Gregory Kunde leads Wiener Staatsoper’s shattering revival of Billy Budd

Wiener Staatsoper’s revival of Billy Budd, in an iconic 2001 production by Willy Decker, features a role debut by a 70-year-old American tenor in the shape of Gregory Kunde as Captain Vere. Solid in his mastery of the idioms of Benjamin Britten’s picturesque and yet deeply psychological music, stylish and powerful in voice, Kunde created a multi dimensional figure whose reminiscences of the execution of young recruit Budd aboard a battleship, for inciting mutiny and committing murder, bookend the opera. 

Starting with a seemingly simple monologue, “I am an old man…”, Vere’s youthful confidence as a leader and protector of law and order goes through doubts and regrets. Unable and unwilling to save the young sailor’s life, Kunde’s Vere is a broken man at the end, seeking solace and redemption. It was a masterclass in storytelling via singing and acting, a breathtaking and heartbreaking performance. Kunde’s voice cut through the orchestra like a sharp knife as needed; yet he sang with warmth and beauty in quiet moments. A charismatic presence on stage, he held the audience’s attention throughout.

The entire opera takes place on the sea, and Decker stages the action in a simple but striking set of white floor and black/grey back panels. The panels move, open and close to depict the upper and lower decks of the ship and the captain’s quarters. The ocean is indicated in the back of stage but seems almost an afterthought. The focus is squarely on the ship and its men. The male chorus, that serves a crucial function of commenting on and reacting to dramatic developments, is directed with precise movements to enhance the foreboding and tense atmosphere of a claustrophobic ship. While the sailors are in sombre dark grey garbs, Billy bursts onto the scene wearing a crisp white sailor suit, emphasising his special nature as an innocent. He never loses his trust in the goodness of men to the end, truly a beautiful, handsome and good character, as he is repeatedly described in the opera.

Huw Montague Rendall, singing Billy, inhabited the character as a naive and gullible object of the master of arms John Claggart’s hatred. His slender baritone took some time to warm up, especially in the crowd scene, but he sang with commitment and clarity. Billy’s last aria, before his execution for murdering Claggart in frustrated rage, was sung with plaintive longing and resignation, a beautiful homage to his own short life. The role of Claggart was depicted by marvellous British bass Brindley Sherratt as a man with an inferiority complex, who prefers to destroy the beauty and innocence rather than embracing it. His aria towards the end of Act 2, often compared to Iago’s “Credo” in Verdi’s Otello, was a tour de force demonstration of singing with subdued but sinister anger.

The opera’s many secondary roles of officers and sailors were well sung, with standouts including Adrian Eröd as Mr. Redburn and Dan Paul Dumitrescu as Dansker. Another debutant, conductor Mark Wigglesworth, led the virtuosic players of Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera with deep understanding of Britten‘s musical language. The ocean, the wind, the ship and its movements were all clearly articulated as a backdrop of the human tragedy that unfolds, with dark percussion sounds, eloquent strings including memorable cello solos, chirping woodwinds and oppressive brass. Brief musical passages between scenes, especially in Acts 3 and 4, were conducted and played with impressive beauty and incisiveness.

But the evening belonged to the trio of singers, working with seamless coordination and clear chemistry. Kunde’s unforgettable role debut as a morally ambiguous figure was anchored by the Good of Rendall and the Evil of Sherratt. Decker’s timeless production was another contributor to the splendid evening.