Royal Opera House: Linbury TheatreBow Street
Covent Garden, London, Greater London, WC2E 9DD, United Kingdom
Dates/times in London time zone
Programme
| Britten, Benjamin (1913-1976) | Albert Herring | Libretto by Eric Crozier |
Performers
| English Touring Opera | ||
| Aurora Orchestra | ||
| Michael Rosewell | Conductor | |
| Christopher Rolls | Director | |
| Mark Wilde | Tenor | Albert Herring |
| Jennifer Rhys-Davies | Soprano | Lady Billows |
| Rosie Aldridge | Soprano | Florence Pike |
| Anna-Clare Monk | Soprano | Miss Wordsworth |
| Charles Johnston | Bass | Mr Gedge |
| Colin Judson | Tenor | Mr Upfold |
| Timothy Dawkins | Bass | Superintendent Budd |
| Charles Rice | Baritone | Sid |
| Martha Jones | Mezzo-soprano | Nancy |
| Clarissa Meek | Mezzo-soprano | Mrs. Herring |
Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring has become a classic, comic depiction of English village life. Full of character, matching humour with psychological insight, it describes the election by village committee of a shy local lad in a grocer’s shop as May King – a title normally awarded as May Queen to a virtuous girl, but no one matches up to the exacting standards of virtue held by Lady Billows. Naturally, the crowning of the May King does not go quite as planned, and poor (or lucky) Albert Herring ends up straying rather far from the path of virtue.
A genuinely hilarious satire with undertones of melancholy, Albert Herring is a village masterpiece, with a score of great beauty. ETO’s new production is conducted by Michael Rosewell, a Britten expert, and directed by Christopher Rolls; the cast includes a splendid group of experienced singers and actors as Lady Billows (Jennifer Rhys-Davies) and her committee, with Mark Wilde in the title role as the youth they judge so severely.
New production, sung in English
Running time: 2 hours and 15 minutes
A genuinely hilarious satire with undertones of melancholy, Albert Herring is a village masterpiece, with a score of great beauty. ETO’s new production is conducted by Michael Rosewell, a Britten expert, and directed by Christopher Rolls; the cast includes a splendid group of experienced singers and actors as Lady Billows (Jennifer Rhys-Davies) and her committee, with Mark Wilde in the title role as the youth they judge so severely.
New production, sung in English
Running time: 2 hours and 15 minutes
