This is Sir Colin Davis’s
second recording of Peter Grimes;
his third if you include a filmed performance
from Covent Garden. It does not fully
supplant either earlier version, at
least in terms of the singing. Come
to the orchestral contribution, however,
and this is quite easily the best-played
Grimes on disc. Listening again to the
interludes, and the way Davis handles
them, is an often overwhelming experience,
even if, in the concert hall, the effect
was still more electrifying. How often
does one hear the Second Interlude (track
9, disc 1) played with such venom? The
playing is often magnificent, sumptuous
and perilously close to perfection –
as the LSO rip through the score with
a cluster of sound Britten would have
found astonishing. Those deeply burnished
strings (not always captured to such
glowing effect on this recording) bring
a hue of darkness to the most transparent
moments (the sixth Interlude, for example
(track 5, disc 3), partly a depiction
of Grimes’ growing madness, and here
quite sinister in its coloration). In
the third Interlude their playing is
scorching, intense and quicksilver.
And, how often after the storm Interlude
does a listener then hear the storm
recalled through the orchestra when
the scene shifts to the action inside
The Boar? In this performance it is
the epi-centre of the action until the
first act’s closing pages. This makes
for a perfectly satisfactory outcome
for this reviewer but I can see others
might quibble with its impact being
so divisive to events happening elsewhere.
Davis’s energy throughout is astonishing
and this is replicated in the playing.
One of the important
principles surrounding Peter Grimes,
and often forgotten, is that Britten
wrote the score with certain voices
in mind. This has sometimes created
problems in subsequent performances
of the work (the composer famously loathed
Jon Vickers as Grimes, for example).
But the effect can sometimes be quite
radical; Vickers was an extraordinary
vocal and physical presence who shunted
the opera into new, and different, psychological
territory. Imogen Holst spoke of Peter
Pears’ Grimes as "growing in stature
until he was bearing the burden of all
those other outcasts…". She was talking
only of Act III; with Vickers this was
a constant, unshifting characterization
throughout the opera.
Being neither a mirror
of Britten nor of his younger self,
Davis falls between a rock and a hard
place in his casting choices. Nevertheless,
two moments shine out as being amongst
the finest I have heard in any performance
of this opera. The first is Grimes’
"Now the Great Bear and Pleiades" aria
(track 12, disc 1) sung with exceptional
imagination and beauty of tone by Glenn
Winslade. The complete antithesis of
Vickers here, he came closer to recalling
the mysteries of human grief, and the
subliminal angst of vulnerability, than
any other interpreter of the role in
my experience. The middle register of
his voice conveys just the right degree
of plangency making his Grimes a more
touching anti-hero than is usually the
case. Dynamics are remarkable. Perhaps
for this very reason, his Act III monologue
– disjointed utterances, unfathomable
in their sense – seemed less jagged
than it should. This Grimes seems less
mad, less raving and more a man who
has already come to terms with his fate
than is commonly perceived. But his
performance – despite being so beautifully
sung in places – is really understated;
a depiction of a fisherman who meekly
accepts his fate.
The second moment of
greatness is the wonderful Quartet (track
6, disc 2) before the Passacaglia. Ellen,
Auntie and her two nieces reflect on
women’s relationships with men and it
is stunningly done. Janice Watson –
as Ellen – sings with purity of expression
and Jill Groves – in a moving portrayal
of Auntie – brings great wisdom to her
singing. Sally Matthews and Alison Buchanan
as the nieces are flirty, but uncommonly
close in timbre. All four shine throughout
the performance – a radical departure
that had as much to do with them mirroring
the glowing orchestral backdrop as it
did Davis’soverall view of this opera
as a warmer, more humane animal than
it used to be seen as.
Not that this prevents
Catherine Wyn-Rogers seizing every opportunity
she is given to make her Mrs Sedley
– odiously characterized – the upholder
of intolerance and prejudice. Best of
the rest, are Anthony Michaels-Moore’s
Balstrode – nowhere better than in his
scene with Ellen at the close of the
opera – and Jonathan Lemalu’s Hobson
– a small part, but memorably sung.
The LSO Chorus take
on the role of the Borough’s townspeople
with an innate feeling for the tragedy
that is about to unfold. The contrast
between the opening chorus – deliberately
conceived by Britten to add contrast
to the drabness of the community against
the coloration of the setting – and
the closing chorus, with rampant shouts
of "Peter Grimes! Peter Grimes!" are
handled superbly. At fortissimo, their
vocalisation can seem congested, but
for the most part they bray and cajole
their way admirably through Britten’s
occasionally dense scoring.
There is nothing especially
radical about Sir Colin Davis’s grasp
of the score. If anything he seems actually
to make Britten’s opera rather "of its
time". It impresses on the surface without
really trying to scrape beneath it.
Rather than the deep wounds that can
make Grimes a powerfully relevant
opera – even sixty years after it was
written – this seems to be a performance
that sees nothing contemporary in it
at all. On that level, it is disappointing
and uncomfortable – but as a showpiece
for the London Symphony Orchestra it
proves, once again, that they are peerless.
If this performance
doesn’t supplant Britten’s own (recently
released on Decca) or Richard Hickox’s
(with a superb Philip Langridge in the
eponymous role) on Chandos it sits beside
them as a worthy equal. No one should
miss Vickers as Grimes – as powerful
a performance as his Tristan was, but
perhaps not to be repeated. LSO Live
have put this performance on three discs
– an act on each one – but given the
set is available at bargain price –
with a libretto – it is well worth the
price.
Marc Bridle
London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/Sir Colin
Davis 