Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976)
Billy Budd- Opera in Four Acts Op 50 (1951 version) [148:49]
Billy Budd - Thomas Hampson (baritone); Captain Vere - Anthony Rolfe Johnson
(tenor); John Claggart - Eric Halfvorson (bass); Mr Redburn - Russell Smythe
(baritone); Mr Flint - Gidon Saks (baritone); Mr Ratcliffe - Simon Wilding
(baritone); Red Whiskers - Martyn Hill (tenor); Donald - Christopher Maltman
(baritone); Dansker - Richard van Allan (bass); Novice - Andrew Burden (tenor);
Novice’s friend - William Dazeley (baritone); Squeak - Christopher Gillett
(tenor); Bosun - Matthew Hargreaves (baritone); First Mate - Ashley Holland
(baritone); Second Mate and Arthur Jones - Simon Thorpe (baritone); Maintop
- Robert Johnston (tenor)
Cabin boy and midshipmen - boys from Manchester Boys Choir; Seamen - Gentlemen
of the Hallé Choir and Northern Voices
Hallé Orchestra/Kent Nagano
rec. live, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, 25-31 March 1997
synopsis included but no text or translations
ERATO 2564 67266-0 [77:02 + 71:47]
One of my most vivid memories is of sitting in the Camden Theatre in London
in November 1960 for the first performance of the revised version of Billy
Budd. I had read the (original) libretto in advance and was surprised
at the omission of the big scene at the end of the original Act 1, although
my main reaction at the time was sheer admiration for the opera as a whole.
That admiration I have retained through performances and productions of all
types, but I admit to never having actually heard the original version. I
therefore approached this reissue in the Warner Opera Collection with considerable
interest as a chance to get to know the composer’s changing thoughts
on one of his masterpieces.
The main and most obvious change is the deletion of the scene in which Captain
Vere gives the crew a rousing speech about their part in the war with the
French. It is certainly important in providing a fuller context for Vere’s
dilemma after Claggart’s death but it does not arise very naturally
from what comes before, and Billy’s cry of “Starry Vere, God bless
you” does sound somewhat over the top as a reaction to it. Britten and
his librettists ingeniously retain this section in the revised version but
it sounds much more natural there. There is also much to be said for the continuous
music of the revision which avoids the need for three damaging intervals.
What I had not realised is how many other changes there are in the revision.
Few are large in themselves - for the most part only affecting a few notes
or words - but the effect is to tighten up even more the vivid picture that
the opera presents of an enclosed world, governed by strict rules and in which
the feelings and perceptions of the individual must be subservient to that
context.
This performance was recorded live at a concert in Manchester. The large all-male
cast is generally well chosen, with all the secondary roles well filled and
characterised. The three principal characters are more problematic. The best
is Eric Halvarson’s splendidly dark sounding Claggart. Anthony Rolfe
Johnson does not sound entirely at ease with the role at the start, but is
excellent in the various dramatic encounters in Acts 3 and 4 and in the Epilogue.
The one real disappointment is Thomas Hampson in the title role. He sounds
oddly rough and disengaged with the part, lacking in individuality, quite
unlike what I had expected from his other recordings. His cries of “Starry
Vere, God bless you” lack conviction. The chorus sing accurately and
lustily but without the dramatic projection that one expects from an operatic
chorus. Kent Nagano finds the drama and colour in the score but overall makes
it sound like the concert performance that it was rather than like a real
operatic performance in which everyone concerned fully inhabits their roles.
This remains an important reissue for the light it casts on the genesis of
the opera, and it is a valuable supplement to the best recordings of the revised
version under, say, Hickox or the composer. Warner/Erato do not appear to
have appreciated this point, and include only a synopsis of the opera in the
booklet rather than the detailed essay on the revision which would have capitalised
on the issue’s main selling point.
John Sheppard
Important. Nagano finds the drama and colour but overall makes it sound like
the concert performance that it was rather than like a real operatic performance
in which everyone concerned fully inhabits their roles.