London, UK – Peter Grimes

Conducted by Jakub Hrůša
Cast
Peter Grimes – Allan Clayton
Ellen Orford – Maria Bengtsson
Captain Balstrode – Bryn Terfel
Swallow – Clive Bayley
Ned Keene – Jacques Imbrailo
Auntie – Catherine Wyn-Rogers
Mrs Sedley – Christine Rice
Bob Boles – John Graham-Hall
Hobson – Barnaby Rea
Rev. Horace Adams – James Gilchrist
First Niece – Jennifer France
Second Niece – Natalia Labourdette
Royal Opera Chorus
Chorus Director – William Spaulding
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Creatives
Music – Benjamin Britten
Libretto – Montagu Slater
Director – Deborah Warner
Set designer – Michael Levine
Costume designer – Luis F. Carvalho
Lighting designer – Peter Mumford
Choreographer – Kim Brandstrup

Venue note
Britten’s brooding opera returns. Deborah Warner’s staging foregrounds the vulnerability and volatility of the shunned Peter Grimes, and the tragic conflict between the individual and group.

A storm is brewing
The tenor Allan Clayton is performing as Peter Grimes in The Royal Opera’s Peter Grimes. He is barefoot, lying on the stage dressed in dirty yellow fishing overalls, a dark blue plaid shirt and a navy beanie hat, as though he is asleep. Fishing nets are draped over his body like a blanket. Behind him a chorus of performers stands in darkness holding torches.
Peter Grimes, a fisherman in a small coastal town, is accused of mistreating his apprentice, who has died under mysterious circumstances at sea. Though cleared of legal guilt, he faces the judgment and hostility of the villagers. Determined to prove himself, Peter takes on another young apprentice. But against the harshness of the sea and increasing pressure from the village, his fragile grip on reality begins to crumble. Tragedy strikes again when the second apprentice dies. Consumed by guilt and madness, the alienated Peter returns to the sea.

Background
Allan Clayton, Bryn Terfel and Maria Bengtsson star in Britten’s bleak operatic parable, in which the dark undercurrents of paranoia and mob mentality lead to a turbulent, haunting end. Deborah Warner’s (Billy Budd, Wozzeck) stunning contemporary staging – which had its premiere in 2022, as part of The Royal Opera’s Britten Cycle – illuminates the humanity of the shunned Grimes, while Britten’s evocative score pulses with dread and tension as the villagers close in on their troubled outcast. Music Director of The Royal Opera Jakub Hrůša conducts.

Benjamin Britten
Britten’s work is often characterised by its emotional richness, technical brilliance and ability to connect human drama with larger natural and social forces. Reoccurring elements – thematic motifs, atmospheric orchestration and psychological insight – infuse his operas with layers of meaning, allowing for deeper exploration into the minds of his protagonists. Though rooted in tonality, Britten frequently employs dissonance to heighten tension and portray psychological complexity. Listen out for Peter Grimes’ aria ‘Now the Great Bear and Pleiades’, which uses unconventional harmonic shifts to reflect the fisherman’s alienation and inner turmoil.