Opera North

Billy Budd explores many of Britten’s recurrent themes with penetrating psychological insight: innocence corrupted, good destroyed by evil, and the outsider. It tells the tale of Billy, a young sailor who radiates beauty and goodness, provoking the envy of the ship’s Master at Arms, John Claggart. The one man who has it in his power to save Billy is the HMS Indomitable’s captain, Vere, who is haunted by his failure to do so.

For many, the power of Britten’s large-scale orchestral writing, the all-male forces, and the intensity with which he responds to the work’s subject matter make this his greatest operatic achievement.

This is the first time Opera North has staged Billy Budd in more than 20 years. Orpha Phelan directs a cast of leading Britten interpreters including Roderick Williams in the title role, Alan Oke as Vere and Alastair Miles as Claggart, the Master at Arms who helps seal Billy’s fate.