Lyon Opera: an unforgiving sinner

In a small village in Suffolk, in the east of England, a simple, marginalized fisherman returns home one day without his cabin boy, who has disappeared at sea. Accused by the villagers of having brutalized him and being responsible for his death, only the village schoolteacher believes in his innocence.

But his growing ostracism and the rising tension of the situation – particularly during a storm that hits the village – unfortunately lead to a witch hunt, depriving Peter Grimes of a way out in favor of a voluntary disappearance.

Inspired by a poem by George Crabbe, with a libretto by Montagu Slater, the three-act opera takes up the theme of the marginal scapegoat, the cursed hero doomed to destruction.

It is also an opportunity for Benjamin Britten to showcase his style in a score that is both impressionist and symbolist, evoking the marine context through the moving harmonies of the storm, a metaphor for the tempests that stir beneath the skulls.

Here, director Christof Loy chooses to address the themes of marginalization, intolerance, and discrimination by portraying Peter as homosexual. It is his difference that will be the starting point of a vicious cycle leading to his ostracization by the villagers.

Wayne Marshall will be in charge of conducting the soloists from the Lyon Opéra Studio, the chorus and the Orchestra of the Opera in this revival of a production from the Theater an der Wien. /// GM

Peter Grimes – From May 9 to 21 at the Lyon Opera – www.opera-lyon.com