Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes
Jonathan Swain presents a production of Britten's Peter Grimes, recorded at the Theater an der Wien. In one of the most important operas of the 20th Century, Britten turns the sadistic fisherman from the original Crabbe poem into a more ambiguous, tortured individual, despised by the local community after the suspicious death of his apprentice and with only Ellen Orford, the school mistress, as his supporter. Joseph Kaiser and Agneta Eichenholz lead the cast in a musical picture of the intrigue and prejudices within a small English fishing town, dominated by the ever-present sea.
Peter Grimes ..... Joseph Kaiser (tenor)
Ellen Orford ..... Agneta Eichenholz (soprano)
Auntie ..... Hanna Schwarz (contralto)
Balstrode ..... Andrew Foster-Williams (baritone)
Mrs Sedley ..... Rosalind Plowright (mezzo-soprano)
Swallow ..... Stefan Cerny (bass)
Bob Boles ..... Andreas Conrad (tenor)
Ned Keene ..... Tobias Greenhaigh (baritone)
Rev Horace Adams ..... Erik Arman (tenor)
Hobson ..... Lukas Jakobski (bass)
John ..... Gieorgij Puchalski (silent role)
Niece 1 ..... Kiandra Howarth (soprano)
Niece 2 ..... Frederikke Kampmann (soprano)
The Arnold Schoenberg Chorus
ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra
Cornelius Meister (conductor).
Broadcast: 28 May 2016
Duration: 3 hours
Also: BBC Radio Three opera guide to Peter Grimes
First Broadcast: 24 August 2012
Duration: 4 minutes
