Search - John Gay, Benjamin Britten, English Opera Group Orchestra :: John Gay: The Beggar's Opera

A Lost Treasure Found: 'Original Cast' Broadcast of BB's Gay

Nicholas A. Deutsch | New York, NY USA | 05/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Benjamin Britten's "realisation" of John Gay's enduring ballad opera, made for the newly formed English Opera Group, had its premiere on 24 May 1948; this remarkable CD presents a substantial portion of a broadcast of 22 September in the same year, apparently with the "1st cast" intact. So even if it were not a wonderful performance - which it is - it would be of tremendous historical significance.

The neglected step-child among Britten's operas, in his hands "The Beggar's Opera" really becomes an opera, rather than a play with interpolated popular songs of the early 18th century. The harmonic and orchestral invention is as strong as in the contemporaneous "Rape of Lucretia" and "Albert Herring," and the way Britten links long stretches made up of short tunes is (no surprise) ingenious and often brilliant. Unlike the discreet Britten/Imogen Holst edition of Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas," this isn't just an "arrangement," but a provocative and enjoyable modern re-imagining that is closer in spirit to Brecht & Weill ("Threepenny Opera") than to Frederick Austin's prettily genteel, and famously successful, 1920 version of Gay.

The only complete recording of the Britten came in 1993 (Argo), with Steuart Bedford leading an excellent orchestra and an experienced cast of singer-actors - Philip Langridge outstanding as Macheath. Some questionable dialogue choices aside - rather too much rewriting for my taste - it's an enjoyable 2 CD set in modern sound that lets us hear Britten's fantastic instrumental invention (for 12 players) in all its glory.

But in some ways, both musical & dramatic, this 1948 broadcast makes a stronger case for Britten's work. Although it's a studio performance, not a stage one - an advantage it terms of the sound - the singers have all had several months' experience of touring the show, and give generally lively, assured and even vivid performances, notably Peter Pears (Macheath) & Otakar Kraus (Lockit); Nancy Evans (Polly) is especially affecting in the later, anguished portions of her role. Then, too, it's possible to catch glimpses of original stage director Tyrone Guthrie's influence, especially in the active vocal participation of the "audience" of beggars. Above all, there's the composer leading a superb orchestra in an ideal reading: tempi beautifully chosen, flexible but not indulgent for the singers, and with genuine rhythmic vitality.

This studio version is abridged: musically only slightly - 7 songs and 1 "melodrama" are gone - and verbally a great deal, with narration substituting for dialogue in many places. Also, much (not all) of the dialogue appears to have been handed over to a team of actors - all of Polly, Lucy & Macheath's lines, unless my ears deceive me - and tho the "matching" is done pretty well, it means this can only be a partial record of the singers' performances & of Guthrie's work (his most provocative innovation, making the Beggar/"author" of the piece a woman, has been jettisoned entirely). Also, there are a few missing notes here and there, especially at the start of numbers (including the Overture), and the dialogue has been further shortened in order to fit it all onto one CD, making for some abrupt jumps into numbers. (By the way, the booklet gets the Act One/Two division wrong; Britten's Act One incorporates the "tavern" scene at the start of Gay's Two.) On the other hand, after a slightly rough start, the sound settles down into something quite listenable, with the solo voices excellently present and clear.

So let's count our blessings & be glad this has been preserved for all to hear: essential for Britten fans, "Beggar's Opera" fans, and quite possibly of great interest to others."

Dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th Century

L. E. Cantrell | Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | 04/22/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"SOURCE: This is a September 22, 1948 BBC broadcast of a slightly modified version of the 1948 Tyrone Guthrie/Benjamin Britten stage production of "The Beggar's Opera." It was privately recorded off the air onto twenty-one acetate disks, which were provided to Pearl by the Earl of Harewood.



SOUND: The sound as remastered onto this CD version reflects the quality of the original acetate disks and ranges from minimally adequate to just plain awful, the latter state applying mainly but not exclusively to the overture.



CAST: The Beggar - Gladys Parr; Mr. Peachum, a thief-taker, respected fence for stolen goods and all-around scoundrel - George James; Mrs. Peachum, a suitable helpmate for her husband - Flora Nielsen; Polly Peachum, their pretty and (sort of) innocent daughter who is (sort of) married to Macheath - Nancy Evans; Lucy Lockit, the jailer's daughter jailer who is engaged to be married (sort of) to Macheath - Rose Hill; Captain Macheath, a highwayman ... how happy he could be with either were t'other dear charmer away - Peter Pears; Lockit, the head jailer at Newgate Prison - Otakar Kraus; Filch, Peachum's right-hand man and an up and coming scoundrel - Norman Platt; Mrs. Diana Trapes, an overly talkative woman who knows too much about Macheath - Gladys Parr; "Ladies of the town": Mrs. Coaxer - Catherine Lawson; Dolly Trull - Gladys Parr; Mrs. Vixen - Lesley Duff; Betty Doxy - Mildred Watson; Jenny Diver - Jennifer Vyvyan; Mrs. Slammekin - Elizabeth Parry; Suky Tawdry - Lily Kettlewell; Molly Brazen; Macheath's Gang: Mat of the Mint - Norman Lumsden; Ben Budge - Dennis Dowling; Harry Paddington - Roy Ashton; Jemmy Twitcher -Norman Platt; Nimming Ned / a jailer - Max Worthley; Wat Dreary / a drawer - John Highcock.



CONDUCTOR: Benjamin Britten, with the English Opera Group Orchestra.



MUSIC TEXT: For this production, conceived by the famous director Tyrone Guthrie, Benjamin Britten mostly respected the melody lines of the 18th Century popular tunes which had been attached to John Gay's lyrics of 1726-27. On the other hand, Britten was far less respectful of the accompaniments, giving them in many cases a distinctly 20th Century flavor and generally ramping up the intensity of the piece from feather-light "ballad opera" to outright "operatic." In a number of instances he combined the original, simple, stand-alone airs into concerted ensembles to achieve effects unknown in their century of origin. This recording, running just over 79 minutes, has captured almost all the music provided by Britten.



DIALOGUE TEXT: This is not a recorded stage performance. Dialogue changes and additions were made in order for the broadcast audience to visualize the actions and the settings of the play. The practical difficulties in recording a live performance off the air and onto acetate disks did not allow for the capture of all the spoken dialogue. However, the producers of this CD have cobbled together enough dialogue to offer a general sense of the plot of "The Beggar's Opera."



COMMENTARY: John Gay (1685-1732) was a literary man of no great success who was a friend of major literary figures such as Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and of actor-producer Colley Cibber (who gave "King Lear" a happy ending), a man as important in London's theatrical circles as he was lousy as a poet. In the 1720s, London's musical stage was still dominated by Handel's Italian operas, elaborately unintelligible productions presenting mythological figures and heroic noblemen. Out of reaction to this, and spurred on by a suggestion from Swift, John Gay wrote a play in the common tongue partly based on actual criminals and scandals and firmly focused on the lurid and deplorable doings of London's lowlife. For his music, Gay chose the popular tunes of his day and fitted his lyrics to them. To complete his "ballad opera," he called on Dr. Johan Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752) for simple orchestral accompaniments.



On January 29, 1727, the musical debut of this tale of dangerous and unwashed thieves, villains, scoundrels and bawds proved to be enormously popular with the well-heeled members of London society. A newspaper of the day remarked that "The Beggar's Opera" had made its producer, Mr. Rich, gay and Mr. Gay rich. The show set new records for length of run and established the young women who had portrayed Polly Peachum and Lucy Lockit as great stars, not to mention objects of intense pursuit by exceedingly wealthy noblemen.



John Gay cleared an enormous profit from "The Beggar's Opera." He never again had such a success. A sequel, "Polly," which carried on the adventures of Polly and Macheath, ran into censorship difficulties and was not allowed to be produced on stage during his lifetime, although it sold well in printed form.



Many years ago, I appeared as one of Macheath's gang of highwaymen, I forget which, in a university production of Britten's version of "The Beggar's Opera." My personal opinion then was the very same one I formed on hearing this CD, decades later: the pop tunes of 1727 were ill-treated by being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 20th Century. Then and now, I prefer the more light-fingered touch of Dr. Pepusch to that of Britten. However, I am forced to admit that Britten's version actually works very well in front of a live audience and I can clearly remember applause and cheers, night after night.



The production captured on this CD displays the talents of some of the leading figures in British opera in 1948, most notably, of course, that of Peter Pears. With Benjamin Britten conducting his own work, it positively drips authenticity. I would normally give four stars on the basis of performance, but the state of the truncated dialogue and the sound quality are such that I can justify only three."