Benjamin Britten’s Owen Wingrave
was commissioned by BBC Television and first broadcast in
1971; it was generally felt at
the time, and since, that Britten was too much the theatre composer to
thoroughly exploit the televisual
medium. That may be no bad thing, as the opera’s future clearly
lay in stage performance and no
radical intervention need be made by a producer to prepare it for
the theatre.
It’s a mordant and unforgiving tale, derived from a short story by Henry James: Owen Wingrave (James
Connolly) is the scion of a distinguished military family, who feel that the greatest honour is to die in
battle - a fate that befell Owen’s father, as well as his aunt’s ‘lover’. Owen is a distinguished student at
at military academy, the star pupil of his tutor Coyle (William Jowett), idolised by fellow pupil
Lechmere (Kristen Gregory) and with the prospect of marriage to Kate (Jemima Gray), daughter of Mrs.
Julian (Charlotte Baker) a poor relation of the family: a great future in the army beckons. Then all is
thrown into jeopardy by Owen himself, when he announces his pacifism and refusal to perform
military service.
Orpha Phelan’s production for the
RNCM replaces the panning shots and cross-fades of the
television broadcast with
illustrative tableaus of soldiers in battle to provide a visual counterpart to
the entr’actes: the score,
percussion-heavy as befits the military theme, may not be one of Britten’s
most immediately appealing but
the cast gives a confidently-sung account of each role and it’s
hardly their fault if the
characters themselves are somewhat monochromatic - Owen representing
little more than the resolution
of the conscientious objector, his family a grim block of
condemnation, best evinced in the
Act One scene where they demand to know how Owen ‘dares’ to
challenge his own fate. Only his
tutor’s wife (Rosa Sparks) stands out as a sympathetic voice
against the chorus of execration
led by Owen’s Nosferatu-like grandfather, Sir Philip (Oscar
Bowen-Hill) and his stern aunt
(Ellie Forrester).
The family home Paramore, effectively a separate character in the opera, is beautifully
realised in all its grim glory by
designer Madeleine Boyd and lit effectively by Matt Haskins and
Phelan’s scenic sense is
evidenced by effective grouping of the characters and the presence of the
house’s ‘spirits’ as a living, if
intangible presence throughout. It may be a weakness of the source
material that the denouement - Owen is ‘dared’ by Kate, after she challenges him with his ‘cowardice’,
to spend a night in the house’s ’haunted room’ - doesn’t entirely convince but the finale made for a
very effective stage tableau.
Rory MacDonald conducted the excellent RNCM orchestra with great
authority.
There aren’t many chances to see this late Britten opera, so the opportunity should be grasped while it’s
(briefly) there.
Royal Northern College of Music,
30.03.25 - 05.04.25.
https://www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/britten-owen-wingrave/
Reviewer: Paul Ashcroft
on 30.03.25.
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