Britten opera’s true merit is revealed
Benjamin Britten’s reputation was not gilded by his final chamber opera, Owen Wingrave, composed for BBC television in 1972
Review
Owen Wingrave
By Benjamin Britten
Opera Collective Ireland
O’Reilly Theatre, Dublin
Benjamin Britten’s reputation was not gilded by his final chamber opera, Owen Wingrave, composed for BBC television in 1972. Its subject, pacificism, was the reason why. Many British people considered the opera as opportunistic self-justification by Britten, a man who bolted to the safety of the US during World War II.
Historically, Owen Wingrave is now interesting, even absorbing in light ...
