The Met in HD, Peter Grimes, 2008

By Richard Wilcocks, 25 November 2013

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“Full of satisfyingly startling contrasts”

Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 1 December 2013

Britten, Peter Grimes

Metropolitan Opera

Sir Donald Runnicles, Conductor

Patricia Racette, Ellen Orford

Anthony Dean Griffey, Peter Grimes

Anthony Michaels-Moore, Captain Balstrode

Dame Felicity Palmer, Mrs Sedley

Jill Grove, Auntie

Greg Fedderly, Bob Boles

Bernard Fitch, Rev Horace Adams

Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Ned Keene

John Del Carlo, Swallow

John Doyle, Director

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At the Metropolitan Opera, Innocence proves a gripping and perhaps divisive piece which feels real because it is a reflection of our reality, with no realistic hope of finding peace.

*****

Tristan und Isolde at the Met: staging gets in the way of the music

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***11

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*****

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*****

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*****

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The Metropolitan Opera kicks off this season’s revival of Umberto Giordano’s tempestuous melodrama with standout performances from a resplendent cast.

****1

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Richard Wilcocks

Richard Wilcocks has worked as a journalist, as a teacher and for the British Council. He sings bass with Leeds Festival Chorus.