PETER GRIMES

A rough coastal region and the isolation of a village – this is the setting for the exciting and tragic opera about the fisherman and loner Peter Grimes. Grimes, who lives on the fringes of society, stands against a village community full of double standards. Only Ellen Orford stands by him and tries to help him when violent incidents associated with him. But no one can tame the unleashed forces of nature to which everything is subject. The sea, this all-dominant element, is not only conveyed in the colourful, impressionistic symphonic interludes, but is also the life-determining factor within the plot.

The premiere of Benjamin Britten's first grand opera on 7th June 1945 in World War II-ravaged London marked a new era in British opera and became a national event: Not since the works of Henry Purcell, more than 250 years earlier, had there been such a significant opera by an English composer. The libretto is based on an episode of the epic poem The Borough George Crabbe, a poet from the coastal village of Aldeburgh. The successful Cologne production by the artistic team Frederic Wake-Walker (director) and Anna Jones (stage and costumes) now returns to the StaatenHaus.