Britten: Peter Grimes (Complete Opera recorded in 2004)

"New Zealanders will feel pride to hear Jonathan Lemalu open the opera as Hobson. Listen to his From Pub to Pub, and ask yourself, why isn't someone setting up a production of Porgy and Bess around this man?

Australian tenor Glenn Winslade has fierce competition in Jon Vickers, Philip Langridge and Peter Pears, but his Grimes is forceful. The final mad scene, strewn with lamenting chromatics and fiery flashes of melody, before finally bursting into song over the pursuing chorus, is the climax.

Janice Watson stands out as the saintly Ellen, and Catherine Wyn-Rogers' Mrs Sedley crackles with viciousness. There are momentary irritations, as expected with a live performance, but compensations when a moment of comedy provokes laughter from the audience.

This is a landmark for the LSO, and superlatives are inadequate to describe the colours Davis draws from the players. The Sea Interludes gleam within their dramatic context and the London Symphony Chorus relish their involvement with such a testy choral challenge."
(William Dart New Zeland Herald)

For his first complete opera recording since his award-winning Les Troyens on LSO Live, Sir Colin Davis tackles one of the 20th century's greatest works, Britten's Peter Grimes. Recorded at the opening concerts in the LSO's centenary celebrations with a magnificent cast, this release promises to be one of 2004's most exciting.

Britten's first full-scale opera was an overnight sensation on its premiere in 1945, immediately establishing the composer's international reputation. The compelling tale of a brutal yet tormented fisherman who is victimised by the public, it asks challenging questions of society. Yet it contains some of the most glorious, instantly appealing and heartfelt music ever written for an opera.

CONCERT REVIEWS
'a musical performance as compelling as any I have ever heard … The playing here brought one close to tears. [Glenn Winslade] brings the best of both worlds to this music: delicacy for Grimes's poetic visions and heroic éclat for the exertions … In short, a triumphant upbeat for the LSO and Davis in what should prove an exciting year.'
Sunday Times UK, 18 January 2004

'A packed house, an excellent cast, a revered conductor and a thrilling and visceral work. Peter Grimes is, like the LSO, one of the triumphs of its century, and this was one of their finest moments … Glenn Winslade perfectly captured the unknowableness of Peter Grimes …
A musical experience as pure as this … is a rare joy'
Independent on Sunday UK, 18 January 2004

'a magnificent, powerful reading with a first-rate cast. [Glenn Winslade] gave a deeply penetrating account of this hugely testing role'
Evening Standard UK, 12 January 2004

'With every visit to New York by Colin Davis and the LSO, it becomes clearer that their collaboration is going to be ranked up there with a handful of historic pairings of conductor and orchestra in recent decades, like Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic ... a riveting concert performance … Sir Colin showed a complete musical and dramatic command of the score'
New York Times (USA), 20 January 2004