![]() Peter Quint, the spirit she saw, was a former valet who might have abused young Miles. Grose, the housekeeper, that spirits may reside within its walls. And when she glimpses a mysterious figure in Bly House, the Governess learns from Mrs. The Governess learns that Miles has been expelled from his school. From there, the story moves to the relationship between the Governess of Bly House and the two young children under her watch, Miles and Flora. ![]() The production unnerved and unsettled, in a good way.Ī lonely piano begins the tale, followed by ominous words from a narrator, ‘It is a curious story, written in faded ink’. And perhaps, given the darkness in the news these days-ongoing clergy sex abuse, animus-fueled populism, murdered journalists, war, and of course our own diminishing sense of self-the opera returned to Seattle at a propitious moment. Even for what is one of Britten’s most unnerving works, 24 years is too long an interval. The last time Seattle Opera mounted The Turn of the Screw was 1994. What should Seattle audiences make of an opera that explores sexual improprieties, crushing guilt, innocence - not to mention, theme and variation of operatic form? These were the questions on my mind as a new production of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw opened last Saturday evening.Britten is probably the most successful English-language opera composer the world has known, and yet his operas - even the famous ones - are performed infrequently. (ZC) Seattle Opera’s The Turn of the Screw United States Britten, The Turn of the Screw : Soloists of Seattle Opera, Seattle Symphony / Constantin Trinks (conductor), Seattle, Washington.
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