“All hands on deck!”

New Palace Opera continues its journey through the works of Benjamin Britten with a rare outing for Billy Budd.

The novelist EM Forster had a long fascination with Melville’s original novella, Billy Budd, his tale of a tragic incident on an 18th century warship; working with the Britten’s long-time collaborator, the librettist Eric Crozier, Forster crafted the libretto for the Britten’s opera, which opened in Covent Garden in 1951. Originally in four acts, Britten revised it as a two-act opera that is usually performed these days, as it is in our concert.

Set onboard the warship HMS Indomitable, it’s one of the few men-only operas in the repertoire. The story features the fateful relationship between the revered Captain Vere, his Master-at-Arms, John Claggart, and Billy Budd, the darling of the crew who, provoked by Claggart, accidentally kills him.

In our concert the title role of Billy Budd is to be sung by the rising opera star Arthur Bruce, described recently in Opera magazine as possessing a “burnished timbre and charismatic stage presence”.

The cast includes:

Arthur Bruce: Billy Budd, foretopman

Jonathan Finney: Captain Edward Fairfax Vere, Captain of HMS Indomitable

Gerrit Paul Groen: John Claggart, Master-at-Arms

TBA: Mr Redburn, First Lieutenant

Conall O’Neill: Mr Flint, Sailing Master

Ben Knight: Lieutenant Ratcliffe

TBA: Red Whiskers, an impressed man

Michael Temporal-Darell: Donald, a sailor

Gerard Delrez: Dansker, an old seaman

Bo Wang: Novice

Robert Felstead: Squeak, a ship’s corporal

Teyfik Kamal: Bosun

William Semple: First Mate

Joshua Lane: Second Mate

Robin Whitehouse: Maintop

Stephen Whitford: Novice’s friend and Arthur Jones, an impressed man

Spencer Turner, Jamie Whitley and Ava Williams: Midshipmen and Cabin boy (children)

Officers, sailors, powder monkeys, drummers and marines: Adam Brown, Richard Jackson, Sam Leggett, Ciarán O’Meara, Alex Riddell (Sailor and Gunner’s Mate), Gary Rushton

Michael Thorne conducts the New Palace Opera Orchestra.

Performed with the permission of Boosey & Hawkes.