Britten: Owen Wingrave
Benjamin Britten's Owen Wingrave must have been the first opera composed especially for TV. Commissioned by BBC, it was premiered 1971, the war in Vietnam going on. It is the first opera where I have heard Kandahar mentioned, as a fitting reminder of the fact that Afghanistan has been a battlefield for a very long time, the opera depicting the late 19th century.
Some possibilities of the media are utilized, sudden changes of location during a single scene, different picture material on top of each other, nothing very spectacular considering today's technical possibilities, except that they were already planned during the writing of the work. The audio recording shows it's age now, but it must have sounded completely adequate with the television sets of the seventies.
The opera (based on a novella by Henry James - like The Turn of the Screw) tells about Owen Wingrave, a young man, last in line of a family known for it's military backround for hundred's of years, who decides to abandon his military education, because he doesn't approve of war and violence. His family, friends, even his fiancee turn against him, he is disinherited, but refuses to change his mind. The only ones that understand Owen are, curiously enough, his military cramming teacher and his wife. His would-have-been fiancee dares him to spend the night in the haunted room of the family mansion, which he agrees to do to show that he is not a coward, only to be found dead there later on.
I find the ending a bit dissatisfactory, because the situation is left hanging in the air. On the other hand, it solves everything, once and for all - although too easily. Here in Finland we have compulsory military service. I remember when I suggested to my parents that what if I chose the alternative civilian service instead, just to tease them! My father fell into complete silence, but my mother went ballistic: how could I even think about bringing such disgrace upon our family?! Not unlike the reactions in the opera.
The cast here was hand-picked by the composer, so it should be the ideal one. Benjamin Luxon is certainly very good as Owen, Peter Pears has a relatively minor role of his grandfather, John Shirley-Quirk and Heather Harper as the understanding cramming teacher and wife very good, too. Janet Baker in the role of Kate, Owen's fiancee, is just too kind-looking to turn against him. I'm not too keen on Nigel Douglas as Lechmere, a friend of Owens determined to pursue a military career, but it may be that the recording doesn't treat his tenor voice kindly. As the conductor, we have the composer himself.
In the extras we see the ubiquitous (as the opera on video goes) Brian Large as a young man, as well as John Culshaw, the producer behind Solti's Ring, Salome and Elektra... A pity that they are delt with so briefly.
All in all, if you like Britten, you will like this performance, too. I'm not sure if this will make many new converts, though.
Benjamin Britten's Owen Wingrave must have been the first opera composed especially for TV. Commissioned by BBC, it was premiered 1971, the war in Vietnam going on. It is the first opera where I have heard Kandahar mentioned, as a fitting reminder of the fact that Afghanistan has been a battlefield for a very long time, the opera depicting the late 19th century.
Some possibilities of the media are utilized, sudden changes of location during a single scene, different picture material on top of each other, nothing very spectacular considering today's technical possibilities, except that they were already planned during the writing of the work. The audio recording shows it's age now, but it must have sounded completely adequate with the television sets of the seventies.
The opera (based on a novella by Henry James - like The Turn of the Screw) tells about Owen Wingrave, a young man, last in line of a family known for it's military backround for hundred's of years, who decides to abandon his military education, because he doesn't approve of war and violence. His family, friends, even his fiancee turn against him, he is disinherited, but refuses to change his mind. The only ones that understand Owen are, curiously enough, his military cramming teacher and his wife. His would-have-been fiancee dares him to spend the night in the haunted room of the family mansion, which he agrees to do to show that he is not a coward, only to be found dead there later on.
I find the ending a bit dissatisfactory, because the situation is left hanging in the air. On the other hand, it solves everything, once and for all - although too easily. Here in Finland we have compulsory military service. I remember when I suggested to my parents that what if I chose the alternative civilian service instead, just to tease them! My father fell into complete silence, but my mother went ballistic: how could I even think about bringing such disgrace upon our family?! Not unlike the reactions in the opera.
The cast here was hand-picked by the composer, so it should be the ideal one. Benjamin Luxon is certainly very good as Owen, Peter Pears has a relatively minor role of his grandfather, John Shirley-Quirk and Heather Harper as the understanding cramming teacher and wife very good, too. Janet Baker in the role of Kate, Owen's fiancee, is just too kind-looking to turn against him. I'm not too keen on Nigel Douglas as Lechmere, a friend of Owens determined to pursue a military career, but it may be that the recording doesn't treat his tenor voice kindly. As the conductor, we have the composer himself.
In the extras we see the ubiquitous (as the opera on video goes) Brian Large as a young man, as well as John Culshaw, the producer behind Solti's Ring, Salome and Elektra... A pity that they are delt with so briefly.
All in all, if you like Britten, you will like this performance, too. I'm not sure if this will make many new converts, though.