Benjamin Britten: The Turn of The Screw (part 1)

1982 Filmed version of this perhaps Britten's most popular opera after Peter Grimes after the Victorian-gothic story by Henry James and starring Heather Harper as Miss Jessel, Helen Donath as the Governess, Robert Tear as Peter Quint, Ava June as Mrs. Grose, Lilian Watson as Flora and Michael Ginn as Miles and played by the chamber orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
Exellent camera work, locations, acting and direction. But most of all the interpretation by conductor Sir COLIN DAVIS is an absolute beaute. Whilst maintaining an almost crystal clear sound bringing out in full the composer's magnificent orchestration, Davis manages to capture the melancholic and at times moving warmth of Britten's music as no other without falling into the trap of romantic overacting. Truly a musical experience of the highest level. Breathtaking.


NB: Although the picture quality of this recording I made 20 years ago (with my Telefunken HiFi machine) is quite astonishing - even played at full screen the image stays good ! - the sound is slightly overmodulated, hopefully not too disturbing.
Also: as the music is entirely continuous, cutting the clips is at times painstaking; yet I strive at keeping dramatic entities together as much as possible.
Last: I hope you don't mind subtitles, as this was a broadcast by Dutch television...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• britten
• turn
• of
• the
• screw
• henry
• james
• colin
• davis

[blueyedboy84]

Is the opera with Nessun Dorma sung by Paul Potts? Just joking sorry.. Seriously it is terrible that great British music like Britten is so little admired by the UK who are more obsessed by pseudo opera singers like Paul Potts.

[er121tab]

I so love this opera although I'm not keen on this interpretation.... Cannot bear to watch the opening sequence with the children, Miss Jessel and Quint. Too overtly "erotic". Disturbing!

[operageek65]

@er121tab To be fair, it's a pretty disturbing tale!

[ebf1957]

@Brideshead09

I've always thought the opening was more Bergmanesque. There's a surrealness that some may consider disturbing which begs to answer what did go one at Bly?

[ColonelFain]

Has anyone seen the 2005 version with Mark Padmore and Lisa Milne? How does it compare? Thanks for posting this entire opera!

[Brideshead09]

I actually rather like this illustration of Quint's "[being] free with everyone" - it does border heavily on the erotic, but still I think manages to work. And I don't get the complaints about this particular interpretation being disturbing - may I ask how it would be possible to interpret this opera in a manner that were not disturbing?

[treesny]

This film was directed by Petr Weigl (and released on VHS in 1992). It is performed by a cast of Czech actors, lip-synching to the voices of the singers listed above - and yes, that IS tenor Philip Langridge singing the Prologue. An audio-only version of this performance was released on Philips, but unfortunately is o.u.p.

[daydreamer1991white]

I must say, it annoys me that they're laughing so hysterically almost all the time throughout the beginning... Acctually, most things in this clip annoyed me. It's quite disturbing, isn't it? But the music is beautiful!

[carminum]

@LaCarusiella

So were Socrates, Leonardo Da Vinci and general Montgommery. And don't forget Baden-Powell.

[LaCarusiella]

@crazy78ist yes because he was a bloody pedophile..

[janeyrevanescence12]

@er121tab one interpretation of the story is that children (especially Miles) were sexually abused by Quint and Miss Jessel.

[er121tab]

@greenethump3

I've read Britten's Children - a great book, isn't it?! Highly recommend it :)