The book (1891)
In his novel Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative), Herman Melville set – on the ocean of course – a story of evil against goodness, both between men (only men).
The book was unfinished at Melville’s death and the saga of its completion is a drama in itself! The accepted final version isn’t till 1962 – and more happened since.
The story is simple on the surface: Billy Budd, newly conscripted to a man-o'-war, is accused of treason by Claggart, the Master-at-Arms (who is perilously attracted to him). Billy's stutter prevents him from replying and he strikes his accuser; Claggart dies and Billy is sentenced to hang by Captain Vere, who is sticking to the naval law despite officers arguing against it - and will regret for ever his betrayal of the boy - (to whom he was perilously attracted). Below that surface, it’s about good and evil, beauty and love.
Britten's opera (1951)
It was asking for an opera. And in this story, Britten’s themes are all gathered: the British class system, expressed in Victorian morality and justice, individual versus society, corruption, sadism, despair, violence and pacifism, responsibility and homo-eroticism. His operas all touch on the meeting of innocence, beauty and good with evil and injustice - and the meeting of helpless individuals with pitiless authority - and the psycho-sexual drama in such conflicts.
There's a thorough and thought provoking acccount of the themes of the opera, and the drawing of the central characters, on the GoodMorningBritten site here. "Billy Budd is regarded as one of the finest operatic achievements of the 20th century, and many regard it as the equal of Peter Grimes, perhaps even its superior. As a drama, and a tragedy, it can scarcely be surpassed, and is unquestionably one of Britten’s greatest works."
If our exploration of Britten and his works is too far back, you might like to revisit our first meeting with him last year. Here's the post.
Now to Billy Budd the opera. As a local commentator put it: “The text is so fraught with contemporary moral dilemmas of great import that the opera provides great cause for thought and discussion. Its relevance is disturbing.”
Britten had completed his ‘chamber operas’ phase when he was commissioned to produce an opera for the Festival of Britain in 1951. Here was a story of naval dominance and pride – on the surface (though like his later commission for Elizabeth’s coronation, the subtexts must have ruffled a lot of upperclass feathers.
The libretto follows the book closely, beautifully written by E. M. Forster, who had discussed it in 1948 with Britten, and E. Crozier. Read about the construction of the opera here.
And then there's the music! This review of the Glyndebourne production describes it well:
"This is above all an ensemble piece. Britten’s orchestral writing – always so vivid – is rarely out of the foreground here as wind squalls bluster through the rigging and low brass mists loom over the water. The all-male chorus too are rarely absent from stage, their collective rhythms and rituals not just framing but fashioning the tragedy."
From the GoodMorningBritten site:
"Some of Britten’s very finest music lies within this opera. The choruses are thrilling, the first, the recurring theme of ‘O heave, o heave away’, an atmospheric evocation of the world close to the waves as the oarsmen struggle manfully against the current, depicted in a thick fog of strings and timpani. Then, after the flogging of a Novice in Act 1, saxophone and chorus unite in a mournful duet, ‘lost forever on the endless sea’. Later in the same act, when the men of the ship are singing sea shanties below decks, Britten gathers his forces until the music has an awesome power, with the full throated men’s chorus singing ‘Blow her away!’... It is as if a massive wave is breaking over the bow of the ‘Indomitable’, and the music is utterly overwhelming."
And that's just Act 1.
Duly, the opera (then in 4 acts) premiered in 1951 at Covent Garden, with Peter Pears in the role of Captain Vere, and was a great success. Each production since has won huge praise for the lead singers in an all-male cast, and for the orchestra - handling Britten's complex, melodious, dense, dramatic, light and dark, beautiful music. And in each production, the set and lighting are critical, holding the audience in the claustrophobic insides of an ship of war in the Napoleonic era. Britten's operas are all in some way about claustrophobic settings.
“The story about the angelically beautiful, honest but oh so simple and naive Billy, that takes place on a ship with only men and between men, has of course always had a double meaning. Some things could only be implied. Maybe that was a good thing, because it produced some real masterpieces…
"Billy Budd is a role that is traditionally played by a (very) attractive singer. He has to be, he is not called a ‘beauty’ and a ‘baby’ for nothing. He is almost always put on the stage partially or even completely shirtless – no wonder that almost all of the baritones that are labeled as the ‘hottest’ have the role on their repertoire nowadays.”
In Australia, Teddy Tahu-Rhodes played the role, to great acclaim - and feature in the 'Barihunks' site predictably.
The film of the book (1962)
It's another book to film story – Peter Ustinov directed the film (and played Vere) with Terence Stamp (then 24) as the beautiful Billy. Trailer here. Read all about it on Wiki. There’s a detailed review here exploring the way the film deals with the homoeroticism in the book.
There's a very detailed review of the film - and Ustinov's directing - here. "Ustinov’s belief that “National Service is the only dictatorship permitted in a democratic society” underlay his war stories on talk shows and helped him wring a lucid, sinewy narrative from Melville’s Billy Budd."
The film of the opera (1966)
We start our sessions with a black and white classic film - BBC's 1966 version of Billy Budd directed by Basil Coleman, (who had directed the ROH premiere of the opera in 1951 and would return there for a later production in 1964).
You can watch the 1966 film on YouTube here – the diction is very clear but there are no subtitles. (The DVD we will play has subtitles).
15 years on from the premiere, the film portrays Peter Pears in his final performance as Captain Vere (Peter Glossop is singing Billy and Michael Landon is Claggart. )
This classic was filmed in London (in two studios, one for the orchestra!) with a set meticulously designed to create a fully-manned English man-o’-war of the period. They had a rigger from HMS Victory and a naval historian advising on the ships’ dressing and procedure! (Here's an oddity: the Britten-Pears foundation says it was filmed at Snape Maltings.)
Coleman is quoted in the DVD notes:
“I’d like to think that this represents a small world suspended in the elements. Some things are treated very realistically – the ropes used by the hauliers, the holy-stoning right at the start – but there are times when the camera follows the action in one great sweep, maybe from poop deck to lower deck, so that the viewer is given almost a cross-section of the entire ship.”
His camera technique was widely praised, angles and closeups developing characters (watch how Claggart’s images are from low angles to show his threat. And Peter Glossop's Billy is lit with innocence - and love.
As the Britten-Pears foundation puts it, "This is a rare chance to enjoy one of the great opera films in TV history ".
There's more about Coleman (and Britten) in this obituary.
Billy Budd (1966) won a Bafta award.
“The first of the groundbreaking television productions of Britten’s operas, Billy Budd was staged by Basil Coleman, who had produced both the opera’s premieres at the Royal Opera House – that of the original four-Act version, and of the revised two-Act version performed here. Using the BBC’s two-studio technique, he created massive, painstakingly authentic settings on a 1770s man-o’-war. With 1960s monochrome and flat lighting, it’s hardly Master and Commander, but its fluency and shifting viewpoints are still striking today, far in advance of stage telecasts, and the coherent atmosphere undoubtedly enhances the drama onscreen. Charles Mackerras maintains both the score’s gusty energy and claustrophobic tension, with an equally intense cast. Peter Pears inhabits rather than acts Captain Vere, the anguished scholar-warrior to the life. Grimly sonorous, Michael Langdon (himself an ex-petty officer) makes Claggart appear Vere’s dark mirror, brutish but keenly self-aware. Peter Glossop’s rather mature but jovially natural Billy remains the finest voice I know in this role.”
We will watch the first act from this film - and then take the second act – next week – from the glowing production by Michael Grandage for Glyndebourne.
Glyndebourne production
Glyndebourne screened this production during lockdown, in 2020. My post then is here.
Now the director is Michael Grandage, in his opera debut. Once again, the opera determines the way it is set. Nice description in this review.
"In the production of Michael Grandage (Opus Arte OA 1051 D) recorded in Glyndebourne in June 2010, we are actually on the military vessel, in the middle of the sea. The time of action is also clear: the eighteenth century.
"The costumes are very realistic and everything that happens on stage is also in the libretto. The decor is beautiful and leaves a overwhelming impression. Here one can only utter ‘oh’ and ‘ah.’ But it is not only the entourage that impresses. Michael Grandage, who makes his opera debut with this, creates an atmosphere that is psychologically quite charged. The tension is excruciating. I can’t stop talking about how he directs the characters either. You rarely experience such an intelligent production these days."
And that cast? Billy is played by South African Jacques Imbrailo, who will go on to the ROH performance, and many others.
(Recognise him? He played Horatio in Glyndebourne's production of Dean's Hamlet.)
Interesting review here.
"South African baritone Jacques Imbrailo takes on the title role, a character he has performed previously in productions at Glyndebourne, Teatro Real, Dutch National and Norwegian National Opera. Though I was initially unconvinced by his voice, I became persuaded as the performance wore on. On first listen, it is an unspecific and untidy sound, but at the root is a beautiful and visceral connection to the raw emotion of the character and the music. This was a terrific performance from Imbrailo."
John Mark Ainsley is Captain Vere. One reviewer commented, "In the prologue one could easily mistake Ainsley for Pears as he floats the high notes."
Claggart is played by Canadian bass Philip Ens.
Opera Today comments: "Claggart, in this production, is developed unusually well. Philip Ens makes Claggart twitch with sexual tension. Like the mists that trap the ship, and the haze that shrouds the stage, this Claggart oozes poison so pervasive that just hearing Ens makes one feel unclean — he’s a great actor, and his voice twists and elides in a sinister way. How did this Claggart come to be who he is? This portrait of warped sexuality is almost too awful to contemplate."
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