HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY, BENJAMIN BRITTEN!
Today, music lovers throughout the world are celebrating the centenary of the great English composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976). Britten’s music is increasingly popular – you may have heard several of his works in the recent movie Moonrise Kingdom – and has been frequently performed at Eastman over the years, particularly his operas. Here are scenes from recent Eastman Opera Theatre productions of three of Britten’s operas, all directed by Steven Daigle:
The Turn of the Screw (2008)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2003)
The Rape of Lucretia (2012)
Last May, the Eastman Rochester Chorus, Chorale, Philharmonia, Children’s Chorus, and student soloists Laura Osgood, Ben Curtis, and Matthew Valverde performed Britten’s huge War Requiem in Kodak Hall, celebrating Britten’s 100th anniversary and the piece’s 50th. A tape of that performance of this modern classic will be broadcast on Rochester’s WXXI-FM 91.5 tonight, November 22, at 8 p.m.
Rehearsal of Britten’s War Requiem, William Weinert, conducting – May 2013