Gert Henning-Jensen as the May King, Ylva Kihlberg at Lady Billows and seen from the back Hanne Fischer as Mrs. Herring. Photo: Natascha Thiara Rydvald.

COPENHAGEN: Benjamin Brittens opera Albert Herring gives a lot of pleasure to the audience visiting the Old Stage of the Danish National Theatre inthe spring periode until June 8th. 2012.

Review by Henning Høholt. Fotos: 

Keith Warner has made a detailed, very amusing, satirically and entertaining instruction of a big cast enclosing some of the opera house´s best singers. In the regi, we are, some times discretely, some times very directly, told  the nocturnal adventures between the villages prominent notables. And it is visually underlined with great elegance by the actors.

Albert Herring is a musically complex work, despite its somewhat light-hearted subject matter. The text itself is genuinely funny, and there are myriad Musical qoutations within the score, as well as some complex forms within, despite the light subject matter
. Like Peter Grimes and other works by Britten, this opera explores society’s reaction to an odd individual, although, in this case at least, it is from a generally humorous and lighthearted perspective. Some of Britten’s contemporaries saw in the title character, Albert Herring, a satirical self-portrait of the composer.

The light scenography giving the space and room for the play is made by Julia Müer, who in addition has been dressing up all the wonderful characters in costumes giving the right “british” atmospharere from the periode (1900) in Loxford, a small market town in East Suffolk, where the story is being played.The costumes are also adding interesting historical details, inclusive a grand Elizabeth I.  costume for Lady Billows, splendid sung and tastefully played by Ylva Kihlberg. In fact this Britten performance is actually in, with HM Elizabeth II Diamant Jubilee. It´s all surrounded by Davy Cunninghams deliciouse light design making good atmosphaeres.

The Albert Herring cast. Photo: Natascha Thiara Rydvald.

The Outstanding cast, in adition to Ylva Kihlberg, the elderly autocrat, allready mentioned as Lady Bullows, has Gert Henning-Jensen brilliant in the titelrole, and his fortune is that he still looks, and appears like he is twenty years old. Florence Pike, Lady Billows housekeeper amusingly formed by Johanne Bock. Miss Wordsworth, a schoolteacher by Gisela Stille, which resently has had great success as Lulu in the Stefan Herheim production in both Oslo and Copenhagen. Furthermore we are looking forward to her Violetta in La Traviata in the coming season.

Furthermore: Mr. Gedge, the vicar: Eric Roberts. Mr. Upfold, the mayor: Sten Byriel. some times with Sherlock Holmes attitudes, not to mention other attitudes.  Mrs. Herring, Albert’s mother, Hanne Fischer. The young couple, Sid, a butcher’s assistant and Nancy, from the bakery, Philip Smith and Elisabeth Jansson. And in addition Jesper Tønnes as the outsider. Pluss three nice childrens in the roles as Cis, Harry and Emmie.

The 12 persons chamber orchestra, which some times sounded like they were many more musicians, were splendid leaded by Roland Böer.

Musically it was a pleasure, the demanding ensembles, also when they were sung a capella, were brilliant formed

. The soloists outstanding. A great pleasure.

Britten composed Albert Herring at his home, The Old Mill at Snape, in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera The Rape of Lucretia. Britten decided he should attempt a comedy, preferably set in England. The libretto, by Eric Crizier, was based on Guy de Maupassant´s novella Le Rosier de Madame Husson, but it was transposed entirely to an English setting, and transplanting it to the Suffolk landscape already familiar to Britten from his home in Snape. At the premiere in 1947 the totelrole wa sung by Benjamin Brittens live long partner Peter Pears. Perhaps as a honour to their life long partnership and living together. Keith Warner has desided to enclose an unnamed outsider in the history, who we in the last picture see Albert Herring go back to, as to tell us that some thing special could have happend during his one night visit out in the town, after his coronation to the May King. A very sweet detail, that I sincere hope that the audience noticed.Albert Herring, Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten.

Britten scored the opera for the same instrumental forces as he had used in his first chamber opera The Rape of Lucretia, intending it like the earlier opera for performance by the English Opera Group, whch was being founded the same year, and where he was involved.

The opera was premiered on 20 June 1947 at Glyndebourne, conducted by the composer. According to one writer, John Christie, the owner and founder of Glyndebourne “disliked it intensely and is said to have greeted members of the first night audience with the words: ‘This isn’t our kind of thing, you know’.” Just 38 years later Glyndebourne’s 1985 production was “one of the most successful the opera has had”.

Co-production with Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte di Montepulciano