Organization

Singer

Soprano

Nancy Gustafson

Lady Billows

Contralto

Felicity Palmer

Florence Pike

Ailish Tynan

Miss Wordsworth

Baritone

Christopher Purves

Mr Gedge

Tenor

Simeon Esper

Mr Upfold

Bass

Andrew Greenan

Superintendent Budd

Leigh Melrose

Allan Clayton

Albert Herring

Mezzo-soprano

Julia Riley

Nancy

Hanna Schaer

Mrs Herring

Conductor

Laurence Equilbey

Stage director

Richard Brunel

Set designer

Marc Lainé

Costume designer

Claire Risterucci

Lighting designer

Mathias Roche

Orchestra

Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie

Opéra Comique

Paris

France

Opéra-Comique

Salle Bizet

Feast your eyes and ears on Benjamin Britten's chamber opera Albert Herring, directed for the stage by Richard Brunel and coproduced by the Opéra Comique in Paris and the Opéra de Rouen Normandie. Inspired by Guy de Maupassant's novella Le Rosier de Madame Husson, this work paints a vivid portrait of the young title character, alternately praised and scorned by a self-righteous, youth-fearing society whose hypocrisy becomes the object of Britten's trenchant wit.

Brunel's mise en scène rests on a standardized set design that accentuates the control and surveillance to which the young characters find themselves subjected. The director draws upon the fears and hypocrisies of our contemporary society as well, showing that things are rarely as they seem under a sanitized surface. With its musical subtlety—carefully educed by conductor Laurence Equilbey—and its dramatic heft, this chamber opera rises to the meet the high stakes of 20th-century opera. The top-notch cast convinces at every turn, including an exceptional Allan Clayton in the title role.

Albert Herring Britten

Approved

Photos