From Around the World: AMSTERDAM.(Brief Article)(Review)

In ideal circumstances, a production is designed for a specific theater. Not only should designs be based upon the space and the technical possibilities (or limitations) of the stage itself, but the production as a whole should conform to the specific artistic atmosphere of that theater. In this respect, Francesca Zambello did a magnificent job of directing Peter Grimes for Netherlands Opera.

Britten's opera has a long history in the Netherlands. Traditionally, the lives of fishermen on England's East Coast, where Britten set Grimes, strongly resemble those on the other side of the North Sea. An earlier Dutch play is strikingly similar to Grimes in atmosphere and plot; this could easily be a Dutch story. Audiences here prefer a realistic approach to this opera, but Zambello took a very different path. Although with Grimes a certain amount of realism can't be avoided, she offered a purely imaginary world, existing only within the theater.

From the first scene, Zambello found inspiration in the broad stage and the whole shape of the Muziektheater. Across the stage stretched a long fence, behind which soloists and chorus commented on Grimes's interrogation. At other moments, Zambello again ranged the chorus across the stage, always impressively, although by doing so during the inn scene, she defused the dramatic intensity, spreading out the villagers' anger and fear rather than concentrating them like a fist. Zambello often choreographed the chorus's movements, but ...