The Turn of the Screw
In a remote country house, the newly-appointed governess arrives to take charge of the orphaned Flora and Miles. She must fight to protect them from strange and menacing spirits. But are these apparitions real, or the product of her troubled imagination? And what terrible evil occurred before her arrival?
In an oppressive atmosphere filled with unseen phantoms and hallucinations, Benjamin Britten’s fourth opera is his most captivating. What is left unsaid takes centre stage echoing a void at the centre of Henry James’s original story; an empty centre around which gravitates the characters with their hopes and fears - an absence that drags all the characters into an unstoppable downward spiral. I Teatri's new production in Reggio Emilia is conducted by Francesco Bossaglia and directed by Fabio Condemi who writes, ‘I believe that Britten's The Turn of the Screw is not just a musical transposition of Henry James's novella. It is a profound reflection on its themes, a musical parallel that continually dialogues, approaches and detaches itself from the original.’
CAST
The Prologue | Florian Panzieri |
|---|---|
Peter Quint | Florian Panzieri |
Miles | Ben Fletcher |
Flora | Maia Greaves |
The Governess | Laura Zecchini |
Mrs Grose | Chiara Ersilia Trapani |
Miss Jessel | Liga Liedskalnina |
Orchestra | Ensemble Icarus |
| ... | |
Music | Benjamin Britten |
|---|---|
Text | Myfanwy Piper from the short novel by Henry James |
Conductor | Francesco Bossaglia |
Director | Fabio Condemi |
Sets | Fabio Cherstich |
Costume designer | Gianluca Sbicca |
Lighting | Oscar Frosio |
| ... | |
VIDEO
STORY
Act I
A governess has been hired to care for two children at a remote country house by their distant and preoccupied uncle in London. She instantly takes a liking to the children, Flora and Miles, but feels uneasy in the old house. Before long, she has glimpses of a pale-faced, red-haired man in the grounds and at the window. She describes the man to the housekeeper Mrs Grose, who identifies him as Peter Quint, the former valet, who recently died in mysterious circumstances.
The governess vows to protect the children. However, later that day by the lake, she sees another figure and realises it is the ghost of Miss Jessel, the former governess who also died some time previously. That night, the children are lured out into the woods by Quint and Miss Jessel, but the Governess and Mrs Grose arrive just in time to save them.
Act II
The Governess confides in Mrs Grose after more ghostly sightings and is advised to contact the children’s uncle in London. She writes a letter, but the ghost of Peter Quint instructs Miles to steal the letter before it can be posted.
Learning that her letter was never sent, the Governess confronts Miles. As she questions him, Peter Quint’s ghost pressures Miles not to betray him, but he reluctantly names the ghost and suddenly falls dead on the floor. The Governess cries out in grief.
GALLERY
