragile rendition of Owen’s poem, Futility by Andrew Staples, and the choir’s intensely moving plea for eternal rest for the dead.
Offertorium
The ‘Offertorium’ is another deeply ironic juxtaposition of Latin text from the Requiem Mass with an Owen poem, The Parable of the Old Man and the Young. The Latin text promises that the Archangel Michael will bring the souls of the dead, ‘in lucem sanctam’ [into holy light], as God promised to ‘Abraham and his seed’. Owen’s poem is a shocking reversal of the Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. Rather than Abraham sacrificing a Ram as in the Biblical account, he instead sacrifices his son Isaac, and so slaughters half of the future generations, ‘half the seed of Europe, one by one.’
The boys’ choir began with a passionate prayer for delivery of the souls of the faithful ‘de poenis inferni’ [from the pains of hell]. Another Verdian sequence, operatically sung by the main choir led to a huge climax describing God’s promise to Abraham. The two male soloists took up Owen’s version of the story in a sweet-toned duet, with divine intervention brought by an angel calling Abraham from heaven to spare his son and sacrifice the ram instead. In Britten’s devastating coup de thรฉรขtre, the male soloists described the death of ‘half the seed of Europe’, whilst from afar the boys’ voices continued to offer ‘hostias et preces’ [sacrifices and prayers] to God in return for His promise to Abraham.
Britten and Owen
Britten wrote the War Requiem to celebrate the re-consecration of Canterbury Cathedral in May 1962. The Cathedral had been bombed during WWII and, poignantly, the new Cathedral was built next to the ruins of the old.
Brittenโs piece also combined old and new elements, the Latin text of the Roman Catholic Missa Pro Defunctis (Mass for the Dead) and poems from the WWI poet Wilfred Owen.
Britten was 25 and his partner Peter Pears was 29 when WWII broke out. All males between the ages of 18 and 41 were conscripted to fight in the war. Britten and Pears spent the early part of the war in North America, for several reasons including their conscientious objection to the war, but returned to England in 1942 to face tribunals exempting them from service. Pears was granted immediate exemption and Britten was successful on appeal.
Itโs fascinating to compare Owenโs view of war. Itโs easy to assume from his poetry that he must also have been a conscientious objector, but in fact he volunteered to fight and indeed was killed in the war. As Mervyn Cooke wrote in his book Britten War Requiem,
โSuch is the emotive power of Owenโs anti-war poetry that it has become necessary to remind ourselves that he was not conscripted.โ
Cooke illustrates in detail the progress of Owenโs battle with his conscience. In late 1914 he wrote The Ballad of Peace and War in which he said that โpeace was passing sweetโ, but โsweeter still and far more meet/To die in war for brothersโ, a huge contrast to the later – and much more famous – poem Dulce et Decorum Est (written in 1917/18) which overturned the โold lieโ that itโs sweet and fitting to fight for oneโs country. In late 1914 he wrote to his mother saying, โmy life [as a poet] is worth more than my death to Englishmenโ, ending with the anguished request, โWrite immediately what I am to do.โ Six months later he wrote again saying, โI nowdo most intensely want to fight.โ
Owen joined the Artistsโ Rifles in October 1915 and the Manchester Regiment in June 1916, and in January 1917 he became a Second lieutenant in that regiment. He suffered concussion and โshell shockโ, spending several months rehabilitating in Craiglockhart War Hospital, where he met another WWI poet, Siegfried Sassoon. He died in battle on 4 November 1918, only a week before the war ended.
Sanctus
There was more theatre, again superbly executed, in the ‘Sanctus’. Soprano Elizabeth Watts shone in the opening declamations, ‘Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus’ [Holy, holy, holy] and there was an astonishing moment when the choir built up to a remarkable climax, ‘freely chanting’ (as the score says) the words ‘Pleni sunt ceoli et terra gloria tua’ [Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.] This passage can be difficult to bring off, but the Bach handled it beautifully. Later in this section, Watts exhibited a warm, rich lower range, before soaring again to operatic high notes.
Mark Stone returned with a climax of a different kind, The End, Owen’s rumination on the horrors of WWI, which will never be assuaged. The formidable music for choir and orchestra was followed by the inward-looking intensity of the poetry, which Stone sang with a warm majesty, and the angular, modernist writing for chamber orchestra, as powerful in a different way as the drama of the ‘Sanctus’ section.
Agnus Dei
As Mervyn Cook points out, the short โAgnus Deiโ is the only movement in which, โthe Owen poetry and liturgical texts are in complete accordโ, the poetry describing, โthe presence of Christ on the modern battlefield, sustaining bodily wounds to atone for the sins of mankind.โ
The Rood Cross in Westminster Cathedral. Photograph: author’s own
The movement was made even more poignant by the presence of the Rood Cross in the Cathedral, a thirty foot high wooden image of Jesus, hanging above the choir. The text of the โAgnus Deiโ which described a Christ-like figure hanging above,
“One ever hangs where shelled roads part. In this war He too lost a limb, But His disciples hide apart; And now the Soldiers bear with him.“
[Extract from ‘At a Calvary Near the Ancre’ by Wilfred Owen]
The ‘Agnus Dei’ expressed the central pacifist message of the work as a whole,
“But they who live the greater love Lay down their life; they do not hate.”
[Ibid.]
The movement ended with the incredibly moving words, poignantly sung by Andrew Staples in a gorgeous head voice, โdona nobis pacemโ, [grant us peace], the only time either of the male soloists sang in Latin. At Peter Pearโs suggestion, Britten replaced the original words of the Requiem Mass, โdona eis requiemโ [grant them rest], a significant change bearing in mind his pacifist views.
Libera Me
The closing ‘Libera Me’ reached another terrifying climax, beginning with ominous rumbling of thunderous drums, the choir singing the words, ‘Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna’ [Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death] with a doleful, mournful tone, beautifully controlled by conductor David Hill. The music reached a stunning climax, with superb orchestral playing. The sense of dread was heightened by Elizabeth Watts joining on the words, ‘Tremens factus sum ego’ [I am seized with fear], as if singing from the depths of hell. The ‘Dies Irae’ theme returned, and the choir’s plaintive plea for deliverance gradually died away.
A Strange Meeting underground
The final Owen poem set by Britten is Strange Meeting, describing the surreal underground meeting of an English soldier with a dead German soldier. Britten removed some important lines from Owen’s poem,
“And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall, By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell. With a thousand fears that vision’s face was grained; Yet no blood reached there from the upper groundโฆ“
By removing those lines, Britten removes the scene from Hell and specifically back into the trenches of WWI, taking us away from the intensely religious text of the Latin ‘Dies Irae’ and into the intensely personal. The English soldier is addressed by the dead German soldier in some of the most poignant and deeply ironic words ever written about war,
‘I am the enemy you killed, my friend.’
As Mervyn Cooke points out, Britten set the words ‘ strange friend’, sung by the English soldier, to the tritone interval, ‘which here suggests the paradox of companionship between hunter and hunted.’ When the German soldier replies, he sings with ‘perfect fourths [Cooke’s emphasis] which shape his melodic lines signifying his resignation to fate.’
The German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who fought in WWII and sang the part of the German soldier at the premiere, was moved to tears during the rehearsals. He wrote in his autobiography,
“…the first performance created an atmosphere of such intensity that by the end I was completely undone; I did not know where to hide my face. Dead friends and past suffering arose in my mind.”
The chamber orchestra played single held chords beneath the first part of the poem, creating a captivating atmosphere. Andrew Staples’ intensely rapt performance drew us in to the trench with him, but also into a world beyond time, beyond the specifics of that war and into the pity and futility of all wars, giving a warning to the future as the words in Owen’s Preface suggest.
Mark Stone’s warm-voiced, reassuring reply was profoundly moving and human. The key words, ‘I am the enemy you killed my friend’ (see above) were left unaccompanied, giving them greater resonance, as were the next few lines of poetry, punctuated by the precision-tooled anguish of the chords from the chamber orchestra.
David Hill. Image ยฉ Andy Paradise
The poem ended with a deep sense of resignation from the two male soloists, a very human yearning for sleep, ‘let us sleep now’ that contrasted with the more public, ceremonial expression of the Latin ‘in paradisum’, with the promise of eternal rest in Paradise, Elizabeth Watts soaring brilliantly above the massed forces. But again, as if from beyond the veil the ambiguous tritone-heavy music of the boys’ choir, the ‘Requiem aeternam’ with the bells of the opening section, reappeared.
In a very moving gesture, the Bach choir raised their scores to cover their faces at the end. Conductor David Hill kept silence for a short time to allow brief reflection on the moving and passionate performance of Britten’s pacifist masterpiece we had just heard, then smiled unassumingly as he turned to face the audience’s applause.
Performers
David Hill conductor Elizabeth Watts soprano Andrew Staples tenor Mark Stone baritone The Bach Choir London Youth Junior Boys & Cambiata Boys Choir Philharmonia Orchestra
Sources
Reed, Philip, Obituary: Meredith Davies: Conductor with a special passion for English music (The Guardian 30 March 2005) Cooke, Mervyn, Britten War Requiem (Cambridge Music Handbooks 1996) Programme note by Katherine Richman Gurney, Ivor, War Letters (MidNAG Publications 1983) Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich, Echoes of a Lifetime (Macmillan, 1989)
A joyful production, set in the swinging sixties, with dark undertones
Henry Waddington as Nick Bottom and Daisy Brown at Tytania with the children of A Midsummer Nightโs Dream cast as Fairies. Photo credit: Richard H Smith
Last Saturday was the opening night of Opera North’s revival production of Benjamin Britten’s opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a reduced version of Shakespeare’s play which he wrote in 1595 or 1596. As Britten wrote in The Observer in June 1960, he didn’t feel, ‘in the least guilty at having cut the play in half. The original Shakespeare will survive.’
Britten and his partner Peter Pears cut the opening of Shakespeare’s play, set in the palace of the Duke of Athens, and began their version later when the characters have entered a wood. This meant it was much easier for the opera to be set in another time period.
“I haven’t tried to give the opera an Elizabethan flavour. It is no more Elizabethan than Shakespeare’s play was Athenian.”
Benjamin Britten, The Observer, 5 June 1960
Peter Kirk as Lysander, Siรขn Griffiths as Hermia, Camilla Harris as Helena and James Newby as Demetrius. Photo credit: Richard H Smith
Martin Duncan’s production, revived for 2024 by Matthew Eberhardt, was set in the 1960s, the decade when Britten’s opera was premiered. Duncan’s production celebrates the 1960s as an age of free love, flower power and psychedelic drugs. The four Lovers wore 60s flower power clothes, with flowery designs and vividly coloured, Mary Quant-style tights for the women. The costumes worn by Oberon and Tytania were made of metallic silver, recalling the metal dresses designed by Paco Rabanne and others in the 60s.
James Laing as Oberon and Daisy Brown at Tytania. Photo credit: Richard H SmithMetal dress by Paco Rabanne (1967). Photo credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Pinterest)
The set was made of Perspex panels that could be raised and lowered to form parts of the forest, and in the final act the walls of a chamber inside the Duke’s palace. Although Perspex, a trade name of Polymethyl methacrylate, was developed in the early 1930s it is particularly associated with the 1960s when it was widely used in fashion, architecture, art, and design. There were also huge plastic bubbles which hover over the set. Jessica Fitton, in her programme note, says the opera, ‘deals with mind-bending substances’ and it was easy to imagine the bubbles as the product of a lysergic trip or its aftermath. Fitton also suggests that Britten’s music has a psychedelic hue:
The score, written in 1960, is magical and strange from the off – it opens with psychedelic glissandi… and the trip goes on. Jessica Fitton
The fairies were dressed all in white, with black wings. They all wore white wigs, like the children in the film Village of the Damned, a British horror film released in 1960, the year the opera was premiered.
A still from Village of the Damned (1960) directed by Wolf Rilla. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and distributed by Loews Incorporated.
The film is based on the novel The Midwich Cuckoos (1957) by John Wyndham, in which the children develop the ability to read minds and manipulate adults. The fairies are always played by children in the opera, but they aren’t always presented as innocents. Britten wrote in The Observer, ‘I have always been struck by a kind of sharpness in Shakespeare’s fairies.’ At the start and end of this production they put their hands up against the translucent Perspex curtain, like zombies. They were perfectly drilled, always following each other around the stage together in groups, just like the children in the film. Britten’s writing for children is always excellent (on a personal note, I remember singing Britten’s Jubilate Deo – written in 1961 – when I was in my father’s church choir at age 6, and being spellbound by it). The children on Saturday sang superbly.
Daniel Abelson as Puck. Photo credit: Richard H Smith
There was an edge to Puck, played with enthusiastic physicality by Daniel Abelson. Britten envisaged him as a tumbling acrobat, but in this production there was a darker edge to the character. He often crawled around like a feral beast and his legs were covered in large black hairs like an animal. There was something of the noble savage about him, a wild innocence that would have appealed to Britten.
There was an added undertone in the depiction of the Lovers. Philip Brett wrote that Britten sets the opera in,
“a completely private world, a world of possibilities rather than limitations. The folk festival or May games aspect of Shakespeare’s play, then, has been matched by the contemporary notion of misrule, the world of the libido.”
There was a sexual undercurrent when all four of the Lovers stripped down to their underwear, and a similar frisson when Bottom, transformed to a donkey, was wooed by Tytania. Bottom attempted to resist her charms and at one point tried to cover up her bare legs, to laughter from the audience. Her untamed hair and loose undergarments whilst under the influence of the love potion contrasted with her image as the stately Fairy Queen in other parts of the opera. And Puck, dressed only in a splendid pair of red silk pants was not averse to shaking or slapping his own bottom, again to the amusement of the audience.
Nicholas Butterfield as Robin Starveling, Frazer Scott as Snug, Nicholas Watts as Francis Flute, Henry Waddington as Nick Bottom, Colin Judson as Tom Snout and Dean Robinson as Peter Quince. Photo credit: Richard H Smith
There was more humour from Shakespeare’s rude mechanicals, or the rustics as Britten called them, the manual workers who staged the play within the play in Act III. Shakespeare provided the comic scenario, Britten brought a witty pastiche of the worst excesses of Grand Opera, and the excellent cast interpreted both with uproarious comedy. Particular comic highlights came from: Henry Waddington as Bottom/Pyramus, outstanding throughout the opera, with a lovely rich voice and a compelling stage presence; and Nicholas Watts as Flute, whose ballet dancing in the female role of Thisby was hilarious.
It was fascinating to compare this production with the semi-staged version of the opera at the Proms by Garsington Opera and the Philharmonia Orchestra a month before. The most striking difference was the role of Oberon, played in Leeds by James Laing. He played the character in the more imperious style of James Bowman in Peter Hall’s Glyndebourne production, rather than the more troubled, argumentative character played by Iestyn Davies in the Garsington version. Laing’s robust counter tenor was somewhere between the richness of Bowman’s voice and the elegance of Davies’ voice.
The Four Lovers: James Newby as Demetrius, Peter Kirk as Lysander, Siรขn Griffiths as Hermia and Camilla Harris as Helena. Photo credit: Richard H Smith
The four Lovers made an excellent ensemble, Camilla Harris and James Newby reprising their roles from the Garsington performance. Peter Kirk, as Lysander, had an expressive high tenor voice and was perfectly cast as an ardent young lover. James Newby, with a richer and deeper voice, made a convincing Demetrius, cruel in his treatment of Helena early in the opera. Siรขn Griffiths as Hermia excelled in the scene in Act II with a sweet-voiced Camilla Harris as Helena (above) when they insulted each other about the difference in their heights,
Hermia: “How low am I, you painted maypole?”
Helena: “…Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
Having put their clothes back on, the four made a sophisticated and elegant quartet in Act III.
In his programme note, Jonathan Keates quotes Michael Kennedy’s description of Britten’s score as, ‘lit by an inner enchantment which seeps through the score like a potion.’ This relates to the love potion of the plot, described by Gavin Plumley in his programme note as ‘love juice’, or a ‘recreational and unpredictable sedative’, bringing us back to the 1960s theme. The playing of the Orchestra of Opera North under Garry Walker was intoxicating and vividly characterised, drawing out the subtle way in which Britten orchestrates the various groups of characters in the opera.
This was a joyfully comic production, superbly acted and sung, with some dark undertones that no doubt Britten himself would have appreciated.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed on 19, 24 and 31 October at Leeds Grand Theatre, 6 November at Newcastle Theatre Royal, 13 November at The Lowry, Salford, and 20 November at Nottingham Theatre Royal
Performers
James Laing Oberon King of the Fairies Daisy Brown Tytania Queen of the Fairies Camilla Harris Helena Siรขn Griffiths Hermia Peter Kirk Lysander James Newby Demetrius Andri Bjรถrn Rรณbertsson Theseus Duke of Athens Molly Barker Hippolyta Queen of the Amazons Henry Waddington Nick Bottom a weaver/Pyramus Dean Robinson Peter Quince a carpenter Nicholas Watts Francis Flute a bellows-mender/Thisby Frazer Scott Snug a joiner/Lion Colin Judson Tom Snout a tinker/Wall Nicholas Butterfield Robin Starveling a tailor/Moon Daniel Abelson Puck, aka Robin Goodfellow Kitty Moore Peaseblossom a fairy Dougie Sadgrove Moth a fairy Lucy Eatock Mustardseed a fairy Jessie Thomas Cobweb a fairy Fairies Willow Bell, Reggie Blood, Sienna Christou, Hope Day, Bethany Doy, Toby Dray, Olivia Dunning, Lucy Eatock, Joseph Hall, Nell Hargreaves, Aurora Harris, Lars Hunter, Evie Marsden, Felicity Moore, Kitty Moore, Dougie Sadgrove, Lyra Schofield, Jessie Thomas
Orchestra of Opera North Garry Walker Conductor Martin Duncan Director Matthew Eberhardt Revival Director Johan Engels Set Designer Ashley Martin-Davis Costume Designer Bruno Poet Lighting Designer Ben Wright Choreographer Richard Moore Revival Lighting
Sources
Fitton, Jessica, A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a Nutshell (Opera North programme book October 2024) Plumley, Gavin, if You Go Down to the Woods Today (Ibid.) Keates, Jonathan, Midsummer Moonlight (Ibid.) Benjamin Britten A New Britten Opera (The Observer, 5 June 1960), reproduced in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Overture Opera Guides in Association with the English National Opera (Alma Books 2011) Brett , Philip, Britten’s Dream: An Introduction (Ibid.) The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Pinterest) Benjamin Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Glyndebourne Festival Opera [1981] (NVC Arts DVD 2001)
A dream cast and orchestra bring comedy, conflict and magic to Britten’s Dream
Benjamin Britten’s work is often performed at the Proms – The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra has been performed 44 times, there have been 31 performances of Four Sea Interludes, and even the gargantuan War Requiem has had ten outings. But last Tuesday’s Prom was the first time Britten’s opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream has been performed at the Proms. Britten wrote the opera for a much smaller space than the vast Royal Albert Hall, the newly reconstructed Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh which held only 316 people; the space was so small that some of the strings and one of the harps in the original score had to be removed. But there is a precedent for the opera being performed in much bigger spaces, such as the 4000-seater Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1996.
If this was to be the first performance of the opera at a Prom, it was fitting that it was such an excellent production. It was also the first time Garsington Opera had performed in a Prom, accompanied here by the superb Philharmonia Orchestra under Douglas Boyd. The orchestra brought Brittenโs magical score to life, starting with ghostly, eerie strings, which represented โthe wood, deepening night.โ Throughout the opera the orchestra played with rapt concentration, warmth and precision, beautifully shaped and controlled by Boyd. Special mention should be made of the virtuosic trumpet playing of Jason Lewis, who accompanied Puck’s appearances on stage.
Conductor Douglas Boyd. ยฉ BBC Chris Christodoulou
Britten wrote the opera very quickly to an urgent deadline, and continued even when he felt ill. A few days before the premiere, he wrote in The Observer, โa lot of the third act was written when I was not at all well with fluโ, but in a letter to Elizabeth Mayer a few months earlier he admitted heโd been diagnosed with, โgout โ me, who canโt stand port!โ But despite his health problems, he brought his strong, sometimes schoolboy sense of humour to the operaโs third act, on Tuesday represented by a motley collection of rustics, Shakespeareโs โrude mechanicalsโ, who staged the uproarious โplay within a playโ. The Wall, played by Adam Sullivan (Snout) was covered in what looked like white plaster, the โlime and roughcastโ of Shakespeareโs text, making him so stiff he had to be carried by his colleagues. And there was a lovely moment when Quince (John Savournin) accompanied Thisbe (James Way as Flute) on his ukulele, trying to force him back into tune. As Hippolyta (Christine Rice) observed, โThis is the silliest stuff I have ever heard.โ
The ‘rustics’. ยฉ BBC Chris Christodoulou
Perhaps more surprising, but very welcome, was the humour the quartet of lovers brought to the end of act two, where trousers and skirts were lost as in a French farce, and the physical humour brought well-deserved spontaneous applause. But even in this scene, there was a glimpse of one of Brittenโs more serious, lifetime preoccupations – the loss of childhood innocence, in Helenaโs lines to Hermia following the temporary breakdown of their childhood friendship, โO is all forgot? /All school-days friendship, childhood innocence?โ And there was another, brief but heart stopping moment in act three when the four lovers awoke to sing their Mozartian quartet, โAnd I have found [my lover] like a jewel.โ All four were in excellent voice, suiting their characters perfectly. Camilla Harris (Helena) had a lovely, light soprano voice, Stephanie Wake-Edwards (Hermia) a warm, rich contralto, Caspar Singh (Lysander) a plangent tenor, and James Newby a suitably robust baritone (Demetrius). All four relished their acting roles, bringing vivid characterisation to each one.
The four lovers. ยฉ BBC Chris Christodoulou
In his Observer article, written in the early 1960s, Britten described,
“the curious inverted snobbery current in this country which prefers operatic acting to be as bad as possibleโฆ I want singers that can act.”
The โplay within the playโ was an opportunity for him to satirise the worst of wooden acting and 19th century operatic cliches, but elsewhere in this production the high-quality singing was matched by excellent acting. The opera was semi-staged by Rebecca Meltzer, based on Netia Jones’ 2024 Garsington production, but there was never any sense that the limited room the performers had on the platform in front of the orchestra limited the staging or acting.
Iestyn Davies as Oberon and Lucy Crowe as Tytania. ยฉ BBC Chris Christodoulou
Oberon was superbly played by countertenor Iestyn Davies, who has also performed the role for English National Opera and at the Aldeburgh Festival. It was fascinating to compare his performance with that of the late James Bowman in the classic Peter Hall production for Glyndebourne in the early 1980s, still available on DVD. Bowman was magisterial and otherworldly in that production, and completely dominated his assistant Puck. In contrast, Davis was peevish and very human, sometimes arguing with Puck, and in particular delivering his showpiece aria โI know a bankโฆโ whilst aggressively threatening Puck. His voice was very different from Bowmanโs rich, fruity and mellow tone, more florid and lighter, closer in tone to Paul Esswood or Brian Asawa. His Fairy Queen, Tytania (Lucy Crowe), often dressed all in white with vivid peroxide blond hair, sang her showpiece aria, โCome now a roundelโ, with a gorgeously creamy, luxurious voice, beautifully controlling the coloratura parts. She brought humanity to her acting, playful when under a spell to Bottomโs charms, but regal in her dealings with Oberon, barely disguising her contempt for him at times. There was conflict between another noble couple too, Theseus (Nicholas Crawley) staggering round with wine bottle and glass in hand, while Hippolyta (Christine Rice) looked on disdainfully. And special mention should be made of Daniel Vening as Bottom, stepping in to cover for Richard Burkhard who was ill, but fitting in perfectly with other members of the cast.
Britten was inspired to make the role of Puck a speaking part when he was in Stockholm, where he,
“…. saw some Swedish child acrobats with extraordinary agility and powers of mimicry, and suddenly realised we could do Puck that way.”
Jerone Marsh-Reid as Puck and Garsington Youth Opera Company backstage. ยฉ BBC Chris Christodoulou
Garsingtonโs Puck was Jerone Marsh-Reid who trained in physical theatre at East 15 Acting School and brought acrobatic prowess to the role, dressed in a garish green suit. Britten described Puck as. โabsolutely amoral yet innocentโ, but in this production, particularly in his relationship with Oberon, there was something of the immoral about him, more of a knowing adult than his more innocent portrayal by Damien Nash in the Peter Hall version. The Fairies, played by members of Garsington Youth Opera Company, were stunning throughout, with excellent intonation and ensemble โ it was a joy to hear such accomplished young voices, including the individual solo voices. As mentioned, this the first time Garsington Opera has performed at the Proms. No doubt, with its resident contemporary orchestra The Philharmonia, it wonโt be the last.
Performers
Iestyn Davies Oberon Lucy Crowe Tytania Richard Burkhard replaced by Daniel Vening due to illness Bottom Caspar Singh Lysander James Newby Demetrius Stephanie Wake-Edwards Hermia Camilla Harris Helena Nicholas Crawley Theseus Christine Rice Hippolyta John Savournin Quince Frazer Scott Snug James Way Flute Geoffrey Dolton Starveling Adam Sullivan Snout Jerone Marsh-Reid Puck
Garsington Opera Philharmonia Orchestra Douglas Boyd conductor
Semi-staging by Rebecca Meltzer, based on the 2024 Garsington Opera production directed and designed by Netia Jones
Sources
Benjamin Britten A New Britten Opera (The Observer, 5 June 1960) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Overture Opera Guides in Association with the English National Opera (Alma Books 2011) BBC Proms Performance Archive Benjamin Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Glyndebourne Festival Opera [1981] (NVC Arts DVD 2001)
The nearest beach to Manchester is in Southport, about 35 miles away as the crow flies, or about 45 miles by car. Yet in this landlocked city where the sea has no impact on its citizens’ daily lives, it still has a powerful resonance in the imagination, perhaps through literature such as Melville’s Moby-Dick or Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; or through music such as Debussy’s La Mer or Elgar’s Sea Pictures. But the sea is at its most resonant in Britten’s opera Peter Grimes, in which it represents the psychological turmoil of its central character, and his isolation from society. In the second half of last Friday’s concert by Kantos Chamber Choir at the Stoller Hall in Manchester, the Sea Interludes from Britten’s opera, in an organ transcription by Anna Lapwood, were interleaved with settings by the Armenian-British composer Kristina Arakelyan of poems by Christina Rosetti. And the first half ended with the intensely emotional piece, Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae, a harrowing description of a shipwreck.
But the concert began with a more traditional view of the sea, a series of arrangements of mostly well-known sea songs. To create a maritime mood, the singers stood at either side of the audience during the opening improvisation of sea sounds, Soundscape, then took to the stage with improvised melodies, an organ drone and a solo soprano singing a folk melody. The audience was immersed by the sea, washing away the bustling city around Victoria Station just outside. And at first the view of the sea was optimistic, starting with Simon Jackson’s arrangement of the traditional Swedish folksong Trilo, the lilting melody glowing with joy as wives anticipate the return of their fishermen husbands from the sea. And there was more jubilation in Daryl Runswick’s arrangement of Dance to thy Daddy, an exhilaratingly fast version in which three smaller choirs enjoyed the syncopation and amusing key changes under the benign and relaxed leadership of Ellie Slorach. The choir’s ensemble in Desmond Earley’s arrangement of the Skye Boat Song was beautiful, with a lovely light-voiced solo from tenor Joseph Taylor and a gorgeous clear-voiced solo from soprano Sarah Keirle. A short instrumental interlude followed, an organ arrangement by Robert Gower of Peter Maxwell Davies’ popular miniature Farewell to Stromness, played by George Herbert. The lucid textures of the piece were well-suited to the simple clarity of the organ, and the sound of the bagpipe was evoked towards the end. The choir had fun again in Runswick’s arrangement of Bobby Shaftoe, featuring beatbox percussion from the choir members, included a hi-hat (!) and disco beats. There was a brief moment of slow sadness as the choir contemplated a broken heart, before they rallied again. The final song in the sequence was Jesse Beulke’s arrangement of Water is Wide, with exhilarating, scrunchy close harmonies, and the voices bloomed in a charming passage around the word ‘my love’, with superbly controlled dynamics.
The cover of the concert programme
After the jollity of the opening songs, the darker side of the sea was revealed by the final piece in the first half, the astonishingly powerful Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae by the Finnish composer JaakkoMรคntyjรคrvi, dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the sinking of the ferry MS Estonia on 28 September 1994. Introducing the work, Ellie Slorach described it as a ‘monumental piece’ in three sections, the first being the ‘human part’ with solo soprano Eleonore Cockerham, the second part with news of the disaster delivered in Latin by solo bass Henry Saywell, and the third part a Latin setting of Psalm 107, ‘they that go down to the sea in ships.’ The piece began with the choir’s evocative whispering of the words ‘Lux aeterna luceat eis’ from the Requiem Mass, Cockerham’s clear-voiced, pure rendition of the imaginary folk song ‘La annaliaana’ going straight to the heart emotionally.
A recording of Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae by The National Youth Choir of Great Britain
The role of the news reader, sung by the strong-voiced Saywell, declamatory in plainsong style like a precentor in a religious setting, contrasted with the ethereal folk song. The brutal facts of the tragedy, ‘over eight hundred people lost life’, took on a new weight by being sung in Latin, like the Requiem Mass, although Mรคntyjรคrvi stressed in his programme note that, ‘the work is not really intended for liturgical use.’ Psalm 107, declaimed by the chorus, began in the middle of the drama of a storm at sea, the basses reaching the depths, repeating the phrase ‘Qui descendunt…'(those who go down..’), as dense harmonies swirled around them. But the psalm provided some hope and calm due to God’s intervention, with a chromatic, falling passage leading to a peaceful, consonant ‘Amen’. The piece ended with the return of the folk song for soprano, seen in a new light after the chaos of the storm and the shipwreck. The return of the folksong and the whispered ‘Lux aeterna’ provided a satisfying narrative arc. An extraordinary piece, stunningly performed, leaving the audience silent for a short while before applauding.
Beaming at the audience, Ellie Slorach introduced the second half by saying that they hadn’t brought a full orchestra with them, but instead George Herbert was going to play an organ transcription of Britten’s Sea Interludes which captured the ‘colour of the orchestra’, including at one point a bell! This challenged the audience to compare the two versions, and to be fair Lapwood’s version, beautifully realised by Herbert, was largely successful. The first movement, Dawn captured the essence of Britten, piercing high notes at the start, close to the original sound, the keyboard parts reflecting the filigree ornamentation of the original. The spikiness of the opening section and the rhythmic motifs of Sunday Morning were well-drawn, as were the bells calling worshippers to church, as in the opera. Moonlight was an excellent transcription, illustrating the stately majesty of the original, dark textures lurking below like some slow-moving creature, while a piccolo soared above. The final movement, Storm, launched precipitately like an unhinged organ voluntary, was the most effective piece, dropping into the depths of darkness with deep-voiced chords.
Organist George Herbert. Image ยฉ The Choir of St John’s, Cambridge
The four companion pieces for choir were commissioned by the BBC Singers and written by Kristina Arakelyan as commentaries after each of the Britten movements, sometimes reflecting Britten’s style and even the key centres on which each piece was based. The words were from poems by Christina Rosetti, mirroring the narrative of each of the Interludes. Bird Raptures [Dawn] began with hummed chords as, ‘the sunrise wakes the lark to sing.’ A slowly drifting tune with Britten-like textures was followed by a warm bass melody, and the piece reached a climax with chords that were reminiscent of the long sequence of chords in Britten’s opera Billy Budd. The next movement, By the Sea [Sunday Morning] captured the fluency and virtuosity of Britten’s writing, the running melodies describing the ebb and flow of the sea. The choir handled the complex lines with aplomb and clearly enjoyed the glorious climax. The third movement, Echo [Moonlight] began with the fitting words, ‘Come to me in the silence of the night’, using some of the same chords that Britten used, with slow textures beautifully shaped by Ellie Slorach. The final movement Storm Wind/O Wind, Why do you Never Rest [Storm] began with the same chords as the organ piece, with ‘shh’ sounds evoking the sea as at the beginning of the concert, passed across the choir from one singer to the next. The blowing of the storm winds was palpable. At the centre of the piece was a moment of near stillness, quietly restive and pensive – a spellbinding moment, superbly sung by the choir with excellent ensemble. The movement picked up again to match the ferocity of the opening, with very fast passages of virtuoso singing which, appropriately, created a slight feeling of sea sickness.
Credit was due to Ellie Slorach for her excellent conducting and highly imaginative programming, to Kantos Chamber Choir for their lively and engaging singing, and to the superb soloists, for a very enjoyable and at times moving evening.
Programme
Improvisation – Soundscape Simon Jackson – Never Weather-Beaten Sail (Trilo) English Trad.arr. Daryl Runswick – Dance to thy daddy Scottish Trad.arr. Desmond Earley – Skye Boat Song Peter Maxwell Davies arr. Robert Gower – Farewell to Stromness English Trad.arr. Daryl Runswick – Bobby Shaftoe Scottish Trad.arr. Jesse Beulke – Water is Wide Jaakko Mรคntyjรคrvi – Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae (Song of Maritime Calamity)
Benjamin Britten trans. Anna Lapwood – Four Sea Interludes/Kristina Arakelyan โ Seascapes
