Los Angeles Opera Tenor Philip Langridge
makes his debut in the opera "Peter Grimes."
By John Mangum
Daily Bruin Contributor
Los Angeles Opera’s new production of Benjamin
Britten’s “Peter Grimes” is a little like a
wedding ring. No matter how glittering the setting, it’s all
about the diamond.
And tenor Philip Langridge, the diamond at the center of this
setting, was not without his flaws when the production opened on
Wednesday for a seven-performance run at the Dorothy Chandler
Pavilion downtown.
It’s not that Langridge, who sings the title role, is a
disappointment ““ because he isn’t ““ it’s
just that there are moments when one wishes he could do even more
than he is already doing. And these moments wouldn’t be so
apparent if everything else about the production wasn’t so
near-perfect.
“Peter Grimes” tells the story of a fisherman whose
boy apprentice has died under mysterious circumstances. The ensuing
gossip and innuendo that tear through the small fishing village
where Grimes lives are only heightened when he gets another
apprentice.
That apprentice also dies accidentally, but, because of the
cloud of suspicion under which he already toils, Grimes pretty much
loses his mind. His friends encourage him to sail his boat out to
sea and sink it, effectively committing suicide.
 The opera "Peter Grimes," is directed by John Schlesinger
and runs from
Oct. 18 to Nov. 4.
The story offers prominent roles for the many characters who
live in the fishing village, and, most of all, for the chorus, who
portray the populace at large. Under the guidance of Academy-Award
winning director John Schlesinger, the singers who appear in these
roles make the most of them, offering individual, memorable
performances.
In fact, one of the most striking performances comes from
baritone Richard Sitwell as Captain Balstrode, one of the villagers
who comes to Grimes’ defense. Sitwell brings out all of the
humor and humanity inherent in his role with masterful singing.
Other distinguished performances come from L.A. Opera regular
Suzanna Guzmán as the gossiping, eavesdropping Mrs. Sedley;
Greg Fedderly, whose ringing voice brings out the hysteria of the
Methodist preacher Bob Boles; John Atkins, who leavens the mood
with his amusing Ned Keene; and Michael Li-Paz in his L.A. Opera
debut as the gruff carter Hobson.
Nancy Gustafson also makes her first L.A. Opera appearance as
Ellen Orford, the woman who tries to save Grimes. Gustafson’s
singing is especially impressive in Ellen’s third act scene,
when she realizes the second apprentice is dead. Britten calls for
powerful vocalism to underline the character’s pain.
That leaves Philip Langridge, also making his L.A. Opera debut.
He is known all over the world as one of the leading exponents of
the role of Peter Grimes, and he mostly lives up to his reputation.
The character’s two “mad” scenes ““ the
first when Grimes accuses his apprentice of complaining to Ellen,
the second after the apprentice’s death ““ are conveyed
with extraordinary power and harrowing emotional intensity.
It is during the great lyrical music of Act One that
Langridge’s performance is less satisfying. He fails to
convey the poetic intensity of Grimes’ madness as the
character sings about his turmoil in verse that is refined and
visionary. His performance, at times, seems to be an agglomeration
of generalized gestures and expressions from past performances of
the role ““ a great painting in need of some careful
restoration.
The freshest aspect of the performance is the stunning
performance turned in by the choral and orchestral forces. The L.A.
Opera Orchestra, under the leadership of conductor Richard
Armstrong, offers resplendent playing, especially during the
substantial musical interludes between scenes.
The L.A. Opera Chorus, prepared by chorus master William
Vendice, provides substantial volume and tremendous precision as
the villagers who hound Grimes. The members of the chorus are
perhaps the most important characters of all in the opera, and
Schlesinger’s treatment makes each one into an individual.
The women gut fish and mend nets during the opening of Act One, and
members of the chorus fight and dance outside during the evening
scene in Act Three. These details, along with imaginative costumes
by Luciana Arrighi, really bring the chorus to life.
The sets, also by Arrighi, are executed with great imagination.
They have a strange expressionist feel, like something out of
“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” with realistic buildings
(a church, a pub, a dance hall) skewed and distorted at weird
angles. There are also some nice touches with the sets, like the
boats rocking in the harbor during the storm scene in Act One.
Schlesinger’s approach as a director is quite literal,
entirely to the benefit of the opera. There are two
“effects,” both inspired by the dead apprentices. The
first, a projection of a boy’s picture onto a wall during the
inquest into the first apprentice’s death, lacks subtlety.
The second, which involves having the dead boy’s ghost return
at pivotal moments, is more successful, as it was in legendary
Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky’s Covent Garden/Kirov
Opera production of Mussorgsky’s “Boris
Godunov.”
On the whole, the production offers a chance to see an extremely
accomplished staging of one of the greatest of all English-language
operas. Langridge offers a reading of the title role that offers
moments of great power alongside more uneven moments ““ a
rough-cut diamond in a Tiffany setting.
OPERA: L.A. Opera presents Benjamin Britten’s “Peter
Grimes” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion through Nov. 4.
Tickets: $28-$148, $20 student and senior rush tickets one hour
before curtain, subject to availability. For more information, call
(213) 972-8001 or visit www.laopera.org.