Listen:
Availability:
Sorry, this programme is not available to listen again. (why?)
Last broadcast on Sat, 11 Jul 2009, 18:00 on BBC Radio 3.
Synopsis
The final offering from Opera on 3 before the Proms, this English National Opera Peter Grimes was the hot ticket of the season. Sold out for its entire run, David Alden's production wowed critics and audiences alike with its unconventional but powerful take on Britten's music drama, set at the time of its premiere - postwar Britain.
The cast that inspired this adulation included Amanda Roocroft as Ellen Orford, Gerald Finley as Captain Balstrode and Australian tenor Stuart Skelton in the epic title role - a compelling interpretation of the misunderstood outsider, victim of his own weaknesses and contradictions, at once unstable and unpredictable, visionary and violent.
Edward Gardiner conducts an orchestra and chorus on top form in an unforgettable operatic experience.
Presented by Martin Handley.
Peter Grimes ...... Stuart Skelton (tenor)
Ellen Orford ...... Amanda Roocroft (soprano)
Captain Balstrode ...... Gerald Finley (bass-baritone)
Auntie ...... Rebecca de Pont Davies (soprano)
First niece ...... Gillian Ramm (soprano)
Second niece ...... Mairéad Buicke (soprano)
Bob Boles ...... Michael Colvin (tenor)
Swallow ...... Matthew Best (bass)
Mrs Sedley ...... Felicity Palmer (mezzo)
Rev Horace ...... Stuart Kale (tenor)
Ned Keene ...... Leigh Melrose (baritone)
Hobson ...... Darren Jeffery (bass)
English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra
Edward Gardner (conductor).
Director David Alden talks about his production of Peter Grimes
David Alden, Director of the English National Opera production of Peter Grimes talks about his love for the opera; the character of Peter Grimes; Britten as an outsider; Grimes'relationship with Ellen Orford; the character of Captain Balstrode; the way Alden, Paul Steinberg (Set Designer) and Brigitte Reiffenstuel (Costume Designer) created the production for ENO and, finally, his thoughts on the famous 'Interludes'.
Stuart Skelton talks about the role of Peter Grimes
Presenter Martin Handley in conversation with tenor Stuart Skelton about his portrayal of the role of Peter Grimes.
Photo: Clive Barda
Synopsis - The Borough, a small fishing village on the East Coast.
Prologue
A boy apprenticed to the fisherman Peter Grimes has died at sea.
An inquest is being held to determine the cause of death.
After hearing Grimes’s testimony, the coroner, Mr Swallow, finds that the boy died in ‘accidental circumstances’. But he warns Grimes not to get another apprentice.
Grimes demands a full trial and the right to employ another boy. His pleas are ignored and the court is cleared.
Ellen Orford, the local schoolteacher, assures Peter that with her help the future will be better.
Act 1
Interlude 1
Scene1 Morning
The Borough goes about its business. Grimes returns from fishing; only Captain Balstrode, a retired naval officer, and Ned Keene, the local apothecary, are willing to bring in his boat. Keene tells Grimes he has arranged for a new apprentice from the workhouse. The carter, Hobson, at first refuses to fetch the boy, but consents when Ellen offers to look after the child on the journey. As a storm grows, Balstrode tries to dissuade Grimes from a course he fears will result in another tragedy, but Grimes is determined to get rich, marry Ellen and thus silence the Borough gossips.
Interlude 2
Scene 2 The Boar
Late that night, the storm has reached hurricane force. To the annoyance of Auntie, the landlady, Mrs Sedley arrives to wait for Ned Keene. He has promised to meet her there with a new supply of laudanum. Auntie’s ‘nieces’ come in, to be abused by Balstrode and molested by Bob Boles, the Methodist preacher. At the height of the storm, Ned Keene enters with news that the cliff by Grimes’s hut has been washed away. He is followed by Grimes himself. It is as if the eye of the storm had entered the room. When Ellen and the new apprentice arrive, soaked and exhausted from their journey, before the boy can rest, Grimes insists on taking him straight home. He drags him off into the night.
Act 2
Interlude 3
Scene 1 Sunday morning
Ellen sits down at the beach with John, the new apprentice, while the church service begins.
She encourages the boy to talk about himself, but he says nothing. Only then does she notice the bruising on his neck and immediately fears the worst.
Grimes comes in to take the boy off fishing. Ellen pleads for the boy’s right for a day of rest. When Peter refuses, she tells him that their attempt to make a new start has failed. Peter, in a frenzy, hits out at her and rushes off with the boy.
This scene has been witnessed, and when the congregation comes out of church there is a call for action against Grimes. The men set out for his hut. Auntie, Ellen and the ‘nieces’ are left alone to reflect on the hopelessness of loving men.
Interlude 4
Scene 2 Grimes’s hut
Grimes orders the boy to get ready for fishing. Haunted by the death of the last apprentice, he feels his dream of marrying Ellen slipping away.
When he hears the men from the Borough approaching, he immediately assumes the boy has betrayed him. As he is hurrying the boy down the cliff to the sea, the Borough knocks at the door. He panics. The boy screams as he slips and falls.
Grimes climbs down after him.
The men enter to find the hut deserted.
Act 3
Interlude 5
Scene 1 Outside the Moot Hall, a few days later
In the Moot Hall a dance is in full swing. Outside, Auntie’s ‘nieces’ manage to escape the attentions of Swallow, who retires defeated into the Boar.
Mrs Sedley tells Ned Keene she has conclusive proof that Grimes has murdered his apprentice.
Keene leaves her to her midnight ravings. Ellen and Balstrode appear, discussing Grimes’s disappearance.
Mrs Sedley overhears that Ellen has found the boy’s sweater down by the shore.
Ellen and Balstrode decide to try to find Grimes and help him. When they are gone, Mrs Sedley whips up the community against Grimes and a man-hunt begins.
Interlude 6
Scene 2 Some hours later
Grimes is alone, tortured by the distant sound of the hunt, longing for escape and peace. Ellen and Balstrode find him, and Balstrode helps him push his boat out to sea for the last time.
Day breaks and the Borough goes about its business.
Far out at sea a boat is sinking.
© English National Opera
Broadcast
-
Sat 11 Jul 200918:00
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~19~RS~){kind=small}