The Turn of the Screw Mariinsky Opera Grand Theatre, HK Cultural Centre Reviewed: Mar 26
Henry James' The Turn of the Screw has inspired numerous dramatic adaptations, none more successful than Benjamin Britten's 1954 opera.
A young governess comes to an isolated country house to take charge of two children, Miles and Flora. At first enchanted by their beauty and innocence, she gradually comes to believe they are being possessed by the ghosts of the evil Peter Quint and her own predecessor as governess, Miss Jessel, whom Quint seduced. Determined to save the children, she embarks on a course which leads to their destruction instead.
Ostensibly a ghost story, this is a complex tale of innocence corrupted, filled with dark sexual undercurrents. Only the governess sees the ghosts and it is never certain if they are the product of her own tortured imagination or if there are really supernatural forces at work. While this ambiguity remains, Britten and his lyricist Myfanwy Piper leave little doubt that terrible things have taken place in the house and that the children are not the angelic creatures they appear to be.
David McVicar's production for the Mariinsky Opera is a magnificent rendering of this taut chamber opera. The use of lighting and shadows creates a claustrophobic atmosphere and in the second half the tension builds to a shattering climax. Body language is employed to great effect to convey emotions, particularly for the children, portrayed with unsettling ambiguity by Daniil Belodubrovsky as Miles and Larisa Yelina as Flora.
Valery Gergiev's beautifully paced conducting brought a model performance from the Mariinsky Orchestra, achieving the intensity the work demands with no loss of subtlety.