Productions

Concert performance of Benjamin Britten's opera

Libretto by Montagu Slater after George Crabbe’s poem "The Borough"
Music Director and Conductor Arvo Volmer
Conductor Kaspar Mänd
Stage Director and Set Designer José Cura (Argentina)
Costume Designer and Assistant to the Stage Director: Silvia Collazuol (Italy)
Lighting Designers José Cura, Rasmus Rembel
Cast Timothy Richards, Charlotte Anne Shipley, Paul Carey Jones, Aule Urb, Tuuri Dede, Kadri Nirgi, Janne Ševtšenko, Raiko Raalik, Pavlo Balakin, Dragos Andrei Ionel, Mart Madiste, Heldur Harry Põlda

For the first time in Estonia, the Estonian National Opera presents a concert performance of Benjamin Britten’s psychological thriller "Peter Grimes". This powerful opera is considered one of the cornerstones of 20th-century English music theatre and showcases Britten’s brilliant ability to explore the depths of human emotion and societal conflict.

In the psychological thriller "Peter Grimes", Britten gives a voice to a man who does not fit into a community that has no tolerance for differences. Who is Peter Grimes? A murderer? A hapless victim of a small community’s prejudice and the all-powerful sea? A poet? 

In a close-knit coastal community, fisherman Peter Grimes is acquitted of murdering his young apprentice. But although the court has pronounced him innocent, the local inhabitants continue to judge him. With only the local teacher Ellen Orford by his side, Peter Grimes finds himself haunted by rumours and suspicion, struggling with inner demons and the enmity of the local community.

The opera’s music paints hauntingly vivid images of the sea’s power, human emotion, love, and fear.

World premiere in Sadler’s Wells on June 7, 1945.

Co-production with Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse.

Duration: 3 hours and 15 minutes with two intermissions