19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow!!! Now this is opera!, June 10, 2001
This review is from: Britten - Billy Budd / Tim Albery · David Atherton · Thomas Allen · ENO (DVD)
Sir Thomas Allen in his autobiographical book 'Foreign Parts' wrote that he and the rest of the cast of this ENO production could not believe the queues around the block for tickets for this production. Well, I can well understand the public taking this production to its heart. In its own quite understated way this austere and stylised production by Tim Albury is a winner on every level. Each of the many roles in this all male opera has been filled with a singing actor who really has what it takes; especially Phillip Langridge who instills his Captain Vere with all of the confused pain his role demands, Richard van Allan as a true black hole of a man as Claggart (although there does seem to have been some audio re-recording over his aria) and, of course, Sir Thomas' Billy is so moving in its simplicity that at times it is unbearable. The chorus is very fine, but could have been more overwhelming in their 'Blow her away' moment, but the orchestra is truly astonishing in its accuracy and power. David Atherton conducts the performance of his career. His musical direction is in turn delicate and earth-shattering without ever becoming bombastic, and how unusual it is to notice a conductor who actually listens and allows every line, whether vocal or orchestral, to be heard. A truly outstating document of a stunning performance!
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
BIlly Budd disappoints, June 12, 2004
This review is from: Britten - Billy Budd / Tim Albery · David Atherton · Thomas Allen · ENO (DVD)
It is good to have a DVD of Billy Budd, perhaps Britten's greatest opera, but this ENO production, that should have had everything going for it - experienced Billy Budd cast, good conductor and director - simply misfires. Perfectly OK to get to know the opera, but for anyone who has seen a production that wrings the soul(such as the recent WNO (Welsh National Opera)/Australian Opera Company production conducted by Richard Hickox) this offering seems insipid, and does not convey the real power this opera has.
The fundamental problem seems to be one of body-language. With the close-up shots in this DVD, too many of the cast seem to be concentrating on the singing rather than the character (and this shows in the characterization of the voices), and their body-language fails to convey the emotions. This is reflected in the conducting by David Atherton - perfectly servicable, but without any of the bite and fire that Britten himself, or Hickox, to name but two, have brought to this score.
The actual procution itself reflects this rather bland impression. The Napoleonic period costumes (and one can hardly avoid them) are reduced to bare, simple essentials, as if half-formed, and though there are visual moments that have considerable impact, these are few and far between. Perhaps the whole thing is summarized by the midshipmen: a line of boy singers sanding side by side to one side of the stage - no colour, no vibrancy, no particular involvement with the action.
So if you see this, yes, you will get some concept of the opera, but no real idea how powerful it can be. If Covent Garden ever revive their famous production, where the entire ship was on stage, cut away so all the decks can be seen - and film it with a cast of this calibre really working with an electric conductor - then that would be the DVD to cherish. In the meantime, WNO, where are you? Their procution would have made a great DVD.
Mark Morris
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful -- Captures the Essence of Melville, February 9, 2002
This review is from: Britten - Billy Budd / Tim Albery · David Atherton · Thomas Allen · ENO (DVD)
This is one of the most powerful of the 50-60 opera DVDs I personally have managed to view so far. Britten somehow seemed to get wonderful librettists -- for example, the libretto for The Turn of the Screw captures the essence of James' novel in about five percent of the words James used. The same goes for the libretto Crozier and Forster (yes, THE E. M. Forster) wrote for this opera. They have absolutely captured the dramatic essence of Billy Budd, Foretopman in a form that Britten could then use to express effectively through his music.
If you read the various reviews of this production (for the originals as well as the recording), you will hear carping to the effect that (1) Thomas Allen is too old to be Billy Budd; (2) the set is too abstract; (3) the older Vere shouldn't be on stage at the climax; and so on. This is all nit-picking nonsense. The positives of this production so far outweigh the negatives that the overall result is overwhelming. You will find few opera video recordings as moving and effective as this one.
By the Way: one of the other Amazon reviewers complains about how the orchestral interlude between the scenes in the final act is cut in half. This is not an issue with the DVD -- everything proceeds seamlessly.
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