{"id":13364,"date":"2022-03-24T12:33:12","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T11:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=164232"},"modified":"2022-03-24T12:45:19","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T11:45:19","slug":"peter-grimes-the-best-recordings-of-brittens-famous-opera","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/peter-grimes-the-best-recordings-of-brittens-famous-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Grimes: the best recordings of Britten\u2019s famous opera"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Daniel Jaff\u00e9\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 24 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Be<\/span>fore its premiere on the night of 7 June 1945, the auspices were not good. Many of the singers at London\u2019s Sadler\u2019s Wells Opera Company were in mutinous mood, outraged that its first post-war production should be a \u2018cacophonous\u2019 work about a sociopathic fisherman apparently guilty of murdering his young apprentices.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Yet the opening night of <em>Peter Grimes\u00a0<\/em> in the capital was a sensation: <strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/benjamin-britten\/"\">Britten<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s exceptional dramatic sense, depicting his characters with deft economy while vividly evoking the austere beauty of the Suffolk coast where the action takes place, wowed critics and audiences. Over the next three years <i>Peter Grimes<\/i>\u2004was staged by more than a dozen opera houses across Europe, as well as in the United States and Australia. English opera had never enjoyed such success since <strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/henry-purcell\/"\">Henry Purcell<\/a> <\/strong>over two and a half centuries earlier. Today <i>Grimes<\/i>\u2004continues to hold a firm place in the international repertory, its tale of a brutal society breeding brutal men still disturbingly relevant<\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\""highlight\"><div class=\""highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> \n<ul><li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/how-the-queen-inspired-britten-to-start-composing-again-after-he-almost-died\/"\">How the Queen inspired Britten to start composing again after he almost died<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/five-essential-works-benjamin-britten\/"\">Five essential works by Benjamin Britten<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><p> <\/p><\/div> <\/section><h2 class=\""p1"\">The best recordings of Peter Grimes<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Peter Pears, Claire Watson etc; Royal Opera House Chorus & Orchestra (1958)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\""p3"\"><strong><i>Decca 475 7713<span class=\""Apple-converted-space"\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Even with many other complete or near-complete alternatives now available on CD alone, this first complete recording remains the best. Peter Pears, in the title role written for him, is vocally at home whether singing the lyrical \u2018Great Bear\u2019 aria or expressing anger, if not quite as youthful sounding as in the 1940s (<i>Grimes<\/i>\u2004fans will want the recently reissued extracts Pears recorded in 1948 with the original Ellen Orford, Joan Cross). <\/span><\/p>\n<section class=\""highlight\"><div class=\""highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> \n<ul><li><strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/benjamin-britten-and-peter-pears\/"\">Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><p> <\/p><\/div> <\/section><p class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">The 1958 cast is near faultless: Owen Brannigan, a fellow veteran of the 1945 premiere, sings the pompous lawyer Swallow, Geraint Evans brings a light touch to the \u2018quack\u2019 apothecary Ned Keene, and James Pease is outstanding as a sturdy Balstrode. Nearly the entire cast and orchestra \u2013 a notable exception being Claire Watson\u2019s sympathetic Ellen Orford \u2013 had been steeped in the opera just months earlier, taking part in the Royal Opera production conducted by Rafael Kubel\u00edk. Decca\u2019s John Culshaw heightened this \u2018live\u2019 quality in the studio by having the singers not stand immovably by their microphones but interacting and moving about the stage to dramatic effect: his ulterior motive was to exploit the potential of stereo in this pioneering and still superb-sounding recording. With Britten himself conducting, the drama flows compellingly and purposefully.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-container"\" data-position=\""adhoc"\" hidden=\"\"> <h5 class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-title\" monetizer-title=\"\" style=\""background-color:\" color:=\"\"\/> <div id=\""monetizer__deals"\" data-type=\""price-comparison"\" data-config=\"'{"shopId":"1378","market":"gbp_en","template":"default","searchKeywords":"https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.co.uk\\\/Britten-Covent-Garden-Benjamin-Orchestra\\\/dp\\\/B001VSKP8M","excludeKeywords":"","geolocation":true,"limit":"4","priceRange":"11.2-20.8","sid":"term-classicalmusic-6-pcs-txt-pos"}'\"\/> <div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-explanatory-text\" body-copy-extra-small=\"\" editor-content=\"\"\/><\/div> <iframe title=\""Spotify\" embed:=\"\" britten:=\"\" peter=\"\" grimes=\"\" style=\""border-radius:\" width=\""100%"\" height=\""380"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\""autoplay;\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" src=\""https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/6qo8SZdI88VBw98MvxXJ4X?utm_source=oembed"\"\/>\n<h3 class=\""p1"\"><span class=\""s1"\">C<\/span><span class=\""s1"\">olin Davis (conductor)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\""p3"\"><strong><span class=\""s1"\">Jon Vickers, Heather Harper etc; Royal Opera House Chorus & Orchestra (1978)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\""p3"\"><strong><span class=\""s2"\"><i>Decca 478 2669<span class=\""Apple-converted-space"\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\""p4"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Of Sir Colin Davis\u2019s two recordings, this earlier version is a classic. Above all it captures Jon Vickers\u2019s interpretation of Grimes \u2013 rough voiced and brutal, yet at times expressing tenderness and pain, most movingly in his final mad scene. However, Vickers took liberties with the text, amending several lines. Sir Colin\u2019s more recent LSO Live recording of 2004 (with a slimmed-down LSO chorus) offers a more orthodox and fine performance: sadly its Grimes, Glenn Winslade, sounds too tame and reasonable even in the mad scene. Wrong-headed though Vickers\u2019s approach<br\/>\nmay seem (Britten hated it), his portrayal, partnered with Heather Harper\u2019s strongly characterised Ellen Orford, has drawn many listeners to Britten\u2019s masterpiece.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-container"\" data-position=\""adhoc"\" hidden=\"\"> <h5 class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-title\" monetizer-title=\"\" style=\""background-color:\" color:=\"\"\/> <div id=\""monetizer__deals"\" data-type=\""price-comparison"\" data-config=\"'{"shopId":"1378","market":"gbp_en","template":"default","searchKeywords":"https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.co.uk\\\/music\\\/player\\\/albums\\\/B00BQ0BBNI","excludeKeywords":"","geolocation":true,"limit":"4","priceRange":"11.2-20.8","sid":"term-classicalmusic-6-pcs-txt-pos"}'\"\/> <div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-explanatory-text\" body-copy-extra-small=\"\" editor-content=\"\"\/><\/div> <h3 class=\""p2"\"><strong><span class=\""s1"\">Richard Hickox (conductor)<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\""p3"\"><strong><span class=\""s1"\">Philip Langridge, Janice Watson etc; London Symphony Chorus; City of London Sinfonia (1995)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\""p3"\"><strong><span class=\""s2"\"><i>Chandos CHAN 9447(2)<span class=\""Apple-converted-space"\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\""p4"\"><span class=\""s1"\">The main reason to get this recording, well-conducted by Richard Hickox, is for Philip Langridge\u2019s fiery Grimes, surely the best all-<\/span><span class=\""s2"\">round interpretation since Pears\u2019s own (some would say of all time). A fine supporting cast <\/span><span class=\""s1"\">includes Alan Opie\u2019s stage-seasoned Balstrode <\/span><span class=\""s2"\">and Janice Watson\u2019s tender Ellen Orford. But the recording is hampered by the unoperatic <\/span><span class=\""s1"\">sounding LSO Chorus \u2013 and not only because <\/span><span class=\""s2"\">its huge force makes the village church scene sound like a cathedral service. Much of the <\/span><span class=\""s1"\">point of Grimes is how several well-delineated <\/span><span class=\""s2"\">individuals meld together at \u2018crisis\u2019 moments into a potentially murderous mob, a point lost when the crowd sounds like a well-disciplined choral society ready to perform\u2004<i>Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/i>\u2004rather than an opera.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-container"\" data-position=\""adhoc"\" hidden=\"\"> <h5 class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-title\" monetizer-title=\"\" style=\""background-color:\" color:=\"\"\/> <div id=\""monetizer__deals"\" data-type=\""price-comparison"\" data-config=\"'{"shopId":"1378","market":"gbp_en","template":"default","searchKeywords":"https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.co.uk\\\/Britten-Peter-Grimes-Benjamin\\\/dp\\\/B000000AYW\\\/ref=sr_1_1","excludeKeywords":"","geolocation":true,"limit":"4","priceRange":"9.8-18.2","sid":"term-classicalmusic-6-pcs-txt-pos"}'\"\/> <div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-explanatory-text\" body-copy-extra-small=\"\" editor-content=\"\"\/><\/div> <h3 class=\""p2"\"><span class=\""s1"\">Mark Wigglesworth (conductor)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\""p3"\"><strong><span class=\""s1"\">Anthony Dean Griffey, Vivian Tierney, Steven Page etc; Glyndebourne Chorus; London Philharmonic Orchestra (2000)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\""p3"\"><strong><span class=\""s2"\"><i>Glyndebourne GFOCD 008-00<span class=\""Apple-converted-space"\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\""p4"\"><span class=\""s2"\">Taped live over several performances, this recording has both advantages and some disadvantages that include noisy scenery changes. The tenor Anthony Dean Griffey has since built his reputation singing Grimes but here is a relatively early outing (his first?) in the role. Griffey, more than most tenors since Pears, seems ideally equipped vocally to perform the role, with both an attractive lyricism and moments of raw fury. He is joined by an adequate cast, Vivian Tierney as Ellen Orford sounding sweetly lyrical if rather a wet flannel. But Wigglesworth\u2019s conducting, for all the sonic beauty of the London Philharmonic\u2019s playing, often sounds cautious compared to Davis or Haitink, let alone Britten\u2019s vibrant sweep.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-container"\" data-position=\""adhoc"\" hidden=\"\"> <h5 class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-title\" monetizer-title=\"\" style=\""background-color:\" color:=\"\"\/> <div id=\""monetizer__deals"\" data-type=\""price-comparison"\" data-config=\"'{"shopId":"1378","market":"gbp_en","template":"default","searchKeywords":"https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.co.uk\\\/Britten-Grimes-London-Philharmonic-Orchestra\\\/dp\\\/B0040Y7EYC\\\/ref=sr_1_2?crid=22MPCFBC3ODYG&keywords=Mark+Wigglesworth+peter+grimes&qid=1648053126&sprefix=mark+wigglesworth+peter+grimes+%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-2","excludeKeywords":"","geolocation":true,"limit":"4","priceRange":"15.4-28.6","sid":"term-classicalmusic-6-pcs-txt-pos"}'\"\/> <div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-explanatory-text\" body-copy-extra-small=\"\" editor-content=\"\"\/><\/div> <h3>Steuart Bedford<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Alan Oke, Giselle Allen,\u00a0 The Chorus of Opera North, Chorus of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama; Britten-Pears Orchestra<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Who can turn skies back?\u2019 demands Peter Grimes. Well, the inventive film director, for one, who cleverly grafts extra moody Suffolk cloudscapes into this already unique performance, staged live to a pre-recorded orchestral track on Aldeburgh beach in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Undoubtedly the open-air acoustic and omnipresent head-mics create a mildly unnatural effect, slightly underpowering moments like Act I\u2019s great cry of \u2018Home!\u2019; but this is still a marvellously involving performance.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Scott Rohan awarded this recording the full five stars and you can <strong><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/reviews\/britten-peter-grimes-aldeburgh-beach\/"\">read his full review here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-container"\" data-position=\""adhoc"\" hidden=\"\"> <h5 class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-title\" monetizer-title=\"\" style=\""background-color:\" color:=\"\"\/> <div id=\""monetizer__deals"\" data-type=\""price-comparison"\" data-config=\"'{"shopId":"1378","market":"gbp_en","template":"default","searchKeywords":"https:\\\/\\\/www.amazon.co.uk\\\/Britten-Grimes-Aldeburgh-Arthaus-102179\\\/dp\\\/B00GCVWU4U\\\/ref=asc_df_B00GCVWU4U\\\/","excludeKeywords":"","geolocation":true,"limit":"4","priceRange":"14-26","sid":"term-classicalmusic-6-pcs-txt-pos"}'\"\/> <div class=\""monetizer__price-comparison-explanatory-text\" body-copy-extra-small=\"\" editor-content=\"\"\/><\/div> <iframe title=\""Spotify\" embed:=\"\" britten:=\"\" peter=\"\" grimes=\"\" style=\""border-radius:\" width=\""100%"\" height=\""380"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\""autoplay;\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" src=\""https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/1HRD6ADUaNIUlqPhJ7fTR0?utm_source=oembed"\"\/>\n<p><strong>We named Peter Grimes one of the <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/20-greatest-operas-all-time\/"\">greatest operas of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Daniel Jaff\u00e9 Published: Thursday, 24 March 2022 at 12:00 am Before its premiere on the night of 7 June 1945, the auspices were not good. Many of the singers at London\u2019s Sadler\u2019s Wells Opera Company were in mutinous mood, outraged that its first post-war production should be a \u2018cacophonous\u2019 work about a sociopathic fisherman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":13365,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/peter-grimes-the-best-recordings-of-brittens-famous-opera-scaled.jpg",2560,1828,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/peter-grimes-the-best-recordings-of-brittens-famous-opera-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/peter-grimes-the-best-recordings-of-brittens-famous-opera-300x214.jpg",300,214,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/peter-grimes-the-best-recordings-of-brittens-famous-opera-768x548.jpg",768,548,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/peter-grimes-the-best-recordings-of-brittens-famous-opera-1024x731.jpg",800,571,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/peter-grimes-the-best-recordings-of-brittens-famous-opera-1536x1097.jpg",1536,1097,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/peter-grimes-the-best-recordings-of-brittens-famous-opera-2048x1463.jpg",2048,1463,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Daniel Jaff\u00e9 Published: Thursday, 24 March 2022 at 12:00 am Before its premiere on the night of 7 June 1945, the auspices were not good. Many of the singers at London\u2019s Sadler\u2019s Wells Opera Company were in mutinous mood, outraged that its first post-war production should be a \u2018cacophonous\u2019 work about a sociopathic fisherman…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/13364"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}