A powerful Peter Grimes in Edinburgh

By David Smythe, 14 August 2017

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“The orchestra played as if blown across the North Sea from Norway by a huge monster of a storm”

Reviewed at Usher Hall, Edinburgh on 13 August 2017

Britten, Peter Grimes (Concert performance)

Edward Gardner, Conductor

Stuart Skelton, Peter Grimes

Erin Wall, Ellen Orford

Christopher Purves, Captain Balstrode

Susan Bickley, Auntie

Robert Murray, Bob Boles

Hanna Husáhr, First Niece

Vibeke Kristensen, Second Niece

Barnaby Rea, Hobson

James Gilchrist, Rev Horace Adams

Andrew Greenan, Swallow

Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Mrs Sedley

Marcus Farnsworth, Ned Keene

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Edvard Grieg Choir

Frauenliebe und -sterben: Kratzer’s triple bill at Staatsoper Hamburg

Mengguang Huang, 15th April

Director Tobias Kratzer engineers a haunting pasticcio of Schumann, Bartók and Zemlinsky, tracing the domestic sphere’s shift from romantic surrender to the blood-soaked secrets of a century-spanning house.

****1

Diamonds and steel: Anna Pirozzi rules in La Scala’s Turandot revival

Laura Servidei, 12th April

Visually enchanting and meticulously staged, this centenary revival confirms Livermore's production as a modern classic.

****1

Regents Opera’s Salome lands a knockout punch at York Hall

Mark Pullinger, 10th April

Mark Ravenhill directs a brutal, bloody Salome for Regents Opera at the spiritual home of British boxing, York Hall.

****1

Art imitates art in ETO’s bracing new Pagliacci

Dominic Lowe, 10th April

Divorced from Cavalleria rusticana, English Touring Opera’s contemporary take on Leoncavallo’s masterpiece ticks all the boxes.

****1

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Innocence: Saariaho’s final opera receives New York premiere

Kurt Gottschalk, 6th April

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.

*****

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David Smythe

David the farmer was drawn into music through choirs, orchestras, taking part in and directing 'serious' opera as a student. Passionate about live classical music, particularly chamber opera, unusual pieces and events and giving the next generation the tools to engage with the classical world.

Edward Gardner and the Bergen Phil storm the Edinburgh Festival with a powerful Peter Grimes