COT's Owen Wingrave

A mediocre piece from a master sometimes survives less well than a single masterpiece of a lesser artist. The former is the case in the Chicago Opera Theater's Owen Wingrave. Based on a lesser work of the masterly Henry James, the masterly Benjamin Britten and his sometime collaborator, Myfanwy Piper, conveyed a dedication to pacifism by bringing the gothic tale to the small screen and stage. And to what effect? An evening of difficult but accessible music well sung. A portrait of English aristocracy of a century ago. An enduring message of individuality.

The singing was uniformly good with an outstanding performance by Matthew Worth in the title role. In a rather monochromatic role, Worth's Wingrave voiced many shades and subtleties of the music, truly triumphing. He demonstrated for me how exactly a singer should convey the musical intentions of the composer. I should say he sang well, but what I mean is that Matthew Worth made the music more alive for me than anything else. I didn't notice the odd set of moving staircases too much nor fret over the underwhelming libretto. I simply reveled in beautifully interesting Britten extremely well sung.

The other singer I would be ashamed not to mention is Matt Boehler. He sympathetically portrayed a sympathetic character very warmly.

The great musical accomplishments surely stem from the conducting of Steuart Bedford, the original conductor of the work. After hearing him interviewed on WFMT, I knew I would admire his work. I was right! These kudos could be better borne out by specific examples, I suppose, yet the evidence was all aural: bringing together the voices and instruments, highlighting and shaping the music, all the things conductors do (or are supposed to do).

Much ado has rightly been made of the appearance of this operatic rarity by this enterprising company. All of Britten's work remains important and relevant, even though Owen Wingrave may not be among his top ten. After all, even Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera remains in the repertoire.