On Friday, September 26 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, September 28 at 3 p.m., Benjamin Britten’s operatic thriller “Peter Grimes” will hit the stage for the first time at the Estonian National Opera. The concert performance, which will be performed only twice, will feature guests from Estonia, Wales, England and Ireland in addition to the soloists, choir and orchestra of the Estonian National Opera. Arvo Volmer, the artistic director and principal conductor of the Estonian National Opera, will conduct.
At its premiere in London in 1945, “Peter Grimes” shook the entire opera world and laid the foundation for a new golden age of British musical theatre. Britten’s true English thriller intertwines the sea, small-town mentality and deeply human drama with a groundbreaking musical expression that is both enchantingly beautiful and gut-wrenchingly tense.
The concert performance highlights Britten's powerful musical layers: dramatic chorus, powerful orchestral outbursts and the alternation of stormy seas with gentle emotional tenderness. The concert offers the listener the opportunity to delve into details that are sometimes obscured in stage versions and to focus on the composer's extraordinary music and the soloists' vocal mastery.
"Peter Grimes" is not just an opera. It is an experience that touches the deepest recesses of the audience's soul and forces you to ask yourself how much one person must suffer because they are different from others.
Cast: Timothy Richards (Wales) in the title role, and Charlotte-Anne Shipley (England), Paul Carey Jones (Wales/Ireland), Aule Urb, Tuuri Dede (guest), Kadri Nirgi, Janne Ševtšenko, Raiko Raalik, Pavlo Balakin (guest), Dragos Andrei Ionel, Mart Madiste, Heldur Harry Põlda.
Photo: Tanel Meos