Britten - Peter Grimes (The Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series)

The first viewing of this, one of my favorite operas, worked me up as though I were experiencing it for the first time. I've seen Vickers, I've heard Pears, I've seen a number of video performance by others (including Chris Ventris who was superb) but Griffey offers the finest Grimes in my experience. The sweetness and clarity of tone he brings to the role adds a level that enhanced the character to a degree almost unimaginable. The detail of the acting of each role simply mind boggling and completely believable. Often one gets tremendous "acting" performances which can make me forgive some vocal shortcomings, but here each role was sung with such precision and beauty and music and text wedded sublimely.

I also enjoyed Dessay's introduction, especially just as the performance was ready to
begin as she warns us to settle in for "the sad, horrible story of Peter Grimes."

It's a different beast watching it on screen than in the house, (of course), and I wonder if this is one of those productions better served by seeing it on screen than on stage. As a "movie" the set was simply tremendous and a perfect vehicle to display all the many characters that inhabit the Borough. The screen captures an intimacy not quite possible if one was forced to stare at the set the entire time, our eyes relieved and training on specific details rather than having to pick them out from the "whole." Generally, I'm less
inclined to like this than live, but this one really, really worked.

Patricia Racette is simply stunning as Ellen. No singer today sings in English like this girl. Every word, even on some of those (few) high notes was understandable and filled with meaning. I loved what she talked about during her interview of being able to sing in her native tongue and be able to put across the subtexts which isn't always possible - or
at least as "natural" as when singing in a foreign language. Her face displayed every emotion as well as her voice, her body language strong and sure. This was not wilting violet (not that I'm accusing any of the many wonderful Ellen's I've seen were) but she brought a force of strength from the get go. Her standing up to the community at the beginning was powerful, powerful music theatre - just riveting. My friends who went with me have never seen her before and my buddy's wife commented "I couldn't take my eyes off of her . . . and that voice, oh my God!"

I kept hearing that Teddy Tahu Rhodes stole every scene he was in, and I was thrilled to see pretty much the case today. His Ned was terrific. I've liked this guy for a little while now and it's wicked fun seeing him make such a strong debut at the Met!

Jill Groves as Auntie was right up there as well. What a big, sexy gal she is and her mannerisms, voice, costume, everything was the perfect Auntie.

Mr. Michaels Moore has been bumpy for me throughout the number of times I've seen and heard him, but I always like him. Today was one of the best performances I've heard from this guy - tremendous.

I'm becoming, more and more, a huge fan of Mr. Del Carlo and it's fun to see him in a number of these Met outings. Those mutton chops today almost stole the show!

Runnicles. Wow. What an amazing way he has with this score, living and breathing it and getting from that amazing orchestra a superb, thrilling reading. Every nuance and detail was breathtaking - from the "hurly burly" wild moments to the most hushed and introspective sounding.

There are too many moments to single out when something comes through as perfectly as did this.

The chorus. Holy Smoke! They were astonishing in every single detail. This is one of those "chorus" operas and the Met should be justifiably proud of the work Mr. Palumbo has done.

I tried not to cry, and held up well during the big "Grimes" chorus, but Griffey's mad scene opened up the floodgates. To see him tears in his eyes mixing with his sweat rolling down his face, I pulled away for a millisecond and back to reality thinking "this guy really thinks he's Peter Grimes." Well, so did I!

The intermission feature includes a brief trip to Aldeborough who were receiving their first Met cinemeacast - when this HD presentation first aired. We go along the nearby beaches as well as the Britten/Pears house. It was powerfully moving to catch sight of their unadorned graves with their simple headstones in the graveyard.

This DVD jumps to the head of the list! Highly recommended.

I first saw this production of Peter Grimes when the Met broadcast it to movie theatres in March and vowed I would purchase the DVD when it became available. From the stark set of the poor fishing village to the wonderful performance by Anthony Dean Griffey in the lead role to the great sound of the orchestra under Donald Runnicles, bringing to life Britten's evocative score, the entire performace was mesmerizing. I highly recommend this DVD.

The Met's HD production of "Peter Grimes" packs a lot of power and brings the brooding musicality of Benjamin Britten's 1945 operatic masterwork to life. The cast is uniformly fine vocally and dramatically, though people who remember Jon Vickers in his full-voiced portrayal of the titular anti-hero may find Anthony Dean Griffey's tenor light and reedy by comparison. Nonetheless, he is compelling in his portrayal of Grime's anguished internal pre-occupations, and the rest of the cast brings theatrical and vocal specificity to their roles as inhabitants of The Borough. Patricia Racette gives a heart-wrenching performance as Ellen Orford, the widowed school mistress who tries to befriend the embattled Peter. John Doyle's stage direction is strong in developing the characters, and in maximizing the dramatic impact of the choruses, but is often rendered static by the constraints of the uniwall black on black set. The real heroes, though, are conductor Donald Runnicles and the incomparable Met orchestra, who capture Britten's miraculous sonic evocation of the sea and its parallel storms in the minds of those who, like the fisherman Grimes, try to eke out a precarious livelihood from it.

This is the most brilliant operatic production I have ever seen, and it firmly established Benjamin Britten's well-deserved reputation in my mind. The set and costumes were perfect, the music direction was stunning, and the performers blew it out of the water, and I say these things with the addition that I am not an easy sell. Ever since the Met introduced me to Benjamin Britten, I have been enjoying his other works, notably his war requiem. If more composers focused on the virtue of relevance, opera would enjoy an upsurge of interest in the fine arts community.

I saw this performance at the MET and it was my first "Grimes" but probably not my last. I had owned a copy of the Jon Vickers CD for many years before really taking the time to listen to it. The CD recording grabbed me with the first interlude (which is very haunting and makes a perfect ending to the opera). I liked the MET's "advent calender" wall set, a little claustrophobic at times but certainly a different way to go. Anthony Dean Griffey, Patricia Racette and the supporting cast are excellent.