Almost fourteen years ago I reviewed the DVD of the 1994 ENO production of Britten’s Peter Grimes.  The DVD was so bad technically that it was quite hard to decide much about the merits of the performance although it was obvious that Philip Langridge’s Grimes was something special.  On June 1st this year the BBC rebroadcast the recording in HD on BBC4.  I have a copy of that broadcast and it’s way better than the North American DVD release and so I wanted to clarify and, where appropriate, correct what I said in that earlier review.

The broadcast was made in 1080p with 48kHz AAC sound which is pretty standard for HD television.  As far as the video goes it’s overkill.  The picture isn’t that good.  It’s 1990s DVD standard and no better.  Detail gets lost in what is quite a dark production.  The audio though is way better than the old DVD release.  DVD quality certainly but not quite as good as modern HD recordings.  Some of the orchestral playing, and certainly the chorus, sounds a bit muddy but that’s being very picky.

There are indications too that this was not a performance of the production exactly as seen by the Coliseum audience of the time.  The credits list a TV make up designer and a TV lighting designer which suggests to me that it was a special performance for the cameras.  Nonetheless it’s clearly based on Tim Albery’s staging but has a 1990s “made for TV” feel about it; especially the extensive use of close ups (the Act 3 mad scene is almost entirely head shots) and weird camera angles.  TV director Barrie Gavin seems especially fond of filming from directly overhead.  I’m still not entirely sure how the extensive use of video (mostly during the Sea Interludes) played out for the live audience.  As a device in a film it’s effective enough if a bit obsessed with the dead apprentice.

So what would I change from my earlier review?  Mostly I’d give a much higher rating to orchestra, chorus and conductor.  Any shortcomings noted in the earlier review were almost entirely down to the sound quality on that release.  The thing I would emphasise is just how good Philip Langridge and Alan Opie are.  I don’t think anyone has sung this role better than Langridge; distinguished though some of the competition is.  The same is true of Opie.  He’s superb.  So, although this record does show it’s age a bit it’s worth seeing if you can get hold of a copy.  I’m not sure how one does that though.  There’s a region coded DVD (not North America) on the Arthaus label though how good it is and whether it’s even available I can’t say.  This would be a good candidate for remastering to Blu-ray but I doubt there’s enough of a market to justify it.