Billy goes for some tobacco to cheer him up, and discovers Squeak rifling through his kit. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Was this review helpful to you? With Peter Pears, Peter Glossop, Michael Langdon, John Shirley-Quirk. A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness comprehends it, and suffers..." has to be one of the most chilling lines in all of opera, and also to Look Through the Port. Dansker brings him a drink and reveals that the crew is willing to mutiny for his sake, but Billy argues against that and is resigned to his fate. Last modified on … In a rage, Billy begins to stammer. With Robert Ryan, Peter Ustinov, Melvyn Douglas, Paul Rogers. At the same time a cutter approaches, returning from a merchant ship where it has pressed three sailors into the Royal Navy. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. [21], A new performing edition of the work, with a revised orchestration by Steuart Bedford, premiered at Des Moines Metro Opera on 1 July 2017. The officers warn that Billy may cause trouble, but Vere dismisses their fears and expresses his love for the men under his command. The Novice is brought back from his flogging, unable to walk and helped along by a friend. Andrew Clements. If you want to see why Britten thought of Pears highly enough to get him to create characters like Peter Grimes and Vere, this is a fine example to see clearly why. [17] The opera was produced in November 1970 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, with Uppman reprising the title role, Richard Lewis as Vere, Geraint Evans as Claggart, Bruce Yarnell as Redburn, Raymond Michalski as Flint, and Arnold Voketaitis as Ratcliffe. The Indomitable goes in pursuit, and fires a warning short, but loses the enemy in the mist.

50, is an opera by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by the English novelist E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, based on the short novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville. 2 of 2 people found this review helpful. Act I. They had agreed on Billy Budd as a work to be adapted into an opera, with a formal meeting in January 1949 to discuss the project. Claggart tells Squeak, the ship's corporal, to keep an eye on Billy and give him a rough time. [3], E. M. Forster had an interest in the novella, which he discussed in his Clark lectures at Cambridge University. Scene 1: Main deck and quarter-deck of HMS Indomitable. Estimated Run Time.

Captain Vere convenes a drumhead court for an immediate court-martial. Title: 50, is an opera by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by the English novelist E. M. Forster and Eric Crozier, based on the short novel Billy Budd by Herman Melville.
Vere, as an old man, remembers Billy's burial at sea, and acknowledges that he could have saved Billy, but failed to do so, thinking that Billy has instead blessed and saved him. Directed by Basil Coleman.