Peter Grimes in concert

Peter Grimes in concert

Steuart Bedford conductor
James Holmes head of music & assistant conductor
Anthony Kraus chorus master

Alan Oke  Peter Grimes
Giselle Allen  Ellen Orford
David Kempster Captain Balstrode
Gaynor Keeble  Auntie
Lexi Hutton First Niece
Charmian Bedford Second Niece
Robert Murray  Bob Boles
Henry Waddington  Swallow
Catherine Wyn-Rogers  Mrs Sedley
Christopher Gillett   Rev Horace Adams
Charles Rice Ned Keene
Stephen Richardson  Hobson 

The Chorus of Opera North with the Chorus of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Britten–Pears Orchestra
 

'I hear those voices that will not be drowned'
Peter Grimes

Fisherman Peter Grimes is an outsider in the community of misfits and bigots who populate “the Borough”, a fictionalised version of Aldeburgh. Is he responsible for the death of his young apprentice? Is he mad, evil or a misunderstood visionary?

Britten’s early masterpiece has captured the imagination of audiences around the world ever since its premiere in the aftermath of the second  world war, transforming the sadistic fisherman of The Borough, George Crabbe’s poem on which the opera is based, into an enigmatic anti-hero.

First written for Peter Pears, the role of Grimes is sung by Alan Oke, who received huge critical acclaim for his portrayal of Aschenbach in the 2007 Aldeburgh Festival production of Death in Venice. This performance gives you a rare chance to hear the opera in the magnificent concert hall that Britten built.

'In a flash I realised two things: that I must write an opera, and where I belonged.' – Britten recalling the moment in 1941 when he first read George Crabbe’s poem The Borough.