22.11.2012
For the First Time in Russia: Billy Budd
24, 25, and 26 January
The Mikhailovsky Theatre is preparing for a joint production of Billy Budd with the Vienna State Opera. The opera is one of the most important works in the musical legacy of Benjamin Britten, whose centenary will be celebrated in 2013.
Billy Budd has never previously been staged in Russia. It is an extraordinary, enticing work that is unlike any other in world opera. The opera was first performed at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden in December 1951. In the six decades since then Billy Budd has featured in the repertoires of major opera houses, including the English National Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Palais Garnier. “Billy Budd is opera in the grand manner, with a pulsing, urgent score, massed choral scenes for the sailors, intricate ensembles and lush writing for a large orchestra”, noted the New York Times reviewer after a US premier of the production. “Yet Britten also presents a piercing psychological study of good and evil, innocence and twisted envy, and the ambiguity of attraction. Whole stretches of the score are vocally intimate and transparently orchestrated”.
The libretto is based on Herman Melville’s novella about events on board HMS Bellipotent. At Britten’s request, the libretto was written by the novelist E.M. Forster, an expert on Melville’s work; his co-author was Eric Crozier. There are 20 characters in the opera, all of them men. In the stifling atmosphere of the ship and the strict regulations of this ‘male’ world, there is an increasing sense of unease which suddenly explodes into a thunderous drama. The sailor Billy Budd is a favourite with the crew; Claggart, the ship’s Master-at-Arms, cultivates feelings for the simple-hearted youth that frighten him. Powerless to cope with these feelings, he incites the young sailor to take part in a mutiny and, when Billy refuses, Claggart slanders him. This anxiety makes Billy stammer; unable to speak out and plead his innocence, he strikes Claggart in fury, a blow which turns out to be fatal. Captain Vere has no choice but to sentence the sailor to hang, even though the decision brings him great moral suffering. The crew wants to free Billy by force, but the young sailor is convinced that the captain should be forgiven, and the mutiny subsides.
In presenting Britten’s opera in Russia for the first time, the Mikhailovsky Theatre is recreating the Vienna State Opera’s production of 2001. Willy Decker, one of today’s most successful opera directors, who staged the production in Vienna, will personally stage the new version of the opera in St. Petersburg. Critics rated the Vienna production very highly, calling it “austere and elegant” and remarked on “the freedom it gives the performers in the interpretation of their roles”. The scenery and costumes for the production were designed by Wolfgang Gussmann. The creators of the production took the story, which is set in the late 18th century, out of its historical context in order to focus the audience’s attention on the essence of the moral conflict. The Musical Director of the production is Mikhail Tatarnikov.
Billy Budd has never previously been staged in Russia. It is an extraordinary, enticing work that is unlike any other in world opera. The opera was first performed at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden in December 1951. In the six decades since then Billy Budd has featured in the repertoires of major opera houses, including the English National Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Palais Garnier. “Billy Budd is opera in the grand manner, with a pulsing, urgent score, massed choral scenes for the sailors, intricate ensembles and lush writing for a large orchestra”, noted the New York Times reviewer after a US premier of the production. “Yet Britten also presents a piercing psychological study of good and evil, innocence and twisted envy, and the ambiguity of attraction. Whole stretches of the score are vocally intimate and transparently orchestrated”.
The libretto is based on Herman Melville’s novella about events on board HMS Bellipotent. At Britten’s request, the libretto was written by the novelist E.M. Forster, an expert on Melville’s work; his co-author was Eric Crozier. There are 20 characters in the opera, all of them men. In the stifling atmosphere of the ship and the strict regulations of this ‘male’ world, there is an increasing sense of unease which suddenly explodes into a thunderous drama. The sailor Billy Budd is a favourite with the crew; Claggart, the ship’s Master-at-Arms, cultivates feelings for the simple-hearted youth that frighten him. Powerless to cope with these feelings, he incites the young sailor to take part in a mutiny and, when Billy refuses, Claggart slanders him. This anxiety makes Billy stammer; unable to speak out and plead his innocence, he strikes Claggart in fury, a blow which turns out to be fatal. Captain Vere has no choice but to sentence the sailor to hang, even though the decision brings him great moral suffering. The crew wants to free Billy by force, but the young sailor is convinced that the captain should be forgiven, and the mutiny subsides.
In presenting Britten’s opera in Russia for the first time, the Mikhailovsky Theatre is recreating the Vienna State Opera’s production of 2001. Willy Decker, one of today’s most successful opera directors, who staged the production in Vienna, will personally stage the new version of the opera in St. Petersburg. Critics rated the Vienna production very highly, calling it “austere and elegant” and remarked on “the freedom it gives the performers in the interpretation of their roles”. The scenery and costumes for the production were designed by Wolfgang Gussmann. The creators of the production took the story, which is set in the late 18th century, out of its historical context in order to focus the audience’s attention on the essence of the moral conflict. The Musical Director of the production is Mikhail Tatarnikov.
