Britten: Peter Grimes Alan Oke, Giselle Allen, David Kempster, Opera North Chorus & Steuart Bedford

• Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976): Peter Grimes, Op. 33:Prologue:
• 1 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Prologue: Peter Grimes (Hobson, Swallow, Peter) 01:32
• 2 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Prologue: You sailed your boat round the coast (Swallow, Peter, Mrs. Sedley, Hobson, Ellen, Chorus) 03:20
• 3 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Prologue: Peter Grimes, I here advise you (Swallow, Hobson, Peter, Chorus) 02:10
• 4 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Prologue: The truth - the pity - and the truth (Peter, Ellen) 01:55
• 5 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Prologue: Interlude I 02:47
• Act I:
• 6 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: Oh, hang at open doors (Auntie, Boles, Balstrode, Chorus) 04:21
• 7 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: Good morning, good morning! (Rector, Nieces, Mrs. Sedley, Ned, Swallow, Auntie, Boles, Balstrode, Chorus) 01:05
• 8 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: Hi! Give us a hand (Peter, Boles, Balstrode, Ned, Auntie, Hobson) 03:22
• 9 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: I'll have to go from pub to pub (Hobson, Ellen, Ned, Chorus) 01:54
• 10 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: Let her among you without fault (Ellen, Hobson, Mrs. Sedley, Ned) 03:00
• 11 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: Look! The storm come! (Balstrode, Ned, Boles, Chorus) 02:35
• 12 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: And do you prefer the storm (Balstrode, Peter) 03:24
• 13 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: They listen to money (Peter, Balstrode) 01:35
• 14 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: What harbour shelters peace (Peter) 01:03
• 15 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 1: Interlude II 04:05
• 16 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 2: Past time to close (Auntie, Mrs. Sedley, Balstrode, Boles, Nieces) 02:22
• 17 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 2: Loud man (Auntie, Nieces, Mrs. Sedley) 01:00
• 18 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 2: There's been a landslide up the coast (Fisherman, Boles, Balstrode, Auntie) 00:59
• 19 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 2: No, I mean love (Boles, Balstrode, Chorus) 00:32
• 20 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 2: Pub conversation should depend (Balstrode, Chorus) 01:19
• 21 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 2: Have you heard the cliff is down (Ned, Auntie, Mrs. Sedley, Chorus) 01:33
• 22 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 2: Now the Great Bear and Pleiades (Peter, Nieces, Boles, Balstrode, Auntie, Chorus) 03:34
• 23 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 2: For peace sake (Balstrode, Peter) 02:29
• 24 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act I Scene 2: The bridge is down (Hobson, Ned, Ellen, Boles, Auntie, Nieces, Peter) 01:32
• Act II:
• 25 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II: Interlude III 02:25
• 26 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: Glitter of waves (Ellen) 01:29
• 27 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: Now that the daylight fills the sky (Ellen, Rector, Chorus) 03:39
• 28 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: Child you're not too young (Ellen, Rector, Peter, Chorus) 03:11
• 29 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: This unrelenting work (Ellen, Peter, Chorus) 04:18
• 30 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: Fool to let it come to this (Auntie, Ned, Boles, Mrs. Sedley, Balstrode, Swallow, Nieces, Rector, Chorus) 03:13
• 31 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: People… No! I will speak! (Boles, Balstrode, Rector, Auntie, Ellen, Chorus) 02:13
• 32 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: We planned that their lives (Ellen, Rector, Mrs. Sedley, Boles, Ned, Nieces, Auntie, Balstrode, Hobson, Swallow, Chorus) 02:15
• 33 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: Swallow - shall we go and see Grimes in his hut? (Rector, Swallow, Balstrode, Mrs. Sedley, Boles, Chorus) 00:47
• 34 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: Now gossip is put on trial (Chorus) 02:02
• 35 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 1: From the gutter (Nieces, Auntie, Ellen) 04:01
• 36 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II: Interlude IV 05:29
• 37 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 2: Go there (Peter) 01:54
• 38 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 2: They listen to money (Peter) 05:02
• 39 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 2: Now! Now! (Peter, Chorus) 02:09
• 40 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act II Scene 2: Peter Grimes (Rector, Swallow, Ned) 02:50
• Act III:
• 41 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III: Interlude V 03:39
• 42 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 1: Assign your prettiness to me (Swallow, Nieces, Ned) 03:12
• 43 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 1: Mr. Keene (Mrs. Sedley, Ned) 01:27
• 44 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 1: Murder most foul it is (Mrs. Sedley, Ned) 01:24
• 45 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 1: Come along, Doctor (Burgess, Burgesses, Rector, Mrs. Sedley, Ellen, Balstrode) 02:43
• 46 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 1: Embroidery in childhood was (Ellen, Balstrode) 04:47
• 47 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 1: Mr. Swallow (Mrs. Sedley, Auntie, Swallow, Hobson) 01:55
• 48 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 1: Who holds himself apart (Chorus) 03:27
• 49 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III: Interlude VI 02:08
• 50 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 2: Grimes! (Voices, Peter) 05:09
• 51 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 2: Peter, we've come to take you home (Ellen, Peter, Balstrode) 02:23
• 52 Peter Grimes, Op. 33: Act III Scene 2: To those who pass the Borough (Swallow, Fisherman, Auntie, Boles, Chorus) 05:13
• Total Runtime 02:17:52

Info for Britten: Peter Grimes

Britten’s powerful and masterful evocation of the North Sea in all its moods has to audiences all over the world become inextricably linked with the Aldeburgh that was home to George Crabbe (author of the ‘The Borough’ from which the story originates) in the eighteenth century and Britten in the twentieth.

Steuart Bedford leads a vast and accomplished ensemble on this new live recording, created shortly before the group’s unique staging of the work on the beach at Aldeburgh as part of the town’s world-renowned festival. (Physical product booklet includes the full libretto to the opera, however this not available in the linked booklet below for copyright reasons.)

"... The mix here is imperceptible and the sound unobtrusive; engineer Mike Hatch deserves a credit twice the size and conductor Steuart Bedford pulls off an extraordinary feat of coherence and endurance. But it’s Oke who makes the case for Peter Grimes and steals the show. There used to be two great Grimes on record: Peter Pears and Jon Vickers. Now there are three." (Sinfini Music, Norman Lebrecht)

“All is taut, tense and claustrophobic, the rich Snape acoustic adding to the pleasure. The orchestra playing is incisive, occasionally brash but thrillingly alive, and the all-important chorus, drawn from Opera North and the Guildhall School, is among the greatest on disc.” (The Arts Desk)

“[Bedford] has the sea-swell of the work deep in his bones...[Oke's] is a strong, ballasted performance, less purely plangent than many, but deeply moving in its simple strength and keen imagination...There's much to relish throughout this hand-picked cast.” (BBC Music Magazine)

“This is an expertly paced performance, as one might expect with Steuart Bedford as conductor, building the tension incrementally...[Oke] is heard to best effect when Grimes is peering deep into his soul...Allen's urgent Ellen Orford is well in the picture, though she does not always sound ingratiating, and David Kempster is a stalwart Balstrode.” (Gramophone Magazine)

“this release has strong presence. Steuart Bedford’s conducting is pacey and brings out the violence of the piece, and the Britten-Pears Orchestra rips into the score...Oke’s Grimes is a damaged soul from the start...Allen sounds a mature but intense Ellen, David Kempster a humane Balstrode.” (Opera Now)

Alan Oke (Peter Grimes)
Giselle Allen (Ellen Orford)
David Kempster (Captain Balstrode)
Gaynor Keeble (Auntie)
Alexandra Hutton (First Niece)
Charmian Bedford (Second Niece)
Robert Murray (Bob Boles)
Henry Waddington (Swallow)
Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Mrs Sedley)
Christopher Gillett (Rev. Horace Adams)
Charles Rice (Ned Keene)
Stephen Richardson (Hobson)

Chorus of Opera North
Chorus of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Britten–Pears Orchestra
Steuart Bedford, conductor

No biography found.

Booklet for Britten: Peter Grimes