Deborah Warner’s production of Peter Grimes opened at the Royal Opera House in 2022 to rave reviews. The thrust of these reviews was that Benjamin Britten’s searing, dramatic and beautiful opera about the loner fisherman Grimes and how he is treated by his fellow townspeople over the death of his two apprentices had been made “relevant” for the modern world. The phrase that cropped up repeatedly was that it was set in a “post-Brexit” seaside town.
I missed that first run, so eagerly awaited this revival with the same cast in the main roles. In 2022 the conductor was Sir Mark Elder; it’s now the new music director of the ROH, Jakub Hrůša. I’m afraid that this revival is an object lesson in how a conductor can ruin a production.
The Grimes score is a marvel – lyrical, passionate, harsh, dramatic, haunting and plain beautiful. The Sea Interludes are so glorious they are often played as a stand-alone orchestral piece. But Hrůša seemed to have no emotional connection with any of it. His tempi were often so fast that the supposed tension from the drama being played out on the stage never had a chance to build. And he destroyed all the lyricism, performing it as if it was a three-hour study in how to make a score sound as harsh as possible.
I feel so sorry for the cast, especially the magnificent Allan Clayton, who must now be one of the world’s leading tenors. His voice is a marvel; even the best Grimes can sound strained but Clayton is in complete control. And he can act. How I wish I had seen his portrayal with Elder in the pit.
Maria Bengtsson’s Ellen Orford felt a little underwhelming to me, but I put that down to Hrůša, whereas Bryn Terfel (Balstrode, the effective community leader) has the stage magnetism to overcome any such obstacle.
I didn’t warm to Deborah Warner’s production, which seemed too finickity to let the story flow, and although it’s obvious the point she is making by updating it – look how appallingly outsiders are treated in today’s Britain – that point is made just as effectively and less in-your-face in the opera’s original setting. I’m afraid the thought that kept running through my head was that it was like a modern-day version of When The Boat Comes In.
Peter Grimes
Royal Opera House
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