Details

Britten's operas often focus on the way particular worlds deal with an outsider. The outsider in Billy Budd is a young man, press-ganged into naval service on the HMS Idomitable around 1797. His story is told in an opera-length flashback by the ship's captain, Edward Fairfax Vere, who is racked by guilt over Billy's fate. Billy's optimism, good-heartedness and trusting nature wins over all but the most venal of the downtrodden crew. He's keen for promotion, but his charisma and beauty cause the evil master-at-arms, John Claggart (who resembles Iago in Shakespeare's Othello), to plot his destruction. Billy's fatal flaw is that, under pressure, he suffers from a crippling stutter. When Claggart falsely accuses him of fomenting mutiny, in front of a sceptical Vere, Billy cannot find the words to defend himself and strikes Claggart dead. At the subsequent court-martial, Vere must follow the letter of the Articles of War and Billy is condemned to death. Typically, just before his execution, Billy cries out in praise of Vere. Now a very old man, Vere concludes that Billy's blessing has, in fact, saved him. New Production. Running time 2 hours 50 minutes.

Cast/Performers

Simon Keenlyside (Billy Budd), John Tomlinson (Claggart), Timothy Robinson (Captain Vere), Ashley Holland (Mr Redburn), Pavlo Hunka (Mr Flint), Brindley Sherratt (Lieutenant Ratcliffe), Adrian Thompson (Red Whiskers), Toby Stafford-Allen (Donald), Gwynne Howell (Dansker), James Edwards (Novice), Richard Coxon (Squeak), Nicholas Folwell (Bosun), Andrew Rees (Maintop), William Berger (The Novice's Friend)

Creatives/Company

Author: Britten
Corporate Sponsor(s): Sky, Artsworld
Producer: Welsh National Opera
Director: Neil Armfield
Conductor: Andrew Litton
Design: Brian Thomson
Costume: Carl Friedrich Oberle
Lighting: Nigel Levings