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Britten's Paul Bunyan and Owen Wingrave in New Productions

Mar. 29, 2012

Britten's <em>Paul Bunyan</em> and <em>Owen Wingrave</em> in New Productions

Benjamin Britten, one of the 20th century's most celebrated and revered composers of works for the stage, will receive performances of two of his operas, Paul Bunyan and Owen Wingrave in April. Opening April 14, The New England Conservatory Opera Department presents the Boston premiere of Britten’s first opera, Paul Bunyan, conducted by their newly appointed Director of Opera, Stephen Lord, with stage direction by James Robinson, who is Artistic Director of the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. On the West Coast, the University of Southern California Thornton Opera Program opens its production of Britten’s penultimate opera, Owen Wingrave, on April 19 featuring the USC Thornton Symphony conducted by Brent McMunn with stage direction by Ken Cazan.

Britten’s Paul Bunyan, op. 17 was originally composed as a ‘choral operetta’ in 1940 and premiered in 1941 at Brander Matthews Hall of Columbia University in New York. After a cold reception, Britten withdrew Bunyan until his revision as a two act operetta premiered in 1976 for the Aldeburgh Festival. The work, tinted by a pacifism that characterized Britten and his music, is based on the story of the fabled American folk hero with his blue ox Babe and follows a poignant libretto by W.H. Auden. Britten’s Paul Bunyan celebrates America as a land of hope and optimism with music that weaves together several characteristic American styles including folk songs, blues, and hymn.

Andrew Porter, for The New Yorker, writes on Bunyan:

One of those early works of genius – like Mozart ’s Idomeneo – whose youthful freshness and abundance of invention set an audience’s spirit soaring…what matters is the general vision of unspoiled nature and men harnessing (and spoiling) that nature, of first love and first grief, of dreams, ambitions and compromises that life imposes.  And what matters most of all is the world of lyrical, joy-giving music that Britten creates.

Owen Wingrave, provides an even stronger demonstration of Britten’s pacifism. Composed in 1971 and based on a story by Henry James, Wingrave was commissioned by the Royal Opera House and it is unique as being an opera conceived and composed for television broadcast. The work was premiered in 1971 on BBC2 and the first staged performance followed in 1973 at the Royal Opera House in London. Britten’s orchestration here is rich and expansive, employing a large and varied battery of percussion to accompany a libretto by Myfanwy Piper.

NEC’s production of Paul Bunyan runs April 14, 15, 16 and 17 at the newly renovated Paramount Theater in Boston, MA. The USC production of Owen Wingrave runs April 19, 20, 21, and 22 at the Bing Theatre, University Park Campus in Los Angeles, CA.

Details on the NEC production of Paul Bunyan can be found at www.necmusic.edu.

For more information on USC’s performances of Owen Wingrave, visit www.usc.edu.

Learn more on the life and work of Benjamin Britten at www.fabermusic.com.

Benjamin Britten
Paul Bunyan (1940)
operetta in two acts
libretto (En) by W.H. Auden
for 3 tenors, baritone, bass and speaker
2(2.pic).1.2(2.asax).bcl.1-2.2.2.1-timp(susp.cym)-perc-pno(cel)-harp-stringson stage: vn.gtr.db
114’

Owen Wingrave
opera in two acts
libretto (En) by Myfanwy Piper based on the short story by Henry James
for 3 sopranos, mezzo-soprano, 3 tenors, baritone and bass-baritone
2(2.pic).2.2(2.bcl, Ebcl).2(2.cbsn)-2.2.2.1-timp-3perc-pno.hp-str
106’

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