James Morris - Claggart's aria - Billy Budd Met '97

[MrMenyc]

Claggart's motives are ambiguous, that's the beauty of the piece. Yet, he has his precedence in Verdi's Iago and Boito's Mephistopheles. The Met production is a stunner, and I hope they revive it soon.

[MrMenyc]

Libretto by E.M. Forster. Could Claggart's torment be that he's a self-hating closet case?

[battleofalma]

Well, that is kind of the whole point of the story.

[thepantweaver]

@MrMenyc Almost certainly, and in love with Billy Budd.

[Sieglinde84]

@MrMenyc It is. Also, Melville was very likely gay too.

[MrMenyc]

Libretto by E, M Forster. Is Claggart's inner torment that he's a closet case?

[battleofalma]

Chilling

[JeeRant]

"But alas, alas! A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness comprehends it, and suffers..."

One of the most chilling lines in all opera.

[Sieglinde84]

Sometimes I feel pity for him. He just can't do anything against his nature...

[tenorismo]

@Sieglinde84 He should be selling tickets at the box office. Hes horrible.

[davidhackston]

I meant to click the thumbs up button, but accidentally clicked the other one... Sorry! You're absolutely right, that line sums up Claggart's inner torment.

[Alexknobsob]

@JeeRant It is an incredible piece of Truth.

[ChristianistheLawr]

Where can you get the whole video? IMDB says there's one, but no further details and it's not on amazon...

[ChristianistheLawr]

Terrific! What a chillingly dark sound. His voice is like black velvet, soaked with poison. I've never thought a nice, sympathetic man like Morris can be _this_ evil.

Oh Britten, you wicked genius.

[isherwood]

Tempo-wise this is rather sloppy, with too little direction in the melodic line. Although I acknowledge the recording cannot convey all the richness of being there live, the orchestra sounds muddy and unbalanced. Compare it with the original Britten recording for the sheer crystaline precision of the textural balance. Morris's American accent is very prominent also, which I find a little off-putting. Still an amazing aria!

[battleofalma]

Agreed, I think the voice of Claggart has to be very English.

[Sieglinde84]

Yes - Langdon had a wonderfully clear diction and a truly dark voice... Morris has to darken it. It needs a Hagen, not a Wotan...

[operadawg]

I respect Morris and his lengthy career, but that's not a beautiful sound. God bless him!

[soren476]

You're right, that's not just a beautiful sound, it's an extremely beautiful sound.  You compare his voice to the rest of the true, and I mean TRUE basses out there, and this voice comes out as one of the top of all time! ???????'Not a beautiful sound'??????? This voice is Remarkable!

[helloantonio]

Yeah, I gotta agree with you. I actually got to see this at the MET in '97. It was such a treat. Hearing his voice in person was much better than listening on recordings...and I was in the NOSE BLEED SEATS!!!

[stevevandien]

Morris is excellent, even though this was 17 years after his first great success as Claggart --

[miding]

Thanks so much for posting this.  I love Billy Budd and Morris's Claggert.