Britten: Billy Budd

Nail-biting drama on the high seas
This new recording of Britten's Billy Budd from Glyndebourne can be recommended without hesitation. I don't have much to add to what the previous reviewer already said. There is no weak link in the (all-male) cast, but John Mark Ainsley and Jacques Imbrailo should be singled out anyway - they are both amazing in their parts. Chorus and orchestra are excellent, as is Mark Elder - another one of the great recordings with this conductor. Even if you know the plot, this recording plays almost like a mystery story and keeps you at the edge of the seat... Particularly impressive is the set; the transitions from deck to cabin and back are stunning. It's good to see that this opera is now out on a state-of-the-art blu-ray. The old BBC version of this opera with Peter Pears is great, too, not just from a historical perspective, but this new recording might well be the new gold standard. With the good mixture of close-ups and views of the entire stage, it works well on the screen, but...

A Gem! Can we now expect a Peter Grimes?
This is a magnificent production. The best production of Britten operas' currently in the DVD/Blu ray catalogue.

Realistic, period sets and costumes bring us to the time of the opera. Lighting and video direction do justice to the visual aspects of the production.

Jacques Imbrailo brings the innocence of Billy Bud causing the viewer to sympathize and share the hero's feelings throughout. Phillip Ens may not be as sinister and unsympathetic a Claggart as Michael Langdon was in the Mackerras/Pears set Britten: Billy Budd, but still he is a daemonic schemer,plotting against Budd. John Mark Ainsley,in the role of Captain Vere, inevitably triggers comparison with Peter Pears in the above set. He may not have the aristocratic class of Pears and he does not quite become as sympathetic a figure as his peer, still he serves the role with adequacy.

Picture is of top quality and sound is...

Outstanding, near-definitive production
Mark Elder, the conductor for this production of Billy Budd at Glyndebourne 2010 notes that all Britten's opera works are in some way about the loss of innocence. It's an interesting observation that, if too neat and reductive a way to describe the qualities and the approach that Britten takes on the subject in Billy Budd, at least shows that it's a personal theme that means something to the composer. Elder, of course, isn't intending to summarise the power and complexity of this opera or Britten's work in a single phrase, and his deep understanding of the wider themes of Billy Budd is evident in his conducting of this remarkable production.

More than just being about the loss of innocence, it's the different manner in which that innocence is corrupted in each of Britten's operas (Peter Grimes, The Turn of the Screw), that makes them such intriguing works, works that are consequently capable of creating a deep impression on the listener. And although on the surface,...

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