From its opening on 7th June 1945 everyone has acknowledged the significance of Peter Grimes as a seminal work in English music and world opera. Its unique blend of lyricism, spiky neo-classicism, telling moments and heart-breaking poignancy have moved all but the stoniest of heart. Yet almost from the start a style grew up so powerful were Britten and Pears at preserving their stamp on subsequent performances. One of the most striking aspects of David Alden’s new ENO production and Edward Gardner’s masterly handling of the magnificent score is that one seems to hear the work again for the first time. I cannot think that anyone will outdo the ferocity with which Gardner makes the storm interlude burst upon our ears and nerves. It was almost frightening.
      David Alden’s production is crammed with new ideas and perspectives. The date is ambivalent. Some characters such as Auntie and Ned Keene are transported to the 1920s. Grimes, Mrs Sedley and Ellen are harder to date since their costumes could place them anywhere between Crabbe’s Borough (1810) and the late 19th century. This mixing of appearances only serves to underline the timelessness of the characters. They are both real and archetypal. Mrs Sedley is the hypocritical moral voice of the village, gossiping and accusing, at the same time being a drug addict. Auntie is superbly translated to being a 1920s lesbian with her male clothing and limp. Like Grimes she now appears an outsider, and her nieces drop in age from teenage prostitutes to under-age ingénues ignorant of the drama unfolding around them.
      It would be hard to list all the outstanding moments in the production, but some cannot go unremarked. Act 1 Scene 1 takes place indoors which at first I thought was going to displace the sea from its central as one of the powerful metaphors of the plot. But not so. Tables get turned to a mock-sea, but more importantly enclosed brings out another aspect, that of the inward-looking, claustrophobic aspects of the tight-knit community. As said above, when the storm hits only bit by bit can the villagers escape into the relative safety of the inn.
      Another remarkable moment in the 2nd act is maintenance of the Alden’s view of Grimes’s ambivalence is in his hut when he is bailing out the rope which is preventing his new apprentice from falling down the 40 foot cliff. Panicked by the approaching lynch-mob he lets go of the rope. The boy falls, but who was really to blame? Grimes for his lack of presence of mind or the crowd for terrifying him. This is a magnificent coup de theatre. There are many more.
Musically the performance is the match of the production. Vocally and dramatically the chorus is like a crouching tiger. It’s volume is almost overwhelming and the ominous way it surges forward in the trial, after church and on the way to punish Grimes is magnificent. Stuart Skelton is superb as Grimes. Once again his voice and stage-presence suggests his entrapment between his visions and his exclusion from the village. He is its scape-goat, but he is not without blame, not least for his carelessness towards his apprentices. Skelton’s Grimes shows burly defiance yet self-obsessed determination. On the opposite side is the tenderness, the pity of Ellen Orford sung so poignantly by Amanda Roocroft. Once again, Alden emphasizes here ‘outsiderness’ and this Roocroft captures with many nuances in her wonderful performance. Gerald Finley’s Captain Balstrode is equally strong, mixing resolution with sympathy: acting and singing share his strengths.
      Apart from one or two intonation hiccoughs right at the start all the other roles are strongly cast, acted and sung. This makes for a superb theatrical evening. But musically it is perhaps even more striking. Edward Gardner’s view of the score pays little attention to the army of predecessors. The orchestra, chorus and soloists are galvanized into an electricity that produces a frisson throughout the opera house from the start. I have hardly ever heard the first sea interlude or the passacaglia so movingly played nor seem so much to illumine the interior world of the opera.
      A word needs to be appended about lighting (Adam Silverman) and Sets (Paul Steinberg). Again superb. The bleakness of the sea-determined village is suggested by few props and scenery. A wide sky and quay-side is all, but the space made available allows characters psychologically separated to be physically ‘miles apart’ on stage. Despite the better weather in Act 2’s sunny morning there is always a suggestion of the bleak atmosphere that seems to push the villagers into their way of life. Act 3 Scene 1 uses the minimal set to great effect.
      This is a truly outstanding production of a great operatic masterpiece. It needs to be seen.
Roderick Swanston