Britten – Billy Budd
ENO, Coliseum, London, Saturday December 3 2005 Conductor: Andrew Litton. Production: Neil Armfield. Billy Budd: Simon Keenlyside. Captain Vere: Timothy Robinson. Claggart: John Tomlinson. Mr Redburn: Ashley Holland. Mr Flint: Pavlo Hunka. Lieutenant Ratcliffe: [replacement]. Red Whiskers: Adrian Thompson. Donald: Toby Stafford-Allen. Dansker: Gwynne Howell. Novice: James Edwards. Squeak: Richard Coxon. Bosun: Nicholas Folwell. Maintop: Andrew Rees. The Novice’s Friend: William Berger. It’s rare, in the hybrid, haphazard world of opera, to enjoy a vocally perfect performance: not for nothing are the very famous very famous, and we only get to hear them from time to time. It’s rarer still to have the privilege of witnessing the absolute possession of a role, both vocally and dramatically, to a near superhuman degree; performances that leave an audience in stunned silence, “drained” as the expression goes. I think of Arleen Auger as Alcina, Anja Silja as Kostelnicka…. That is the stage t...