An opera in one act by Benjamin Britten. Actually, A Parable for Church performance...
It is based on a fusion between Japanese No-drama, simple and austere , and moral tales of the mediaeval church, set in the East Anglian Fens. As Ben himself wrote the tale is "the simple one of a demented mother seeking her lost child."
In following the story it is important to note that is men telling a women's story to maintain the existing patriarchal order. Anything else would be contrary to the mediaeval church and to Japanese No-drama.
I have a video I captured off the TV last year, the Birmingham Opera Group's performance at the Proms. I actually had a ticket to go and see this but it was one of those (relatively rare) extremely hot days last summer and I was already drained from spending a day lying in the garden. So I watched it on TV instead. I regret that I didn't go, but I also understand why.
Musically it is (must be) unique. Having had that No influence spelt out to me, I can hear the Japanese influence in the drums that provide a counterpoint to the quasi-plainchant of the vocal line. Thi s isn't so obvious in the CD that I have. Which raises an interesting question - can a performance nearly thirty years after a composer's death be actually more authentic than one directed by the Composer.
I was about to write that it's not a piece to fall in love with instantly; but, actually, I did. I'm not saying that everybody will, could. Musically it is guaranteed to shatter any preconceptions about opera as a genre, certainly any notion of a homogenous genre.
It is not exactly full of pretty tunes you would whistle as you leave the theatre. But you have to take it as a through-composed work, and one where the story is at least as important as the music.
In this performance the Abbott and the chorus of Pilgrims are dressed as police officers. A review appeared in the Guardian last summer.
The CD liner notes say that this should be acted in the Japanese No-drama style, with precise and rehearsed movements of the body, and no expression on the (masked) faces. But in this TV production the Madwoman conveys extraordinary emotion using his face.
As far as the actual story is concerned, I cannot express it sufficiently eloquently in words.
In the original production, on the CD, the Madwoman was played by Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten's partner and muse, and this is definitely the strongest character.
It's not a CD I would sit down and listen to for escapist enjoyment, nor is it really ironing music, but it holds a strange fascination for me and I keep returning to it.
Comments