Kensington Symphony Orchestra: Peter Grimes by Britten, From (2023/2023), Conductor Simon Russell Beale, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, United Kingdom

Said to conjure ‘white-hot poetry’, Benjamin Britten’s tragic opera Peter Grimes is performed by Kensington Symphony Orchestra with the Epiphoni Consort. The work tells the story of the fisherman Peter Grimes, played here by tenor John Hudson, who is wrongly accused of murdering his apprentice – and when a second accident occurs, a mob is roused to fury and the tale reaches a tragic end. The opera has become part of the standard repertoire since its premiere in 1945, striking a chord with its vivid depiction of what Britten called ‘a subject very close to my heart: the struggle of the individual against the masses’. Reviewed at its release, The Manchester Guardian's William McNaught called the music ‘full of vivid suggestion and action, sometimes rising to a kind of white-hot poetry.’ In almost 70 years of music-making, Kensington Symphony Orchestra has built an enviable reputation as one of the UK’s most accomplished and adventurous non-professional orchestras. Established classics, neglected masterpieces and works by today’s leading composers are hallmarks of KSO’s repertoire, performed with a skill and panache that has garnered widespread praise.