Review: The Britten Operas in a Box
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 พ.ย. 2024
- Benjamin Britten composed magnificent operas, as well as a few duds. This set contains all of his original works in the medium in reference versions led by the composer or his close associates. They are must-have performances that make the best possible case for each work.
A quick comment - I was lucky enough to conduct a lot of Britten, directed by my friend and colleague, Colin Graham. Colin did the world premiere of MANY works of Britten and I learned a lot from him about the creation of the pieces. My favorite with him was CURLEW RIVER, among others. ANYWAY, an anecdote - As LUCRETIA was about to be premiered, some very haughty Brit came up to Britten and asked "So tell me, what is the difference between PETER GRIMES and THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA?" The answer " The notes are the same, they're just arranged differently." One PS: to Death in Venice--- both Steuart (an exemplary colleague, by the way) and Colin had permission to make cuts and rearrange scenes but, alas, they never got to it. I think it would have helped dramaturgically.
Thank you for the "color commentary!"
Missed this when you first posted it. Unexpected and interesting. A few comments:
1) Yes, along with Janacek, Britten's operas don't seem to attract the attention of opera warriors. Happily, we're spared catfights over divas.
2) I totally agree about Gloriana. Probably underrated due to HM's reaction at the first performance, which immediately became the reaction of the music establishment.
3) I think you're a bit hard on Owen Wingrave. Not one of my favourites and I can never understand why he agrees to spend the night alone as ghost bait, nor why he dies as a result. But musically, it does have its moments. I don't agree that Death in Venice is an story about a perv, neither in this opera nor in Visconti's film. Whether gay or straight, the line between lust and love of beauty isn't hard-drawn. American filmgoers adoration of Shirley Temple as a child wasn't any less questionable than Aschenbach's here.
4) While there are decent to excellent performances of most of Britten's operas on disc, good videos are more difficult to find. As you've suggested re. the reverence that freezes English artists when they approach Shakespeare, I think something similar happens to live performances of his operas. The Vickers performance of Grimes I think is excellent, there are two good Glorianas (if you can accept the cut film version). and the Fenice Death in Venice is very fine. But I'm still waiting for an acceptable Budd, Misummer Night's Dream, Turn of the Screw, Lucretia and Herring. Sailors with plummy accents in Budd, stilted acting in Lucretia and Turn of the Screw. Between them, both Peter Hall and Haitink make a mess of Midsummer Night's Dream, musically a country mile behind Britten's own recording and Hall yet to learn the difference between what may work on a stage but falls short at camera distance. I did once see a first class performance of Herring in Toronto, appropriate accents and good comedy. It can be funny if done properly.
Thank you for this very enjoyable summary. A non-operatic counter-example on Britten and prudishness is of course Les Illuminations, which are immensely (and positively) sensual and erotic song settings. Clearly that has a lot to do with Rimbaud, but the music matches the words.
Sorry about your tooth! Although pleased to see you can get a dentist in Brooklyn, as its pretty impossible in London. I have these recordings, and some others, and it was interesting hearing what you have to say as I feel very ambivalent about Britten's operas. Wonderfully imaginative, well-constructed, great orchestration, some great sense of timing with the interesting climactic moments etc, but ultimately so *cold* . I'm gay, and I do think this is relevant in assessing these works, and my responses to them, but they are so cumulatively "loveless" that in the end I can't place them on the same level of regard as the other greater twentieth century operas. Even Wozzeck and Lulu have love in them, the Janacek operas obviously, *even* Messiaen's opera has love in it (pervasively - although of a certain kind). I guess I find it ultimately a bit depressing that such a great gay composer just couldn't (apparently) achieve this, so I admire his operas but I don't love them. The turn of the screw is the best, but even here the issues around sexuality (and probably sexual abuse) leave a bad taste and a headache as you try to justify liking it: I can only do it by disagreeing with you, and finding some empathy with Miles as a (probably) young gay guy who isn't ready to deal with what Quint reveals to him.
Thank you for sharing this very interesting and personal perspective. I hear you.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank you David
That is an interesting perspective but I have a hard time understanding it. I'm a straight man but I have a very strong emotional connection to many of Britten's characters and to his music in general including his non-operatic pieces. His music really resonates with me. In his operatic works it is the isolation of the characters that most intrigues me. I don't know if that comes from Britten's experience as a gay man in England where, for most of his life, being gay was illegal or if it is something else but he really taps into this feeling of man isolated from society. As Leonard Bernstein said of him, "Ben Britten was a man at odds with the world. On the surface his music would seem to be decorative, positive, charming ... and it's so much more than that. When you hear Britten's music - if you really hear it - you become aware of something very dark ... there are gears that are grinding and not quite meshing and they make a great pain." To me that is Britten in all his operas and the specific subject barely matters. He is about the isolation of the individual, of ourselves, of every human, of the pain of existence. That is, of course, a depressing subject.
Would love to see a review of (three separate) Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra, Violin Concerto, and Wozzeck.
Yes, I have to get to those...
Excellent episode. VERY illuminating. Plus it makes me feel great to find someone who also finds 'Gloriana', well... glorious!
Speaking of the aggression of opera lovers I was raised in South London and one of the most vicious fights I ever saw was between two old ladies on the stairs of The London Coliseum the home of English National Opera. They become vexed very easily bless 'em.
This is wonderful. Thank you.
As always, erudite and very entertaining. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
Another great thought provoking video. I don't know all the Britten operas, but you've made me want to investigate them, duds and all. I will disagree about "Midsummer", with a good imaginative staging it works beautifully, countertenor or not. Still, despite the brilliance of the operas, I wish Britten had written more purely orchestral music. I love the orchestral works from the 1940s and wish he had written another symphony or two
I sympathize, but there was no symphonist in him and he was smart not to do it.
Such an insightful video...though disagree strongly re. Owen Wingrave and Death in Venice (having said that, I judge operas purely on the music and totally ignore the plots and everything else - so I'm clearly judging them on different aesthetic criteria to you). Purely musically, these are surely his best operas. Owen Wingrave is pure genius: Britten's most "modernist", atonal work with inspired, very creative orchestration; a bit reminiscent of Berg's operas. I've probably listened to it 50 times, and I find it better each time. The section starting "May god bless the Queen" is some of the most virtuoso, evocative music he ever wrote.
I do think you're wrong about Death in Venice. Thomas Mann's novella and Britten's opera are important dramatic works about a man coming to terms with his innermost sexual desires. That resonates today, and they both remain important artistic documents to this day, because it remains a taboo subject, not despite it being so. It is unsettling because it encroaches on our comfort zones and our currently defined boundaries. But boundaries are constantly shifting as ought to be clear to any social observer. I'm not saying where the boundaries should be but a work that confronts boundaries that no longer exist will be boring to us. This work is not boring.
Fair enough. That's one way of looking at it. I don't need my boundaries challenged in that way, and could imagine a more entertaining way of doing it. Les Mamelles de Tirésias also pushes boundaries is challenging traditional views of sex and gender and everyone has a great time while it's happening.
@@DavesClassicalGuide It's easy to understand why Death in Venice resonated with Britten given his proclivities as has since been made public. This was a demon he personally wrestled with, as it was for Thomas Mann, which, in my opinion, adds interest and authenticity to the piece. I applaud him for taking on this personal subject which can't have been easy for him and which gives us insight into his struggle and the struggle of others who's sexuality puts them at odds with society and their own self-judgment. But it's not just about that. It's much more universal I think. I like Les Mamelles de Tirésias. It's a fun piece. But I can't imagine it will ever be seen as important. Thomas Mann's novella, on the other hand, is still celebrated as a masterpiece and much written about a century after publication. It must have something about it that resonates with us, something more universal than pederasty I think the same is true of Britten's opera. It's not about pederasty except on the surface. It's about longing for something unobtainable. About mistaking ones own inner motives and making false justifications. About suppressing feelings that go against societal norms. I think these things are experienced by most people at some time. We are all born a certain way and are forced into conformation with society's expectations, whatever they are at any given time. This involves suppression of unacceptable feelings, urges, actions. We shouldn't get hung up on the details of Britten/Mann and understand the universality of the broader subject.
I saw that great MET production of BILLY BUDD too, it really was great. In DEATH IN VENICE, I think the quality of the music makes it worthwhile. And Britten leaves Aschenbach a novelist, as he is in Mann. I agree about opera fans and the relentless emphasis on singers (diva sopranos in particular) and the endlessly repeated arias. Enough already. To me the music has to be good, or at leat interesting. Plenty of Italian operas have great music and there's Wagner, et al. Britten's music is often interesting, in serious way, and beautiful (DEATH IN VENICE, I was so glad to hear how beautiful it is, since the story has limited appeal). Anyway, you've convinced me to give MIDSUMMER and TURN OF THE SCREW another shot---they left me cold the first times. All that said, I still think Britten's best works for non-vocal. The Violin Concerto (so beautiful), the Cello Symphony (is it really a symphony?) , Sinfonia da Requiem, and others. Some of the vocal works appeal to me, the Serenade for example, and some of the Church Parables (interesting pieces)
Try the Screw first. It really is a great piece musically and dramatically.
@@DavesClassicalGuide I just sampled a random track and it did sound quite interesting!
I thought that a very insightful summary. Personally, I like A Midsummer Night's Dream a lot (though the third act, where the toffs snigger at the peasants' play has always bothered me); and I have always loved Death in Venice. But I think your point about Aschenbach not being a character with whom you can have any empathy is completely sound. I thought you were also very good on the point about where Britten's music runs out (in Peter Grimes and Gloriana): I've never found those a failure of the composer, where he lacks the ability to write music to meet the occasion; but, as you say, the point beyond which music can be of any use. You are completely spot-on about Owen Wingrave too (though, a shout-out for the overture, which is glorious; and for Owen's aria about 'peace is positive, passionate, committing more than war itself', which is the only point you can feel anything for Owen as a character beyond wanting to smack him in the kisser). Anyway: I found your summary insightful and I thank you for it.
Noye's Fludde is a wonderful piece. Decca must have put it in some other box. I agree with you about Wingrave and recall hating it when the video version ran on PBS around the time of the premiere.
They left out the Church Parables too. A mistake.
Not my cup of tea, but still want to hear your comments. 🤪
Excellently done. I agree absolutely with your comments about all of the operas. It took me the longest time to 'get' Owen Wingrave. I still like it less than the others, but I don't think it's an absolute dud.
Thoroughly agree that Gloriana is a great work and was certainly worthy of the Coronation year. That it was rejected at its first performance was more to do with the fact that the first night audience was stuffed with visiting dignitaries who were there for the coronation. These folks were certainly not your usual opera audience. Rather than Queen Elizabeth 2nd being offended , it would seem it was some of these dignitaries who were shocked and took 'offence on her behalf' and the press jumped on the bandwagon of the story. Apparently later performances in the same run were much better received.
I am trying to remember if it was Jennifer Vyvyan or Joan Cross when talking about that premiere who said that the cast were incredibly excited in the run up to that first night being sure that the opera would be a triumph. It was only part way through the performance when certain scenes were met with weak applause that they realised it was not being well received.
I believe that the "weak applause" was because, given the royal occasion, all the women in the audience (and possibly many of the men) were wearing gloves that muffled the sound of hands clapping.
Owen Wingrave wants to be Miss America! Genius.
Great video as always. Maybe "Midsummer Night's Dream" needs a better performance. I saw a really memorable production in the mid 2000s by the San Francisco Conservatory--obviously Alfred Deller was NOT the countertenor!
That certainly would have helped.
There are now several performances of Midsummer Night's Dream to choose from including Hickox and Davis and others on video from Haitink and Bicket with countertenors in line with current standards.
Thank goodness for great dentists.
Britten is terrific. There are some good female roles as well......Ellen Orford.
Phaedra is great. Is it an opera ?
No, it's a cantata. Sort of.
If I may respond to the question "Who is going to like Death in Venice?" Well, surely a pedophile! Your take is spot on, without saying the obvious.
OMG!! I was beginning to think I was the only one who felt that way about Deller!!! I’ve never liked his voice. It’s not that I’m against countertenors in general, but his voice really turns my stomach.
Deller was a pioneer for the resurrection of the countertenor voice at the time that Britten was writing. We now have much more accomplished examples but maybe we shouldn't judge him so harshly based what came after him.
I agree nearly completely until „A Midsummer Night’s Dream“. There’s just the exception of „Albert Herring“: Which children sung by adults do you mean? Sissy, Emmy and Harry? Well, I heard performances, in which these roles where sung by children (not good, I must confess), but haven’t they too less to sing to spoil the whole opera?
My problem with „Herring“ is another one: the 2nd halve oft he 2nd act (Alberts long monologue) is not very good, in my opinion, just boring. I know that Britten wanted to create one of his great nocturns, but I don’t think that he succeeded HERE.
Now the „Dream“: I think, the libretto is okay. Also I think that the intention is great with the allusions of elisabethanian music, with the fairies in the most highest pitches and the plucked instruments (these fairies pinch), the musically conventional lovers and the craftsmen with their grotesque. But every time I saw the „Dream“, which was quite frequently performed in Vienna, I admired the fairy colours very much, the craftsmen much less, and with the lovers I looked on my watch. There are nice moments like the quartet, but there isn’t much inspiration. In my opinion, it’s a crises starting with the 60ies. There is one culmination of genius in the „War Requiem“, but the rest of the works in this period Britten's become weaker and weaker.
Now the „Wingrave“: I strongly believe that Britten felt the crises and tried to escape via 12-tone-music (like Bernstein in the „Place“ - I guess, you saw the parallel perfectly well). „Wingrave“ is a failure. I think, Britten wanted really, what you pointed out: One sympathetic character (Owen), who dies because of the absence of understanding even of closer people (Coyle and his wife) and because of the destructive work of the unsympathetic caricatures of Owen’s family and so-called friends (Lechmere and Kate). Moreover - even I as a Britten-guy must confess not to know, what he does musically. It’s kind of 12-tone, but not really, much formula, and one has to wait for that one beautiful moment, Owen’s peace-aria, far too long.
The „Death“ I see in slightly another way - but I agree with you: There’s nothing to love in the work. But I see the whole work as a variation of the „Serenade“-song „O rose, thou art sick“: The worm is the baritone role, and with his appearance all becomes sick and corrupted, even the dream of Apollo’s games becomes a nightmare. I think, that was Britten’s intention. Nevertheless, I admire the opera very much, I must confess, but it’s a cold admiration - until the mahlerian postlude. O dear, is that beautiful!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these problematic works!
Fabulous video, Dave! Glad you didn't stress Britten's own (sexual) tastes too much, it's about the work, not the man, this tendency to psychologize i find distracting and adds most of the time nothing to what we should know. Drugs are inspiring, are they? 😉
For sure!
Agreed - about the operas, if not the Novocaine. Whatever Britten did in his private life, it doesn't alter the fact that his finest operas are among the greatest of the 20th Century.
I disagree. I think the dichotomy between Appollonion and Dionysian love is at the very heart of the problems in the librettos and even in society today. Britten's personal prudishness may have been his rejection of the latter in favor of the former. Trouble is, the former is intangible while the latter is material. But I believe material things should have a deeper emotional meaning in addition to just Dionysian gratification. Aschenbach's character is autobiographical, and he didn't die in the epidemic because of the way he felt about somebody!
@@adamfrye246 i understand your point. But i think (most) problems in life, art etc arise when using words; as soon we use words like Dionysian and Appollonion (like dark versus light etc) we start dividing things and opinions, but by doing so, we tend to forget the space and colours that are between them. And the space between is what interest me most.
Ok, so the stories should be about learning from one's experience, not meeting their demise because of it..
Great shame he never wrote more orchestral works such as the great Sinfonia De Requiem . Peter Grimes is ok but the rest of his operas are a difficult listen for me, and let's face it, life is too short .. I like the harmonic 'hook' in opera, and my spine is tingled with Puccini and Mozart where satisfaction is guaranteed..
Britten's operas have always eluded me. Too much arioso and melismatic writing substituting for real melody and imaginative vocalism. I remember first hearing Peter Grimes after knowing and loving the four interludes and passacaglia. I was so disappointed when nothing rose to their level.
Peter Grimes is one of the most melodious operas of the 20th century. If you think that one was too "melismatic" then what is an acceptable opera, in your opinion? Peter Grimes is an absolute masterpiece. I have a hard time understanding how it can be faulted on the lines that you chose to fault it.
@@alwa6954 I am glad that you love this opera. While I do not despise it, I was disappointed that nothing measured up to the orchestral excerpts i was familiar with. I do not see Britten as a natural melodist. Alas!As much as I try, Albert Herring, and many of the others elude me. They are just not musically that interesting, and i am not moved by them. Don't be upset by my likes and dislikes. Everyone has tastes that are different. Operas in English find my preferences in Vaughan Williams, Delius, Walton, Barber, Hanson, Menotti, Gershwin, etc.
@@alanbecker2569 I love Britten's melodies (in his operas and his concert music) and especially his dramatic sense. Don't give up on him. He is one of the greatest opera composers of the 20th century. His music and his melodies are definitely unique but that is what makes him so special. So many others who did not follow the atonalists (who I love, by the way) wrote predictably romantic melodies (though many of them I also love). But Britten's are unique in a way that is hard to describe. He was a genius. That's the best way I have of describing him. He was unique to himself.
You're not wrong about Britten not being a "natural melodist." No tunesmith he! But what he DOES have an uncanny sense for setting English, both prose and non-prose. His insight into sense, sound, meaning, personality, drama and emotional arc is almost always penetrating and perceptive beyond any other composer I can think of. I know the choral and solo works better than the operas, but he really is a genius on that level - peerless in the exact sense. But vanilla and chocolate, as you say! Enjoy and thanks for your comments.