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Reviewed by:
  • The Turn of the Screw
  • John Holland
Benjamin Britten. The Turn of the Screw. DVD. City of London Sinfonia / Richard Hickox. With Lisa Milne, Diane Montague, Catrin Wyn Davies, Mark Padmore, Nicholas Kirby Johnson, and Caroline Wise. Waldron, Heathfield, East Sussex: Opus Arte, 2005. OA 0907 D. $29.99

Since its premiere in 1954, Benjamin Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw, has proved to be one of the composer's more enduring stage works. The opera's orchestra of only thirteen players and cast of six make it relatively easy to present, assuming of course that one has access to a boy soprano capable of learning and acting the pivotal role of Miles. Based on the notoriously ambiguous ghost tale by Henry James, the story afforded Britten the opportunity to explore once again one of his favorite themes: the corruption of innocence.

This film adaptation of the opera by director Katie Mitchell for BBC Wales television frees itself from the confines of a stage production. Mitchell makes use of the orchestral interludes between each scene to establish the presence of the two ghosts as very real threats to the children, as they lurk in shadowy hallways or stalk the grounds of the country house, spying on the new governess. Her cast is uniformly excellent, and musically this performance can hold its own against any of the competition, including the composer's own audio recording. Dramatically too there are no weak links, and the singers give performances which are compelling and natural. Lisa Milne gives a star-making performance as the Governess, and is given strong support by Diana Montague as Mrs. Grose. Mark Padmore's Quint proves that the canon of Britten's tenor roles is in secure hands for another generation, and Catrin Wyn Davies provides plenty of gothic thrills as Miss Jessel. Perhaps it is the two children who impress the most—Nicholas Kirby Johnson as Miles and Caroline Wise as Flora. These are performances with a maturity well beyond their years, and it is a pleasure to see at last Flora played by a child, rather than the short adult soprano usually cast. Opus Arte's all region NTSC DVD includes a plot synopsis, a scene selection menu, a cast photo gallery, and subtitles in five languages, including English if so desired.

The Turn of the Screw has fared well on video. In addition to this new release, there is a very fine production filmed at the Schwetzingen Festival in Germany, for those who may prefer a more traditional stage presentation (DVD; Arthaus-Musik 100199). An earlier film adaptation from 1982 by Petr Weigl employs a cast of mainly Czech actors lip-synching to a recording by Colin Davis (VHS; Philips 070 500-3). While not bad, this production can be a bit heavy handed in its Freudian symbolism and the children are rather grotesque. Since it has not been reissued on DVD it is no longer competitive.

John Holland
Chicago Public Library
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