SF Opera: Peter Grimes
Sun Jul 24 2005 11:19 MDT #Peter Grimes is set in a fishing village in the 40's, this alone made it much different from the previous operas of the season. In addition it was sung in English, and had noticeable modernity of plot, and lack of desire to stick to opera conventions.
When Rosalina was first heard in a fragment, instead of in an Aria, in The Barber of Seville, it was noticeable to me (and caused a major stir at it's first performance). Peter Grimes, left intermissions in silence - not with a resounding chorus. This made it hard at times to realize one was at an intermission. It was also unrelenting, song after song , scene after scene, it had little down time. And almost no comic characters/relief. It was almost like a depressed and depressing, modern musical. But it stayed enough with the conventions to be clearly an opera.
This particular production was well done. It got out of your way - and let the story lead you, the singers sing, and act. The acting was important and well done - this was nice as often acting is an afterthought in opera. As always the music was excellent. The lead in particular was stunning. On the whole it was very different, very well done, but in the end not really my cup of tea. This was mainly down to the depressing nature of the story and the subject matter (mob rule). Good - but not for me.