
"Last night's revival at Glyndebourne of Sir Peter Hall's classic 1981 Festival production of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream' was dreamlike and fantastical. Tonight I'm at the Coliseum for English National Opera's new semi-staged Albert Herring', Britten's lacerating chamber opera satirising English small-town mores. The ENO have had some success with their semi-staged productions including Gloriana', Duke Bluebeard's Castle' and Suor Angelica' and I'm fascinated to see if Albert Herring', directed and designed by multi-awardwinning Antony McDonald, will suit this pared back approach."
"Britten began composing Albert Herring' in 1946, directly following the triumph of The Rape of Lucretia', his first post-war chamber opera. Unlike Lucretia, Albert Herring' is a spiky comedy in three acts, full of irreverence and irony, and inspired by Guy de Maupassant's short story Le Rosier de Madame Husson.' Britten's collaborator and librettist Eric Crozier transplanted Maupassant's tale to the distinctly English setting of Loxford, Suffolk, infusing the tale with local references and small-town Anglo archetypes, all playing their roles in the provincial hierarchy."
"Albert Herring' premiered on 20 June 1947 at Glyndebourne's smaller venue, as part of the inaugural tour of the English Opera Group. Peggy Ashcroft and Eric Crozier directed, with Britten conducting, and Peter Pears creating the role of Albert. The opera is now a staple in the Britten performance canon, but Glyndebourne's founder John Christie was uncertain about programming it commenting on the opening night This isn't our kind of thing, you know."
Glyndebourne's revival of Sir Peter Hall's 1981 Festival production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was described as dreamlike and fantastical. English National Opera presented a new semi-staged Albert Herring at the Coliseum, directed and designed by Antony McDonald, following ENO's prior semi-staged successes. Britten composed Albert Herring in 1946 after The Rape of Lucretia; the work is a spiky three-act comedy inspired by Guy de Maupassant's Le Rosier de Madame Husson. Eric Crozier set the libretto in Loxford, Suffolk, populating the piece with local references and small-town Anglo archetypes. The opera premiered at Glyndebourne on 20 June 1947, with Britten conducting and Peter Pears creating Albert, and it satirises provincial rectitude and rebellion through figures such as Lady Billows and Florence Pike.
Read at www.london-unattached.com
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