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Munich.(Billy Budd)(Opera Review)
On January 15, more than fifty-three years after the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd, Bavarian State Opera mounted its first-ever performances of the work, given in the 1951 original version. Not even Munich's ill-advised production could hinder this premiere's enormous success, its musical accomplishments easily overshadowing director Peter Mussbach's muddled interpretation.
Taking Billy Budd out of its historical time frame is asking for trouble, as there are so many references in the E.M. Forster/Eric Crozier text to exact time and place; Vere's "centuries ago" in the Epilogue is surely a hyperbole! Nonetheless, designer Erich Wonder moved the story several centuries forward, transforming the Indomitable into a modern American aircraft carrier. The crew has no function, alternately standing around or marching in and out. The vaudeville-like choreography (Beate Vollack) during the "Hilo" chorus, including nine effeminate, bare-chested male dancers, was :is inappropriate as it was embarrassing. What was lost was the claustrophobic feeling of Vere's stateroom, as he had none: everything took place on the several levels of the deck. Also problematic was a Captain who remained the same age throughout. There was the nice touch of having Vere carry the "crucified" Billy down from the "cross," kissing him on the forehead as he mourns the dead boy; but forcing Billy to sing his final, glorious line as a dead man, his back to the audience, is an extreme miscalculation.
Mussbach has clearly defined Vere and Claggart as the work's central characters, and Vere's inner conflict is tellingly contrasted with Claggart's depravity. The theme of ...
- The scorpion's suicide: Claggart's death in Billy Budd.
- Magazine article from: Melville Society Extracts Beauchamp, Gorman July 1, 2005 700+ words
...strictures is Herman Melville, who in Billy Budd created a character as much impelled...motiveless malignity" as Iago--John Claggart, the master-at-arms of the...three principle characters in Billy Budd, Claggart ought to be--and to some extent...
- Some reflections on Claggart's death and on Malcolm's suicide.(Letter to the...
- Magazine article from: Leviathan Shneidman, Edwin March 1, 2006 700+ words
...substitute for pistol and ball." As for Billy Budd: As Gorman Beauchamp eloquently argues ("Claggart's Death in Billy Budd," Melville Society Extracts 129 [July 2005]: 7-10), Claggart dooms himself. Either he will survive...
- Musikale narratief in Benjamin Britten se opera Billy Budd/musikale narratief...
- Magazine article from: Literator: Journal of Literary Criticism, comparative linguistics and literary studies Vermeulen, Karen Spies, Bertha April 1, 2007 700+ words
...the Napoleonic wars, Billy Budd becomes the object of...master-at-arms, John Claggart. When the young Billy...Benjamin Britten se opera Billy Budd Billy Budd is die slagoffer van...skeepsprovoos, John Claggart, in Herman Melville...
- Bringing out the Beast in Melville's Billy Budd: The Dialogue of Darwinian and...
- Magazine article from: Studies in the Novel Goldman, Eric December 22, 2005 700+ words
...animalistic and an angelic Billy Budd; and a scorpion-like, instinctive Claggart and a Satanic Claggart...minds and actions of Billy Budd and Claggart. Discerning the dialogue...those languages in Billy Budd requires a brief foray...
- Billy Budd. (Broadcast of March 8, 1997; includes related articles)
- Magazine article from: Opera News Hamilton, David Driscoll, F. Paul March 8, 1997 700+ words
...Julien Robbins Claggart bass, James Morris...Anthony Dean Griffey Billy Budd baritone, Dwayne...at-arms, John Claggart, who gather to...third of these is Billy Budd, an able-bodied...Billy is admired by Claggart and assigned to...above the deck ("Billy Budd, king ...
- Malice reconciled: on Billy Budd.
- Magazine article from: LawNow Normey, Rob June 1, 2002 700+ words
...Melville's Tomb" Billy Budd, Sailor was the last...master-at-arms, John Claggart, the petty officer...that the villainous Claggart is dead, Vere cries...whispered the words "Billy Budd," but not, says the...any sign of remorse. Billy Budd can be read on several...
- Chicago. (North America).(Billy Budd)
- Magazine article from: Opera News Johnson, Lawrence A. March 1, 2002 700+ words
...the world premiere of Billy Budd, Lyric Opera of Chicago...powerful new production of Billy Budd offered a flawless cast...two. The good-hearted Billy Budd, whose sole flaw is a...realistic fight scene (with Claggart's henchman Squeak...
- BILLY BUDD IN THE OPERA HOUSE.(Sydnia Opera Theatre: Sydney, Australia)(Review)
- Magazine article from: Quadrant RIEMER, ANDREW April 1, 1999 700+ words
...s latest offering, Billy Budd, Benjamin Britten...tells the sad story of Billy Budd, a young seaman impressed...and virtue inflame John Claggart, the villainous Master...orchestral passages in Billy Budd represent remarkable...
- Two triumphs in Chicago: Lyric's Billy Budd & Hansel und Gretel--winners both.
- Magazine article from: American Record Guide Rhein, John Von March 1, 2002 700+ words
...Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd, with its stark dramatic...master-at-arms, John Claggart, who trumps up a mutiny...fully the depths of Claggart's Iago-like soul...Stilwell (a notable Billy Budd of the recent past...Novice. With its new Billy Budd, Lyric Opera covered...
- Naturalist psychology in Billy Budd.(Critical Essay)
- Magazine article from: Leviathan Hove, Thomas October 1, 2003 700+ words
...the narrator of Billy Budd suggests that we...and mechanisms of Claggart's antipathy toward Billy. Analyzing Billy Budd from a naturalist...portraits of Billy, Claggart, and Vere...can help us read Billy Budd in a way that does...