About eight years ago, Glimmerglass Opera discussed staging Benjamin Britten’s “Death in Venice,” but the usually adventurous summer opera company in Cooperstown, N.Y., deemed it too much of a risk.
“We didn’t feel that our audiences were ready for it, either possibly musically or in terms of its subject matter,” said Nicholas Russell, the company’s director of artistic operations.
“Somehow, eight or so years later, the next time it sort of surfaced in our repertoire plans, there was no discussion about its suitability on either level.”
Glimmerglass’ attitude adjustment in less than a decade reflects the fast-growing acceptance of and even enthusiasm for Britten’s operas. It’s a trend seen not just in the United States but elsewhere in the world.
After the 1945 debut of “Peter Grimes,” which created an immediate sensation in Great Britain and beyond, Britten (1913-1976) quickly established himself as a leading operatic composer of the 20th century. But his often tough works were hardly box-office draws and not frequently staged.
That is changing.
Besides the Glimmerglass’ production of “Death in Venice,” which opens July 23 and runs through Aug. 21, three other major summer companies have presented or are presenting works spanning the composer’s career. The roster includes Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ “Gloriana” last month; Central City Opera, “Paul Bunyan,” Saturday-Aug. 6; and Santa Fe Opera, “Peter Grimes,” July 27-Aug. 17.
Although the confluence of four Britten operas in one summer is a coincidence, Steuart Bedford believes it reflects an expanding understanding and appreciation of the composer’s works on the part of audiences.
“The more these things get done, the more people begin to realize that there is something in it for them,” said Bedford, a Britten specialist from England who is conducting “Paul Bunyan.” “Like all things, on closer acquaintance, they become a great deal more user-friendly and very much more rewarding, of course.”
That seems to be precisely what has happened at Glimmerglass. It has put an emphasis on Britten since Stewart Robertson became music director in 1987, leading the composer’s 1960 masterwork, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” for his debut.
The company has produced six other Britten operas, including this year’s presentation of “Death in Venice.”
“Obviously, the more frequently you are exposed, shall we say, to the work of a particular composer, no matter whether it’s in the concert hall or at the opera house, your familiarity and your ear are more attuned to what you might call the compositional style,” Russell said.
Many experts believe that Britten stands as the most important composer ever of operas in the English language. Almost no one would dispute that he is England’s most notable opera composer since Henry Purcell (1659-1695).
Britten created a distinctive if wide-ranging musical language that he adapted to fit the feel and mood of each of his operas from the Broadway-like feel of “Paul Bunyan” to the ominous, sharp-edged dissonances of “The Turn of the Screw.”
He was willing to draw on the music of previous centuries and other cultures, such as the sounds of the Eastern gamelan. At the same time, he incorporated unconventional intervals, avant-garde sonorities and other compositional innovations of the 20th century.
“This is one of the things, of course, that marks Britten out as a great composer,” Bedford said. “He’s somebody who has managed to create a musical style which is recognizably and inimitably his own. And I don’t know how many composers you can say that of.”
At the same time, the operas span an extraordinary range of sometimes challenging subject matter: an American folk hero; a Shakespearean comedy; ghosts haunting two orphaned children; the life of Queen Elizabeth I; a writer’s decline and death in Venice.
Now, with the spread of Britten’s works and the corresponding rise in his popularity, enjoyment and appreciation of the composer’s achievements are no longer restricted to a small group of opera insiders.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
