Britten: The Turn of the Screw - DVD video

“As the Governess, Eilene Hannan performed grippingly…The final scene, going from high drama to poignant grief, was arrestingly good” The Australian

“one of the company’s best Britten performances. Jonathan Kent’s production, vividly conducted by Jakob Hrusa, turns the Victorian ghost story into something more modern but equally “innocent” – a 1950s psychological thriller, with strong performances [from Persson and Spence]” Financial Times, 30th November 2012

“The Turn of the Screw has been lucky on DVD - but forget those performances. This Glyndebourne production is streets ahead...At its dark heart lies Jakub Hrusa's quite astonishing conducting...A cast of first-rate singers infuse their roles with unnerving life...Altogether, one of the finest opera performances on DVD. Buy it.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2013 *****

“the casting is ideal...Hrusa's conducting, completely unlike Britten's more romantic approach, looks throughout to emphasise the tone-row (and atonal) elements that stalk this score like the story's ghosts. It's a real contribution to our musical knowledge of the score.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2013

“the singing is probably the finest on any DVD version of the work … Miah Persson is flawless … Her diction, pitch and sense of line are impeccable … [Spence's] melismatic singing is clean and effortless … wonderful children … Jakub Hrusa leads the London Philharmonic in an instinctual, perversely accented, gut-wrenching reading and the 15-or-so instrumentalists are superb … Both picture and sound are excellent … musically close to perfection” International Record Review, March 2013

“the video direction of François Roussillon fully exploits the intimacy of the DVD medium, of this opera and of Jonathan Kent’s stage direction...This superlatively sung, played, acted and directed production sets a gold standard for future staged versions...The opera comes with 22 minutes of extras. These illuminate why this Glyndebourne 2011 version is so distinctive, how it developed and the nature of the journey for the performers” MusicWeb International, March 2013

“This film was much lauded when shown on BBC2. Katie Mitchell's arresting production opens up the story, taking it into the countryside and producing spooky and louring images to create the mysterious and dangerous aura of Bly, which does no harm to the intentions of Henry James and Benjamin Britten. Mitchell allows the characters' interior monologues to be heard while the singers' mouths remain closed – especially apt for the role of the Governess.
For about two-thirds of the work the director keeps within the boundaries stipulated by Britten and librettist Myfanwy Piper, making us fully aware of the ambiguities of the participants and their relationships. But in the third part she rather allows her ideas to get out of hand, the nightmarish images becoming too surreal, especially for the ghosts and the children, although she recovers in time to make the final struggle between the Governess and Quint for Miles's soul an arresting close. We're left, as we should be, uncertain at the state of the Governess's mind and the exact powers of the ghosts.
Richard Hickox commands every aspect of the tricky score, lovingly executed by members of his City of London Sinfonia, even if the balance with the singers sometimes goes awry.
The cast is splendid. Nicholas Kirby Johnson as Miles achieves just the right balance between innocence and knowingness. His singing is fluent and pointed, as is that of Caroline Wise, a teenage Flora with a lively presence, expressive eyes and a malleable voice. Lisa Milne, unflatteringly garbed, is rather too confident of voice and mien as the Governess. Although she sings with her customary clarity of line and word, she doesn't suggest the nervous vulnerability of Jennifer Vyvyan, who created the role. Diana Montague is a gratifyingly sympathetic Mrs Grose, using body language to convey just the right feeling of apprehension and concern over the fate of her charges. Mark Padmore is among the best of Quints, vocally and histrionically. Catryn Wyn-Davies is a properly wild and scary Miss Jessel. All in all, this is the version to have.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Katie Mitchell directs very much in the BBC classic manner… Bly's grand but bleak interiors and iron-grey woodlands splendidly atmospheric. Hickox and his exceptional cast capture beautifully the escalating tension that makes the score so gripping in the theatre. Lisa Milne sings the Governess as finely as any on disc; more plumply prosaic than the usual tormented waif, her growing hysteria is all the more alarming. By contrast Diana Montague's Mrs Grose is unusually tall and patrician, but utterly convincing. Catrin Wyn Davies is a sensuous, eerie Miss Jessel, but Mark Padmore's Quint, though mellifluous, could use more supernatural menace... Caroline Wise and Nicolas Kirkby Johnson as the children, though, are ideal... and they sing with genuine expressive power. ...one of the truest opera films to date.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2005 *****

“What Katie Mitchell has devised is a highly evocative film to go with a performance of The Turn of the Screw. The result is very different from a conventional staging, with the singers, for much of the time, acting out their roles without being seen...A distinctive version with many great qualities, most of all in presenting the full horror of the story, set against an eerie background.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ***

“Michael Hampe clearly places the audience in the expected quandary as to whether the ghosts are 'real' or a product of the Governess's vivid imagination. The concept is underlined by Helen Field, who makes the role very much her own by her intelligent acting and fine singing of it. The young Samuel Linay could hardly be bettered as Miles, suggesting the boy's innocence and his devilment while singing purely and accurately.
Menai Davies brings out all Mrs Grose's generous character and her slight befuddlement at events beyond her ken. Phyllis Cannan is at once a menacing and unearthly Miss Jessel.
Richard Greager sings splendidly as Quint but rather misses out on the character's menace.
The Flora, as so often with this part, looks too mature. The instrumental playing is superb.
The sound balance and video direction faultless.
Along with the fine rival version (below), this opera is very lucky on DVD.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The hero of this Arthaus DVD production is Steuart Bedford, who gets vibrant singing and playing from all concerned.Helen Field is a thoroughly convincing Governess and the cast is in every respect excellent, even if Machita Obata looks a little too mature for Flora.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition **/***