DCist Goes to the Opera: Peter Grimes
Christopher Ventris as Peter Grimes, Washington National Opera, photo by Karin Cooper
Washington National Opera opened its first-ever production of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes on Saturday night. The house was not sold out and emptied slightly after each intermission. The operas of Britten, as analyzed in some detail by Anne Midgette in the Post, do not have the same broad appeal to listeners who prefer their opera in familiar form. This is in spite of the fact that Britten is one of the more traditionally minded opera composers of the 20th century, if you compare his operas with Berg, Messiaen, and Ligeti, for example. In fact, Grimes should be the antidote for those who dislike opera because the plots are so often absurd and sacrifice dramatic realism to musical and especially vocal excesses. Although the story is drawn from a 19th-century source, its tale of a social outcast persecuted by a closed and oppressive society was directly related to the composer's life: Benjamin Britten and his partner, the tenor Peter Pears, who created the role of Grimes, were not only closeted homosexuals but committed pacifists, which made life very difficult in WWII-era Great Britain.
Overseen by Britten and Pears, Montagu Slater adapted the libretto (.PDF file) from a bleak story in George Crabbe's poem The Borough, a set of 24 letters about a village in Suffolk (Letter 22 is about Peter Grimes). Britten found the story when he and Pears had fled the war to the United States, and at least part of the appeal of the Suffolk setting, which was also Britten's natal landscape, was thoughts of home. The sounds of the sea, pervading the score in six famous interludes, were part of Britten's plan from the beginning. That music is the incarnation of the mothering yet also menacing presence of the sea, which threatens literally to swallow the coastline of the borough and eventually does consume Grimes. Britten and Pears worked together to give the character of Grimes a rather different shape, a social outcast who longs for acceptance but can never find it in the hostile, gossip-governed borough. The chorus of citizens insists on their own moralizing superiority when they pass judgment on Grimes, but their hypocrisy is revealed as they commit their own sins of drinking, drug use, and sexual depravity.
Patricia Racette as Ellen Orford and Cast in Peter Grimes, Washington National Opera (photo by Karin Cooper)
The casting is among the best this season, second perhaps to Lucrezia Borgia, with the three lead roles sung expertly and with dramatic heft. Patricia Racette, returning to Washington after a noteworthy debut in Jenůfa two years ago, was dramatically affecting, a warm Ellen Orford with just the right amount of misguided maternal hunger. She was especially luminous in the softer moments, like the gorgeous Embroidery Aria and the women's quartet, turning a little strident and underpowered in the louder passages. Alan Held, a local favorite with a real career, was a luxury casting as Captain Balstrode, the kindly counterpart to his other recent sea-faring role, the cursed captain of the Flying Dutchman. Tenor Christopher Ventris had plenty of voice for the title role, although a few cracks were evident toward the end, but it was an oddly reticent performance, good but not great. Ilan Volkov, who has made modern music a sort of calling card as in his recent appearance with the National Symphony Orchestra, had a secure grip on the score, although he was able to draw only so much from the orchestra, which played just fine (some issues in the clarinets and oboes aside) if a little carefully. The star of the evening was the Bible-thumping chorus, directed so ably by Steven Gathman and mixing seamlessly with a generally strong supporting cast, especially local favorites like John Marcus Bindel (Hobson) and character tenor Robert Baker (a fey Rev. Adams).
Washington National Opera's production of Peter Grimes continues for four more performances through April 4. At the time of writing, only the March 29 matinee has sold out.