Billy Budd, at English National Opera, Seven magazine review

Regarded, justifiably, as Benjamin Britten’s greatest opera, Billy Budd seems hardly ever to flop on stage, but that does not mean the piece is easy to perform. Nor does it diminish English National Opera’s outstanding record with the work, and David Alden’s eagerly awaited production, the third at the Coliseum in a quarter of a century, again showcases the company’s special strengths.

It also takes up from where Alden left off in his 2009 ENO Peter Grimes, once more universalising a work that traditionally has been seen as narrowly English. This setting of Herman Melville’s tale of claustrophobic evil aboard the HMS Indomitable is no longer the Royal Navy, still less 1797.

It is just about nautical in Paul Steinberg’s set, which abstractly suggests the inside of a ship’s hull, and Constance Hoffman’s costumes evoke the early Soviet period – hinting at Battleship Potemkin, perhaps in a nod towards the co-producing Bolshoi Theatre.

Where some productions uncover the cold heart of Britten and others find mawkish sentimentality, Alden’s staging is strong and sober. His dark, concentrated staging almost seems to happen in slow motion, the starkness varying only as pieces of scenery slide – Vere’s eerily white cabin, for instance, or a huge cannon – on and off. And where many productions of this homoerotic Othello relish the opportunity for well-oiled torsos, Alden’s remains firmly buttoned up.

Underpinning the Soviet tone, Edward Gardner conducts a blistering account of the score that reminds one of Britten’s affinity for Shostakovich. Yet it is not all brittle and brassy, and Gardner also finds room for haunting lyricism. The all-male chorus is on excellent form, especially in the sea battle, which puts the drummers in the stage boxes to high-decibel effect.

In an impressive cast, no one is finer than Matthew Rose. As Claggart, one of his biggest roles to date, he presents a chilling study in evil, dressed in a long leather coat and all the more powerful for his moon-faced impassivity. He sculpts words with his dark bass-baritone.

The tenor Kim Begley sings potently as the morally ambivalent Captain Vere, ageing up effectively for the old man’s reminiscences, and there are major cameos from Gwynne Howell (Dansker), Jonathan Summers (Redburn) and Nicky Spence (Novice).

But the Billy Budd of Benedict Nelson, a basically good baritone with all the handsome athleticism required, lacks the vocal presence required at the centre of the piece. It’s a hole in the casting, but not one serious enough to sink the ship.

To July 8; www.eno.org

This review also appeared in SEVEN magazine, free with the Sunday Telegraph

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