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The performance was both passionate and lovely and I look forward to Burning Fiery Furnace this Spring.

I know several of Britten's operas pretty well, but had not heard Rape so I was surprised to learn that it followed immediately upon Grimes, whose style is so different. (More on that below, though.) I now make it one of my faves--right up there with Grimes, Billy Budd, Gloriana, and Death in Venice.

The singing was very good throughout, but I want to single out the fabulous Lucretia (love that fast vibrato!) whose acting also was terrific. The Male Chorus was also wonderful. Everybody else was good (especially the coloratura), but several of them were quite difficult to understand, particularly Collatinus--whose voice has a lovely depth, but who was literally impossible to decipher. I thought the Female Chorus was too soft throughout, but again, I liked her voice.

I didn't realize it during the performance, but I now see that the orchestral performance was less good. This is clear from several of the performances available on youtube. I had originally believed that much of the piece was atonal and that all the strings were to play senza vibrato throughout, but I was wrong--they were simply out of tune a lot and sometimes not together. (I don't know whether to put the latter on them or the conductor.) The other instrumentalists were better, but I didn't think even they were quite up to the (admittedly very high) level of the cast. I mean, I personally love atonal music, but Britten's work just isn't. This, of course, made it even more difficult for the singers to perform as beautifully as they did, but somehow they managed it!

I really liked the stage direction/choreography--terrific/creative use of a limited area. My only reservation is that I wouldn't have thought it would be necessary for Tarquinius to fondle himself in preparation for his assault. He's supposed to be a stud, no?

Anyhow, my complaints are quibbles--it was very beautiful, very moving, very professional. Thanks!!

Walter Horn

Hello Walter!

Thank you so much for your detailed feedback concerning our production! I must say on behalf of the cast and crew, thank you for your attention to every facet of the production in such that made it possible to comment on so many different aspects. As for Sophie, she is a tour-de-force and will be a mainstay with Opera Brittenica in the future. In response to issues concerning the casting and intelligibility, the space was not exactly designed for an operatic performance, and with the stage the way it was, the voice definitely gets trapped above the proscenium in thick velvet curtains. We were toying with the idea of supertitles for the performance, but ultimately decided against it, due to limited space and resource. In the future this will be more keenly addressed.

Now. The orchestra. While I share your sentiments, it is largely my fault in the lack of time given to such a difficult ensemble show. As a singer, I am very used to preparing a role before rehearsals begin, and arrive at rehearsal ready to combine and finesse ensemble. I was unaware that this was not the way of orchestral preparation, and will know for the future. The issue from a production standpoint is finding the crossroads of talent and financial desire. Who is the highest calibre performer that we could get, for the meager budget that we had? Unfortunately for me, I had not anticipated quite the financial issue of an orchestra, and was still assembling personnel up until the Sunday before the performance. Regardless, even the members that I had contracted earlier only received a 4 hour session with the conductor before playing the show with the singers! This will not be the case for future productions and I hope this will improve the intonation and overall playing in subsequent performances.

This is one of the reasons why I am appealing to audience members an donors: in order to make sure that I am able to get the highest level of player, I need to be able to afford to pay them, and with Burning Fiery Furnace coming up, and with the incredible vocalists that are in negotiations, the orchestra is of the utmost importance.

I'm so glad you took the time to email me, and please know that I take all feedback VERY seriously, and will respond to any and all emails.

I hope you have a wonderful evening, and I am so glad to have you in the Opera Brittenica family, and look forward to seeing you at future OB productions!

Musically yours,

Joshua Collier

Dear Joshua,

Thanks so much for taking the time and trouble to write this detailed response. I'm usually wary of writing anything even a smidge negative and not only because, as a former music critic, I got the occasional death threat from an irate musician. I understand that it's natural to be a little defensive when you have worked really hard on something, especially when its success may be thought to mean everything to ones future....and then see some snarky "Meh" in a magazine or blog. So it's especially refreshing for me to see a letter like yours that is focused on finding what is useful from both positive and negative remarks. (I once had the audacity, in a congratulatory email to the conductor of my daughter's high school orchestra, to ask why there were always so many Disney tunes and TV themes. OMG--you'd think I'd accused him of stealing the kids' lunch money.)

Anyhow, it was a really lovely performance, and Sophie is particularly fabulous. I don't know much about acoustics, and wasn't aware of the issue you mentioned about the velvet: I can see how that would be difficult to overcome. (Super titles would have been awesome!) I do know a little about the cost of rehearsal time and will try to scrounge up a few bucks to send. Wish I could do more. Thanks for bringing these masterworks to Boston.

Best,

Walter Horn