Offer,Britten: Billy Budd

Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), Toby Spence (Vere), Brindley Sherratt (Claggart), Thomas Oliemans (Redburn), David Soar (Flint), Torben Jürgens (Ratcliffe), Clive Bayley (Dansker), Duncan Rock (Donald); Ivor Bolton, Deborah Warner

Teatro Real Madrid, Ivor Bolton, Deborah Warner

The strength of the production is its universality…The acting works so well in close-up that it is possible to follow this performance almost like a film…[Imbrailo’s] warm, unforced singing is... — Gramophone Magazine, November 2018 More…

Release Date: 14th Sep 2018
Catalogue No: BAC154
Label: Bel Air Classiques

Diapason d’Or de l’Année

2018

Winner - Opéra
BBC Music Magazine Awards

2019

Winner - DVD/Blu-ray

Britten: Billy Budd

Jacques Imbrailo (Billy Budd), Toby Spence (Vere), Brindley Sherratt (Claggart), Thomas Oliemans (Redburn), David Soar (Flint), Torben Jürgens (Ratcliffe), Clive Bayley (Dansker), Duncan Rock (Donald), Francisco Vas (Squeak), Christopher Gillet (Red Whiskers), Sam Furness (Novice), Borja Quiza (Novice's Friend)
Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Real Madrid
Ivor Bolton (conductor) & Deborah Warner (director)

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Sets: Michael Levine

Costumes: Chloe Obolensky

Lighting design: Jean Kalman

Choreography: Kim Brandstrup

Chorus master: Andrés Maspero

Children’s chorus master: Ana Gonzalez

800 litres of water, two sails, thirty pulleys, sixty hammocks: for the Bicentenary of the Teatro Real of Madrid, Deborah Warner coined a colossal production of Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd. A critically-acclaimed performance, praised for its depth and intelligence. Tenor Jacques Imbrailo, who knows the title role perfectly, delivers a stunning rendition of the young sailor's part, while British singers Toby Spence and Brindley Sherratt provide solid interpretations of Captain 'Starry' Vere and of John Claggart. In the pit, Ivor Bolton masterfully deploys, along with the Orchestra of the Teatro Real, all the energy and power of Britten's fifth opera. A now iconic production, co-produced by the Opera of Rome and the Royal Opera House.

Reviews

November 2018

The strength of the production is its universality…The acting works so well in close-up that it is possible to follow this performance almost like a film…[Imbrailo’s] warm, unforced singing is a major asset…Bolton is the skilful conductor, keeping the drama taut…The Madrid chorus does itself proud…The final scene of this Billy Budd, grandly staged, sturdily sung, is as powerful as it gets.

March 2019

A most compelling account of one of the great operas of the 20th century.

January 2019

[Spence] delivers a searching interpretation, finding heightened expression in the text and employing a wide range of intricate colours to flesh it out. Equally multidimensional is Brindley’ Sherratt’s grandly and variedly voiced Claggart, as stern as steel, but a thinking man and no mere brute…feeling for text equally imbues Jacques Imbrailo’s lyrical Billy, credibly presented as a direct and affable individual with no chips and no complaints.

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Offer,Britten: Billy Budd

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Offer,Britten: Billy Budd

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