Britten: Owen Wingrave
(Berlin and Moreton-in-Marsh, 2001)

Cast: Gerald Finley (Owen Wingrave), Peter Savidge (Spencer Coyle), Hilton Marlton (Lechmere), Josephine Barstow (Miss Wingrave), Andrew Burden (narrator), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano (conductor), Jake Martin (director), Miranda Melville (designer)

Orchestral track recorded in Berlin, singers recorded and filmed at Batsford Park, Moreton-in-Marsh, England, in 2001

Issued on DVD by ArtHaus Musik in 2003 [100 372, PAL/ regions 2,5, menus and optional subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish]

Technical Details:
Picture Format: 16:9
Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Running time: 92 minutes plus 58-minute supplement, a documentary, 'The Hidden Heart'

Sung in English
This unique work here has a superb recording. Whether one should consider a made-for-television diatribe against militarism an opera is a matter of definition; it is not so far from the War Requiem for the question to have an easy answer. It has the sort of musical integration and, at times, the shallowness of a Hollywood film.

The core of the opera is seen in the person of Owen Wingrave. I cannot imagine a more telling portrayal than Finley's. He has the appearance, voice and commitment to bring the character to life, stripping it of the sentimentality into which it could so easily fall. He is surrounded by excellence, arguably more than the opera deserves. The viewer is the beneficiary, of course. Nagano's musical direction is both reverent and inspiring. The film's images are both beautiful and memorable.

While we do not usually address the supplemental features, in this case we must take note of the 58-minute documentary on Britten, 'The Hidden Heart'. What the opera does not say of the composer's makeup, the documentary does.
 
Related website:
Arthaus Musik www.arthaus-musik.de
 
Michael Richter, 22 May 2004
mrichter@cpl.net
 
See also Michael Richter's Introduction to the DVD, for a list of other reviews see the DVD Project page.