Fall 2003 :
Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring
Production:
OCTOBER 30, 31, NOVEMBER 1, 2: Ted Mann Concert Hall
CRAIG KIERCCHOFF , conductor
DAVID WALSH, director
JIM WENTING, set & lighting design
JULIE ANN RITHALER, costume & hair design
The Opera:
Britten’s chamber masterpiece is the antithesis of ‘grand opera.’ This darkly comic satire has captured the imagination of opera audiences for more than 50 years. A simple grocer boy from a small English village is crowned ‘May King’ (in the absence of a suitably virtuous ‘May Queen’!), with hilarious and haunting consequences. Albert Herring depicts a generation of postwar youth struggling for individuality in an oppressive and intolerant world. A witty and thought-provoking pearl from the 20th century’s most successful opera composer.