Customer Reviews

Britten: Peter Grimes ~ Vickers

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Benjamin Britten, as composer and conductor, clearly preferred the lighter-toned and more shaded Peter Grimes characterization of his muse and partner, Peter Pears, as can be heard in the classic late '50s recording on Decca/London. Light-toned Jon Vickers is not; nor is he especially English-sounding in the role of an outcast fisherman in 19th century coastal Britain. But for psychological (and physical) tension, Vickers' Grimes is in a class by itself. Among other things, Vickers conveys a sense of barely concealed menace that makes the villagers' ostracization of him understandable, if not defensible. A very strong argument can be made for preferring this harder-edged "Grimes" over the composer's own, and Vickers' portrayal is not the only reason. All of the elements in this performance--and particularly the incisive conducting of Sir Colin Davis---coalesce into a galvanizing whole. The more "theatrical" production of the Britten/Pears set, with sound effects such as one would hear in the opera house, may be missed here, as is a libretto. However, these omissions are easily overlooked as you're caught up in the net this "Grimes" casts over the waters.

Let me begin by saying that Benjamin Britten is one of my favorite composers. Add to that the fact that I had the extreme pleasure/privilege of actually hearing & seeing Jon Vickers live in this, arguably, his finest role. And, if that weren't enough, Sir Colin Davis is certainly known to be one of the finest conductors of Britten's music in our time. If you have never heard the opera, this is a perfect set to own: Vickers knows 'Peter' in and out, having performed the role so many times. It is not just a beautiful performance musically, Vickers also gets inside this tortured man and lets us see him in all his complexity. Also his command of English is perfect: a Canadian, he enunciates every word precisely while always keeping the drama in mind. This is true music-theatre at the highest level. The supporting cast is also excellent, led by Heather Harper as a touching "Ellen Orford" and Jonathan Summers as "Balstrode." If you do know the opera, you'll know that the chorus can be as important as "Peter" himself. The Covent Garden chorus is idiomatically perfect. The sound on this Philips recording is terrific. To make this a MUST OWN set, Philips has re-released it, so that you can buy the two CD's online for the price of one.

This was the first opera recording I ever listened to and it got me hooked. I've since acquired the Pears / Britten interpretation on Decca, but (so far) have been unable to relinquish my loyalty to this Philips set. The two major pillars here are Jon Vickers as Peter Grimes and Colin Davis overseeing the whole work. Vickers makes Grimes much more powerful, agressive, threatening and tortured than Pears. Right from the first bars - in the court room scene - it's clear that Vickers is going to put his heart and soul into this role. Indeed, such is the depth of his portrayal that one cannot help a degree of sympathy for the "sadistic fisherman". In fact, it is Vickers' ability to generate a complex mix of feelings in the listener that gives Grimes a real human dimension. I confess to a personal feeling that Vicker's is the better of the two interpretations. His singing in key scenes such as "The truth... the pity..." and, particularly, "Now the Great Bear and Pleiades" simply makes more of the score than does Pears. Clearly, to judge by the Decca recording by the composer, Britten did not intend this though.

Heather Harper should also be mentioned as a beautiful, compassionate and thoroughly believable Ellen Orford. Her "Let her among you" and "Glitter of waves" are wonderful. The Chorus is superb too. And finally, the orchestra plays immaculately to provide stalwart backing to the singers as well as offering up excellent Sea Interludes.

The sound here is superb. There are one or two noticeable edits, but nothing too serious. This version comes without a libretto, but that's easy enough to find electronically. So, if you're after a Peter Grimes, then it's down to Britten or Davis and you can't go far wrong with either. Those who love the opera will want both since the interpretations are so different.

Britten was said to have hated Jon Vickers' performance as Grimes and one can see why. Nothing (and no tenor since) could be further from Peter Pears, for whom he had written the part. Let's face it, for all his usual beauty of tone and heady high notes, Pears sounds just too urbane, too sophisticated, too intellectual, too smooth for the rough, tough character as written in Crabbe and in the libretto.

Vickers, on the other hand, is a huge brute of a man (aurally even more than physically). We are left in no doubt that his treatment of apprentices can be rough and bullying, easily leading to the 'accidental circumstances' of their deaths. ("To lose one apprentice...etc.") And his descent into madness is truly terrifying. Which is not say that he misses out on the dreamer in Grimes, the side of the character that could be said to be Pears' strength. The scene in the clifftop hut sees Vickers lurch absolutely credibly from anger and violence and frustration to his all too human dreams of a better life with the schoolmistress, Ellen Orford, all within the space of just a few bars.

I grew up with Pears' Grimes and love it to this day. But Vickers' fisherman is a different beast - almost as viscerally exciting on disc as he was in the theatre. And, perhaps a mark of a great opera, the part will sustain both interpretations, whatever the composer thought. I wouldn't part with either.

The rest of the cast are no slouches either. Heather Harper was probably the best of all Ellens and the smaller parts are in the more than capable hands of the likes of Thomas Allen, Richard van Allen and the venerable (as he was by then) and much missed John Lanigan. Colin Davis's conducting is exemplary, perhaps with an ounce more energy and drive than on his more recent LSO performance, but perhaps with a gram less depth as well.

The opera is an unbelievable 60 years old now - about as far from us as Grimes was from late Wagner and Verdi! It deserves to have two classic performances such as this and the composer's own. And any collection deserves to have both on its shelves.

I can imagine why the composer walked out on a performance by Jon Vickers of his seminal opera, Peter Grimes. Vickers is so impolite, so un-English to the core that his anti-hero becomes shockingly tormented and brutish. The only heroism he has is that of existential suffering. In Britten's original conception, the motivation of Grimes is shadowy, ambiguous to the end. There are elements of anti-social behavior, lonely isolation, mental illness, enormous determination in the face of Nature, and a suggestion of unwholesome sexual inclinations toward his doomed boy apprentices.

This distrubing outsider is never fully explained--and that's a problem in the theater. It's hard to find a straight valid emotional line in this work, and too often the audience loses interest despite the wonderful music. In this instance, however, Vickers cuts through the shadows. His Grimes is a giant in agony, a raw, disquieting force that no society could ever contain. Vickers throws away the careful shading of Peter Pears' signature performance and makes Grimes a tough customer whose perpetual mood is inward agony and seething rage.

It's a great performance on its own terms, which aren't exactly the composer's, but then, Vickers did much the same with Siegmund and Otello, Rhadames and Florestan. No one has suffered better in opera. I've left aside the other virtues of this famous Philips recording, but Colin Davis is superb, as are Heather Harper in the pivotal role of Ellen Orford, the saintly teacher who tries to rescue Grimes from his torments, and a large ensemble cast. The Royal Opera orchestra sounds as good as any in this work, if not quite as virtuosic as the players under Britten on Decca and Haitink on EMI.

P.S. 2011 - In his acclaimed book n 20th entury music, The Rest Is Noise, Alex Ross devotes considerable space to Peter Grimes and reveals, with convincing quotations, that the original libretto was filled with more homoeroticism than the published version, which was skewed toward the leftist political position that Grimes is the victim of the Borough's prejudice, acting as an Un-Anglican Activities committee. I think the uneasy merging of two different thrusts led to the troubling ambiguity that hovers over Grimes in the opera house.

Evidently, the composer of Peter Grimes, Benjamin Britten hated Jon Vickers's portrayal of Peter Grimes, written for Britten's lifetime partner, Peter Pears. He described as being "too mad." Perhaps Britten had not realized ahead of time what a strong character he created in Grimes. Jon vickers evidently had his own opinions about Britten, which, I must say, are not too PC, so they don't bear repeating.
Onto the performance...simply said, Vickers is the best Grimes ever. He has about 3 times as much voice as Pears and is also much more interesting, as well as a better singer. The fact of the matter is, Grimes is off his rocker, a potentially dangerous character whom everyone seems to hate. Vickers portrays him as a mad man, even one who hallucinates and is capable of dastardly deeds, like killing apprentices...one can see vickers doing this, through his vocal and acting capacities. Vickers was always a force of nature, to say the least, and his portrayal of this is one of the greatest portrayals of any role in operatic history. It's an experience (or nightmare) from which one cannot escape unmoved.
This opera revolves around the title character, for everything in this opera, taking place in a small town, seems to focus on Grimes himself. He's cornered, tormented, and it's no wonder that he seems to go mad. That being said, it is absolutely essential to have a Grimes capable of displaying such torment and madness...Vickers nails it like no other. Listen to his drunken "Now the great bear and Pleiades." time seems to stop.(What mezza voce at the beginning!) Not many artists can create that, and right after that, when he talks about "flashing turmoil" one can see a blinding light pass through. Its unforgettable. His monologue in the second act is enough to scare a whole audience, esp. at "I'll teach you not to lie to her!" The final scene of the third act with Vickers alone is the eptiome of insanity on stage. One is literally dumbfounded. Ellen Orford, sung by Heather Harper, a very warm and motherly Ellen, just as moving as Vickers. Jonathan Summers as captain balstrode is just as striking, and well sung as the others. Those three alone are much better than their colleagues in the composer's own recording. Listen to Summers spoken line right near the end, "Sink her! Good-bye Peter!" as if knowing that is the only solution to Grimes's situation and not afraid to tell him the bitter truth.
The other smaller roles are well taken, including Thomas Allen as Ned Keene. What really works here is tthe covent garden chorus, such as essential part of this opera. Their cries for Peter Grimes's death in the third act is chilling, esp. with the prolonged silences in between. Colin Davis, (before he was knighted) conducts superbly, much more intensely than Britten himself. this is probably the most flexible conducting i've heard from Davis.
Overall, the other roles are much secondary compared to Vickers's towering interpretation of the troubled Peter Grimes. There will never be another true Peter Grimes.

It's interesting to read the reviews here, most of which state that Vickers is the greatest Grimes ever. I agree, but the masterful performance preserved here has brought some interesting thoughts to mind. Vickers huge, solid, granite-textured tenor voice suits Grimes right down to the bone. His sense of the character ranges all over the map, while his vocal dynamics sets a standard few singers of any range or kind can match. Harper is a wonderfully human, brave, and hopeful Ellen. Further thoughts on the singers will be illuminated further on in this review.

I know Britten did not like Vickers' performance, and one reviewer strongly hints that Vickers did not like Britten because of his sexual preferences. Maybe so, but I doubt it strongly. In one of his rare interviews, Vickers went out of his way to praise Peter Pears as an artist and a human being. While I don't think Vickers condoned homosexual behavior as a general rule, I sense no hatred for Britten or Pears. Vickers is infamous for not singing Tannhauser for moral reasons. Some say it was because Vickers could not handle the role vocally. No. If that was so, he would state that as being the reason publicly. He did it often enough with Tristan. How could he sing Siegmund, who has an incestuous conjigal relationship with his sister, while condemning Tannhauser? Siegmund is a pagan warrior, living according to his code. He was also meant to do what he did. Tannhauser disgraces his calling again and again. I see Vickers' point.

He stated clearly that he did not see Grimes as a monster at all. If Grimes really was a brutal child murderer (in the opera, of course), then I don't think Vickers would have sung the part. He saw Grimes as an outcast, not just as a homosexual fisherman, and he played him as such, thus infuriating Britten.

True, Peter Grimes is brutal, and very single-minded. However, moments of affection do appear, and moments of gruff caring. There are several times in the opera where we, as the audience, are effectively alone with this strange character. I do see and hear a tender streak and a soul concerned for the suffering of his second apprentice.

Jonathan Summer's Balstrode is a rock-solid performance, nuanced and well-honed. This Balstrode brooks no stupidity and seems to look upon dishonesty with disgust. He seems to be gruff, and impatient with his friend's secretive ways, but also rather fond of him. In spite of Grimes' obvious faults, he stands staunchly by his friend, until the end. Ned Keene also is helpful and sympathetic, as is Ellen, who is in love with Peter Grimes.

None of these people strikes me as being willfully stupid and obtuse. The town views Grimes with rampant suspicion. Obviously, they cannot prove their suspicions, but they take out their frustrated feelings on him anyway.

Do I think Grimes is a child murderer? Or rapest? Or molester? No. I do think there is a child killer in the opera, but it's not Grimes.

Who? It's interesting to note that there are two religious figures in Britten's Peter Grimes. Horace Adams, the rector, and Bob Boles. Adams is treated rather kindly, in the first act, by the composer, and by the characters, including Grimes. When Swallow asks if anyone came to help, Grimes says that somebody brought the parson. Vickers, by his tone of voice, seems to me to indicate that Grimes did not hate or even dislike Horace Adams. However, Bob Boles almost prokes him to violence. There is an undercurrent of hatred between Grimes and Boles that is almost tangible.

How did the second apprentice die? Exposure. The third? He sliped and fell on the rocks. It seems, from the plot, that Grimes did not cause his death. True, Ellen saw bruises on the boy... but fishing is a rough way to make a living. Not seeing bruises on the poor lad would be very unusual. How did the first one die?

Even Grimes does not know. This is stated plainly in the mad scene.

Bob Boles is an interesting character, almost being the epitome of hypocrisy. In the early parts of the opera, Boles states very plainly that drinking is WRONG... and so are any liaiason's with Aunty's nieces. In The Boar, Aunty's tavern, Boles willingly gets roaring drunk. He attempts to rape (Yes, that is the word.) Aunty's nieces. He has a rabid hatred for Grimes, stating plainly that Grimes is a boy killer. Grimes depises Boles. Do the math. Nothing can be proven, but... Bob Boles, though seemingly proviedd as comic relilef and as a voice for the town, seems to me to go deeper. Boles just might be a killer... of the helpless. Maybe not, but the evidence is compelling. Peter Grimes contains a horror story within its borders that is as macabre as anything Hitchcock ever directed... all done right under our noses.

No one, not even Peter Pears for whom it was written, has ever interpreted the role of Peter Grimes with more complexity. Jon Vickers's performance ranges from rage to utter pathos and despair, completely believable throughout. It is an emotional rollercoaster just listening to him. The other roles are well-sung, too. The music is 20th Century, but tuneful, and tastefully nuanced by Sir Colin Davis. If you like this opera, or Benjamin Britten, this is a must buy.

There isn't really a way to sufficiently extol this recording.

'Peter Grimes' is arguably Benjamin Britten's greatest opera...not bad when you consider the high stature of many of his other operas. The first British opera to achieve repertory status since Purcell's Dido, 'Peter Grimes' is an arresting, jarring tale in which the orchestra is as much a character as any of the vocal roles.

The supporting cast are all excellent, singing with great confidence and a sure understanding of the music. Heather Harper projects beautifully, resonant yet immediate. Patricia Payne makes a delightfully irritating town gossip, and Forbes Robinson's Swallow is commanding and, at times, sinister.

Sir Colin Davis and the Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, take on a role themselves, with the chorus overpowering in their larger numbers, while the orchestra occasionally threatens to overwhelm the chorus and soloists completely...witness, for example, the power of "Look, The Storm Cone!"

The jewel in this crowning recording, however, is Jon Vickers' heart-wrenchingly powerful Peter Grimes. In sharp contrast to Peter Pears' more lush, lyrical approach, Vickers brings out the angular, sharp brutality of Grimes, creating a powerfully compelling portrait of madness and delusion. He attacks the role of Peter Grimes with such convincing tragedy that you might just find yourself sympathizing with the sadistic fisherman!

Vickers' reading of Grimes is mighty and magnificent, his sometimes shrill voice penetrating over the full chorus and orchestra. Britten's writing (of which I haven't heard much) alternates between moments of great complexity, with several musical ideas being juggled about, and periods of arresting simplicity, such as Grimes' soliloquy, "Now the Great Bear and Pleiades."

Regarded as one of the seminal recordings of this great masterpiece, the Philips offering has been recommended alongside (and, in some cases, in place of) Britten's own recording.

While the opera is in English, be aware that the Philips notes do NOT include a libretto. That small omission, however, pales in comparison to the magnificent performance here. I must agree with the Amazon.com editorial, this is a TRUE bargain!

This is definitely one of the most exciting versions of the opera around. I say that without having heard e.g. the Hickox version, though, so I cannot, perhaps, say that it is necessarily the best - but it is at least a magnificent account. First of all, it sports a superb cast - Jon Vickers gives a harrowing and vivid characterization of the title role; his Grimes is darkly troubled and full of shadows and repressed violence, yet one cannot but feel a sense of sympathy with the character, at least intermittently. It is a brutish portrayal, but with several dimensions to it with the dreamy, longing side of Grimes being excellently characterized as well. It is, of course, excellently sung, and the occasional strain just adds to the vividness. Listen to ... well, whatever, really, but the pub scene is at least an excellent example where the darkly menacing depths of the character come uncannily to the surface (the only possibly nitpick must be that Vickers sometimes drops certain vocal lines and alters others).

Then, of course, there is the excellent Ellen Orford of Heather Harper, superbly sung, fully believable and sympathetically motherly. The smaller roles are excellently taken; Summerly's Balstrode deserves extra praise, and so does John Dobson as the unsympathetic Boles. But most of all, praise should go to Colin Davis, who leads a performance of tense, urgent drama with a true sense of darkening clouds but with the best and most atmospheric Sea Interludes I've heard (and of course, by extension, to the Royal Opera House chorus and orchestra for delivering this masterly performance). The sound quality is detailed and full and atmospheric. An absolutely astounding version of this masterpiece, and urgently recommended.