Karina Canellakis conducts Britten's Peter Grimes

Guilty or not guilty?

Peter Grimes (1945) is one of Benjamin Britten's first operas, and certainly one of the most successful. It appears to be a story about a simple fisherman, Peter Grimes, who falls victim to a hypocritical community. The opera's strength, however, lies in the moral ambiguity of the title character. Is he guilty or innocent of the deaths of his fishing helpers? Britten outlines a multifaceted character, a part he wrote for his life partner, the tenor Peter Pears.

Evil role for the choir

Right from the first lyrical aria in the first act, "Now the Great Bear and Pleiades," Grimes evokes confusion and disapproval in his fishing village on the British east coast. Those who continue to support him, soprano role Ellen Orford and baritone role Balstrode, cannot save him at the end. Peter Grimes is also a choral opera. The resounding voice of the community sometimes bites deep into the skin of their victim. In Britten's own words, "The angrier the society, the angrier the individual. Yet for this work he finds an evocative orchestral splendor in which the sea itself plays a major role.