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Skelton/Wall/Williams/Bergen Philharmonic/Gardner(Chandos)Britten’s opera sounds huge and thrilling in a nuanced recording with sparkling interplay between singers and orchestra – it’s rarely sounded better
What kind of man is Peter Grimes? Beyond the guilty-or-innocent question that lies, never quite answered, at the root of Benjamin Britten’s opera, there’s that of how to play the rough but visionary fisherman. Stuart Skelton’s interpretation – always convincing since he sang the role at ENO more than a decade ago – has developed with his voice. Now, on disc for the first time, it’s a rewardingly nuanced portrayal, burly and often aggressive on the surface, bewildered underneath. Skelton’s tenor is on the heavy side for the role, but he makes a virtue of this; his voice almost cracks along with his dreams of marriage to Ellen, and if the aria in his hut seems too delicate for him, perhaps this underlines what a bad fit he’d be for the life of “a woman’s care” he dreams about. His mad scene is beautifully done.
Edward Gardner conducted Skelton at ENO and, with him, has since made Britten’s masterpiece a calling card for the Bergen Philharmonic, where he is principal conductor. He and his cast went into the studio between semi-staged performances in Bergen and London last year – themselves preceded by acclaimed concerts two years earlier, with the same team. This recording is thus extraordinarily well run-in, and the benefits are plain: even in audio only, it registers as a genuine music drama, the music leading us through the story in one urgent, vital sweep. Continue reading...