Product Details

• Actors: Philip Langridge, Janice Cairns, Alan Opie, Ann Howard
• Directors: Barrie Gavin
• Writers: George Crabbe, Montagu Slater
• Producers: Jan Younghusband, Jane Seymour
• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: June 10, 2003
• Run Time: 145 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00009PY30
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,652 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Britten - Peter Grimes / Atherton, Langridge, English National Opera" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Tim Albery’s startlingly original treatment of Britten’s first operatic masterpiece, a rich and vivid tragedy, won unalloyed critical acclaim and it was hailed as a landmark in the opera’s performance history. Stars Philip Langridge heading a fine cast of singers, including Janice Cairns as Ellen Orford, Alan Opie as Captain Balstrode and Ann Howard as Auntie. David Atherton conducts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary!, July 7, 2003

By 

MDFinMIA "mdfinmia" (N. Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Britten - Peter Grimes / Atherton, Langridge, English National Opera (DVD)

Having seen a 1996 revival of this production at the ENO (my first encounter with Grimes), I was anxiously awaiting this release on DVD. Am pleased to report it is as gripping and shattering an experience. Cast all around is up to the task, and orchestra superbly captures the rhythms of Britten's driving score. Sound and video are fine. Would have appreciated optional surtitles to help grasp all the words, but we're left at the mercy of singers' diction. All in all, an extraordinary evening in the theatre.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Philip Langridge, January 31, 2006

By 

Marc Musnick - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Britten - Peter Grimes / Atherton, Langridge, English National Opera (DVD)

Langridge is the only tenor I've heard in the title role that equals the unforgettable performance of Jon Vickers. But the overall effect of this ENO performance is rather weak. The orchestra playing is tepid and I found the choral work on the ragged side. At the conclusion of the first act when the chorus questions, "Home. You call that home!", the crisp and stunning attack that can be heard in the Covent Garden DVD is lost but then again the ENO production doesn't have Colin Davis leading. The production is stylized and abstract, appearing to be from Peter's insane standpoint. which is a very compelling and valid concept.

I greatly admire Landridge's performance and singing here even if he's terribly flat for the beginning of the critical Great Bear and Pleiades aria, it is a compelling performance. I only wish the rest of the performance measured up to Landridge's effort.

I would stick with the Covent Garden DVD. Jon Vickers's Grimes was one of the great operatic characterizations of the 20th Century.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars very poor DVD production from Kultur!, October 18, 2009

By 

M. Stanzani "A music lover" (Milan, Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Britten - Peter Grimes / Atherton, Langridge, English National Opera (DVD)

no subtitles, audio is just 2ch Dloby Digital. Kultur should have been done much better!
no complain about stage and musical