Product Description

Royal Opera Chorus. Peter Grimes was the work that established Benjamin Britten as a major musical force when it was first performed in 1945. It is now universally acknowledged as one of the twentieth century's finest operas. In this performance Canadian tenor Jon Vickers - internationally acclaimed for his portrayal of Grimes - heads a cast that gives vivid life to this masterpiece.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68717 in DVD
• Brand: VICKERS,JON
• Released on: 2003-11-18
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 155 minutes

Amazon.com
More than half a century after stunning the music world at its 1945 premiere (just a month after the war had ended in Europe), Peter Grimes still overwhelms. It's anchored itself as arguably one of the top 10 works of music theater from postwar Europe. And you can easily experience why in a performance as focused, thrilling, and emotionally compelling as the present one (from the second Covent Garden production, mounted in 1975), with a cast of world-class Britten interpreters. A measure of the opera's artistic depth is the simple fact of how compendious it is, convincing in fundamentally divergent accounts, such as the original canonical Britten-Pears interpretation.

At a far remove here is the equally legendary Peter Grimes of Canadian tenor Jon Vickers. Even distilled via a home theater system, you get a good sense of why so many longtime opera-goers still recall his live performances of the role as a touchstone of operatic power. Vickers brings his huge frame and voice to bear on all the contradictions that make this outcast so strangely repulsive and moving at the same time. His Grimes isn't merely a victim. This fisherman is implacably misunderstood, feverishly ambitious, gruff, gifted with a touch of the poet yet unable to connect, and ultimately--in a tour de force of vocal acting--hounded to madness by the centrifugal energy of his complex personality.

Heather Harper exudes convincing compassion as Ellen Orford, the woman who hopes to save Grimes through her love, but she also voices a clear brand of fatalism that intriguingly links her to the townsfolk of the Borough, failing to see a way to break free from the pattern. Norman Bailey's Capt. Balstrode is a realist who tries his hardest to understand Grimes. The role of the Royal Opera Chorus in venting the village collective is crucial and effective--whether in innocent merrymaking, as a kind of Greek chorus, or as a malevolent moral majority in need of its scapegoat. A younger Colin Davis proves why he became known as a Britten specialist, leading a forceful, dynamic performance that explodes with violence and is keenly sympathetic to the score's symphonic web of texture. Elisha Moshinksy (who made his Covent Garden debut with this production) directs with grim and powerful delineation against a pared-down stage-set of boardwalk that becomes alternatively claustrophobic and barren, while Britten's brilliant music keeps the seascape ever present in the mind's ear and eye. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews

Extraordinary theater!
I find it amazing that no one has bought this dvd or just hasn't taken the time to share comments on the performance. The staging is austere but very effective. The singing is excellent right down to the smallest rolls. And Vickers owns the role of Peter Grimes probably for ever. Granted his voice is not to everyone's taste but we can say this about any major singer. Colin Davis does great by the orchestra and everyone is in stride with the drama of the piece. I hoped this doens't become an underated and under appreciated performance. It deserves much more. This dvd belongs in every one's collection even if they don't like mid twentieth century opera. This is a classic!

seaworthy
To the casual listener, Britten may be an acquired taste. And this opera is probably the most accessible of all Britten's works - in other words, a good place to start. In my opinion, it's an unforgettable experience, one that only grows on you with rehearing.

It's a grim story of a fisherman ill at ease with others. He's lost an apprentice at sea and is suspected of having physcally abused the boy. While one woman, Ellen Orford, tries to be his friend, the village gives him no room in their busy, opinionated, suspicious world. He is a monster, unwelcome in their tight little society, a creature to be feared and shunned. When Grimes acquires a new apprentice we know the results will be tragic.

In this recording, the title role is portrayed by Jon Vickers who made this one of his personal triumphs. To see it as well as hear the magnificent singing more than doubles the satisfaction of the performance.

I remember hearing the premiere radio broadcast of this piece from the Met when I was a teenager - I'm in my 70's now. Even then its strange story mesmerized me. Now, after many hearings, it is a joy to finally see what my imagination could not conjure up.

This performance is intense, focused, brooding, in every way "seaworthy" for anyone who turns to opera for a musical experience that is both beautiful and terrible. The fate of Peter Grimes will stay with you long after the credits have run.

Peter Grimes
I was incredibly moved by this DVD. Peter Grimes is a masterpiece, one of the all time great operas. Britten's music has the dark orchestration of Verdi, the lushness of Puccini, but he brings it all together into his own unique and thoroughly modern sound. John Vickers is sometimes painful to watch, so deeply does he invoke the tormented soul-searching of the title character. Perhaps no opera since Otello(with the exception perhaps of Strauss' Elektra and Berg's Wozzeck) has captured alienation so well, but Peter Grimes is even more alone than Verdi's title character. Like Otello, as well as Elektra and Wozzeck, Grimes is unsympathetic in a lot of ways, but that's what makes him human, and we feel for him just the same. This production is just exquisite.