Peter Grimes

In a small village on the stormy East coast of England, a boy has died. The fisherman Peter Grimes stands before the court accused of the murder of his apprentice. He is not found guilty, but the villagers are certain that he has committed the crime. Only the widowed teacher Ellen Orford and the retired Captain Balstrode show any friendship towards the introverted, impenetrable outsider Grimes. But when another of Grimes' apprentices shows signs of ill-treatment, the suspicions of the mob can no longer be allayed and the boundaries between gossip and facts, suspicion and truth disappear.

As merciless as the chatter of the rabble, as impenetrable and mysterious as Grimes, as cold and turbulent as the surges of fate, the sea rages on the East coast of England where Benjamin Britten grew up and under the influence of which he composed his most successful opera, "Peter Grimes". Based on the collection of poems entitled "The Borough" by George Crabbe, Britten and his librettist Montagu Slater created a musically dramatic psychological thriller about the individual and collective abyss which has been an integral part of the international standard repertoire ever since its premiere on 7 June 1945 at London's Sadler’s Wells Theatre. The Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz will be opening its new season with this exciting yet poetic masterpiece, in a production by Britten expert Balázs Kovalik and under the musical direction of Chief Conductor Marco Comin.