The Seckerson Tapes: Opera North Double Bill | reviews, news & interviews
The Seckerson Tapes: Opera North Double Bill
The Seckerson Tapes: Opera North Double Bill
Backstage at Opera North's new production of The Turn of the Screw
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Opera North explores the creation of the violin in a new opera 'The Gypsy Bible' (above) and unveils a new production of 'The Turn of the Screw'
"It is a curious tale. I have it written in faded ink, a woman's hand, governess to two children, long ago..." So begins Benjamin Britten's operatic re-imagining of Henry James's ghostly chiller The Turn of the Screw. Oscar Wilde called it "a most wonderful, lurid, poisonous little tale" but how are we supposed to interpret it? In a remote country house, a governess fights to protect two children from menacing spirits. But are these spirits real or imagined?
"It is a curious tale. I have it written in faded ink, a woman's hand, governess to two children, long ago..." So begins Benjamin Britten's operatic re-imagining of Henry James's ghostly chiller The Turn of the Screw. Oscar Wilde called it "a most wonderful, lurid, poisonous little tale" but how are we supposed to interpret it? In a remote country house, a governess fights to protect two children from menacing spirits. But are these spirits real or imagined?
Share this article
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Opera
Help to give theartsdesk a future!
Support our GoFundMe appeal
The Elixir of Love, English National Opera review - a tale of two halves
Flat first act, livelier second, singers not always helped by conductor and director
The Sound Voice Project, Linbury Theatre review - an art installation that has strayed into an opera house
A worthy project fails to ignite as art
The Tales of Hoffmann, Royal Opera review - three-headed monster feels baggier than ever
Offenbach left multiple choices for his swansong, but this production lacks the key
Rigoletto, English National Opera review - another hit for Miller's Mob
More tragic than gimmicky, this classic staging can still succeed
theartsdesk at Wexford Festival Opera - let's make three operas
Donizetti triumphs, with help from Bernstein, Rossini, two stars and director Orpha Phelan
Albert Herring, Scottish Opera review - fun, frivolity, and fine music-making
A witty production of Britten's clever comedy that's bound to leave you smiling
Le nozze di Figaro, The Mozartists, Page, Cadogan Hall review - cogency, intelligence and reverence
A celebration of Mozart from the supreme stylists
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Opera North review - one of the best and funniest
Perspex and bubblewrap for a Sixties take on Britten's Shakespeare
The Turn of the Screw, English National Opera review - Jamesian ambiguities chillingly preserved
Pity and terror in Ailish Tynan’s anguished Governess and Isabella Bywater’s production
Trouble in Tahiti/A Quiet Place, Linbury Theatre review - top cast plays unhappy families
Mini-masterpiece and splashy sequel carried off with as much conviction as they can take
Blond Eckbert, English Touring Opera review - dark deeds afoot in the woods
Judith Weir’s chamber opera explores Freudian themes through a modern lens
Add comment