Britten's Operas Triumph Across Europe Amid Brexit and Pandemic

Three Benjamin Britten operas are being staged across Europe in 2021, highlighting the composer's enduring relevance. The Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg premiered 'Death in Venice' in February 2021, filmed by Ozango Production and France Télévisions due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Teatro Real in Madrid mounted 'Peter Grimes' in April 2021, facing bureaucratic delays in bringing UK singers post-Brexit. The Bouffes du Nord in Paris presents 'The Rape of Lucretia' from May 19-29, 2021, with a later online release. Britten's final opera 'Death in Venice', created in 1973, explores themes of love, mortality, and artistic obsession, set to a score blending aquatic glissandos, gamelan percussion, and morbid tuba. The Strasbourg production by Jean-Philippe Clarac and Olivier Deloeuil reimagines the story in contemporary Alsace, avoiding Venetian clichés and transforming the protagonist into a grunge novelist. Toby Spence sings Aschenbach, Scott Hendricks portrays Mephistophelean figures, and Jake Arditti is Apollo. Jacques Lacombe conducts the Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse. The article also notes the passing of conductor Steuart Bedford on February 15, 2021.