Peter Grimes
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| Original title: | Peter Grimes |
Production by David Alden |
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| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Benjamin Britten |
| Libretto : | Montagu Slater based on the poem The Borough by George Crabbe |
| Premiere: | June 7, 1945 |
| Place of premiere: | Sadler's Wells Theater , London |
| Playing time: | about 3 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | East coast of England around 1830 |
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Peter Grimes is an opera by Benjamin Britten in a prologue and three acts. The opera premiered in 1945 and is set on the east coast of England around 1830.
action
prolog
A preliminary judicial investigation: Peter Grimes' apprentice is dead. The fisherman Grimes is suspected of murder. The crowd present leaves no doubt that they think Grimes is guilty.
With no trial, the coroner declares the death to be an accident, but advises Grimes not to take on a new apprentice. Ellen Orford and Peter Grimes are left alone in the courtroom. She appeases and comforts him.
first act
Grimes insists that he urgently needs an apprentice's help. Captain Balstrode tries in vain to dissuade him. The pharmacist Ned Keene finds him a boy from the poor house. Ellen is the only one willing to accompany the boy to the village despite the approaching storm and the expected spring tide. In the inn, Grimes feels the clear rejection of the villagers when he wants to take over his new apprentice. Only Ellen stands by him.
Second act
Traces of violence on the new apprentice John make the villagers suspicious. Ellen tries to get the boy to speak, but he is silent. Her dream of a new beginning that would also enable her to marry Grimes falls apart.
In Grimes' hut, which is located near the cliffs, the fisherman prepares for the exit, since he is convinced that he can make his big catch today and then marry Ellen. When he hears that the villagers are coming to the hut, he accuses the boy of lying to Ellen. In horror, Grimes sends his apprentice through a side door; he falls down the cliff and dies. Balstrode alone learns of the boy's death.
Third act
Rumor has it that Grimes killed his apprentice. Ellen and Balstrode try to help Peter, but fail to fight the crowd, which angrily calls for vengeance: "Whoever stands apart and despises us, we destroy". Grimes goes mad. Ellen can no longer reach him. Balstrode advises him to row out to sea and sink himself with his boat.
Far in the distance, the villagers see a boat sinking. Your life takes its course unaffected.
Emergence
“I have spent most of my life in close contact with the sea. My parents' house in Lowestoft looked straight out over the sea, and one of my childhood experiences was the wild storms that often threw ships to our coast and tore away stretches of the neighboring cliffs. When I wrote «Peter Grimes», my aim was to express my knowledge of the eternal struggle of men and women who wrested their lives and livelihoods from the sea - despite all the problems of portraying such a universal topic dramatically. "
music
Particularly noteworthy are the orchestral interludes between the individual images. Very expressive and expressive, they paint the picture of the English Sea on the east coast - threatening, powerful, gloomy and unpredictably dangerous. Britten later published four of them under the title Four Sea Interludes .
The role of Peter Grimes requires a singer who can cope with great hardship and is therefore often sung by Wagner singers. Ellen Orford's most touching scene comes about when she ponders her handcrafted embroidery in the jacket of the boy who died (Embroidery scene) .
Discography (selection)
- 1958: Benjamin Britten (conductor), Orchestra and Choir of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Peter Pears (Peter Grimes), Claire Watson (Ellen Orford), James Pease (Captain Balstrode), Jean Watson (Auntie), Owen Brannigan (Swallow) , Lauris Elms (Mrs. Sedley), Geraint Evans (Ned Keene), David Kelly (Hobson). Decca 414577.
- 1978: Colin Davis (conductor), Orchestra and Choir of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Jon Vickers (Peter Grimes), Heather Harper (Ellen Orford), Jonathan Summers (Captain Balstrode), Elizabeth Bainbridge (Auntie), Forbes Robinson (Swallow) , Patricia Payne (Mrs. Sedley), Thomas Allan (Ned Keene), Richard Van Allan (Hobson). Philips 462847.
- 1992: Bernard Haitink (conductor), Orchestra and Choir of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Anthony Rolfe Johnson (Peter Grimes), Felicity Lott (Ellen Orford), Thomas Allen (Captain Balstrode), Patricia Payne (Auntie), Stafford Dean (Swallow ), Sarah Walker (Mrs. Sedley), Simon Keenlyside (Ned Keene), David Wilson-Johnson (Hobson). EMI Classics 5483222.
- 1995: Richard Hickox (Conductor), City of London Sinfonia, London Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Philip Langridge (Peter Grimes), Janice Watson (Ellen Orford), Alan Opie (Captain Balstrode), Ameral Gunson (Auntie), John Connell (Swallow) , Anne Collins (Mrs. Sedley), Roderick Williams (Ned Keene), Matthew Best (Hobson). Chandos 9447.
- 1995: Peter Grimes, directed by Barry Gavin , BBC television film with Philip Langridge in the lead role.
Awards
- The production by Elisabeth Stöppler in the Musiktheater im Revier in the 2008/2009 season received the Götz Friedrich Prize for directing.
- The production by Christof Loy (conducted by Cornelius Meister ), performed at the Theater an der Wien in 2015, received the International Opera Award in 2016 .
Web links
- Peter Grimes at the Britten-Pears Foundation (detailed description of origin, motifs and content)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter Grimes (1995). Internet Movie Database , accessed May 22, 2015 .