Teatro del Maggio

Based on the disturbing novel by Henry James and composed by Benjamin Britten for the Biennale of Venice in 1954, The Turn of the Screw is probably the most ambiguous opera ever written for the theater, in which nothing is really as it seems. Many questions are asked but no answers are given. Where does the evil atmosphere come from in this isolated house in the foggy English countryside where a young governess has been engaged to take care of the orphans Miles and Flora? What happened in the past that was so terrible? And above all, do these terrible ghosts that hover around the two children really exist?

The Turn of the Screw
Lyric opera in a prologue and two acts
Libretto by Myfanwy Piper from the omonimous tale by Henry James
Music by Benjamin Britten

New production
Sung in English. Surtitles in English and Italian.

Artists

Conductor
Jonathan Webb

Director
Benedetto Sicca

Scenes
Maria Paola Di Francesco

Costumes
Marco Piemontese

Lights
Marco Giusti

Video elaboraton
Marco Farace

Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Governess
Sara Hershkowitz / Anna Gillingham (24/05 and 05/06)

Prologue/Quint
John Daszak

Mrs. Grose
Gabriella Sborgi

Miss Jessel
Yana Kleyn

Flora
Rebecca Leggett

Miles
Theo Lally

PROLOGUE

The Prologue, which is sung in front of the closed curtain, explains the background of the story: a young woman has been hired to take care of two orphans, on the agreement that she never write to their guardian whatever happens.

ACT I

After a journey filled with apprehension the Governess arrives at Bly House, the country home where the two children, Miles and Flora, live with Mrs. Grose. the housekeeper. Soon a letter arrives from the school, revealing that Miles, a seemingly well-behaved boy, has been expelled for mistreating other students. Strange events begin to happen: the Governess spots a strange man who is intensely observing her. She has no idea who it could be and feeling upset, she asks Mrs. Grose who believes it could be Peter Quint. He was a valet at the house and was very attached to Miles, but is now dead. Later, while walking in the park, on the shore of the lake she sees Miss Jessel, the previous governess who is also dead. That night, Miles goes into the garden drawn by Quint, while Flora is at the window under the spell of Miss Jessel. When the Governess and the housekeeper arrive, the ghosts vanish.

ACT II

The two ghosts are arguing about how to possess the children. The Governess, unnerved by her most recent encounter with Miss Jessel, decides to write to their guardian: however the letter is stolen by Miles, encouraged by Quint. Later while she is lulled by a melody played by Miles on the piano, Flora returns to the lakeside. Here appears Miss Jessel but the girl and Mrs. Grose say that they see no one. The next morning the Governess reveals that the girl was raving in her sleep about committing horrific acts, and decides to take her away from Bly. Miles after confessing that he stole the letter, tells the name of his persecutor and falls dead in the arms of the Governess.

BENJAMIN BRITTEN

Benjamin Edward Britten was born in Lowestoft, England on November 22, 1913. He began to compose as a boy, attending the prestigious Gresham’s School and the Royal College of Music. In 1936 he met the poet W. H. Auden with whom he collaborated on various works, such as the song cycle Our Hunting Fathers and the Hymn to St. Cecilia. The next year he met the tenor Peter Pears, who became his life companion and first interpreter of many of his compositions including Peter Grimes (1954), Billy Budd (1951), Gloriana (1953), The Turn of the Screw (1954) and Death in Venice (1973). In 1962 he conducted the successful premiere of the War Requiem written for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral. He was the first composer to receive the honorary title of life peer, being named Baron of Aldeburgh, the town in Suffolk in which he founded the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, and where he died on December 4, 1976.

JONATHAN WEBB

Born in Kent, he studied piano, violin, choral singing and conducting at Manchester, where he made his conducting debut at the age of 21 with West Side Story. He is the Head of Music for Opera Ireland, Chorus Master of the Wexford Festival and Resident Conductor at the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv where he has conducted over forty productions including Così fan tutte, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, Carmen, La traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor and Tosca. Principal Guest Conductor at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos of Lisbon, he has been invited to the Deutsche Oper of Berlin, the Teatro de la Maestranza of Seville, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia and the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli. In September 2014 he was nominated Musical Director of the Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato.

BENEDETTO SICCA

Already holding a law degree, in 2003 he took his diploma in acting at the Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica Silvio D’Amico in Rome and later studied the technique of molecular vocality. He has worked in cinema and as an author and actor for radio and television. In the theater he has collaborated with Luca Ronconi, Massimo Castri and Mario Martone,. He has also worked with Abel Ferrara, Michele Placido, Robert Wilson and with the Societas Raffaele Sanzio. He writes for prose and musical theater, for cinema and television. A lecturer at the Accademia di Perfezionamento Rodolfo Celletti di Martina Franca and educational coordinator of the Summer Program of the Campus di Molino, in 2014 he made his opera debut with the stage direction of Lotta d’Ercole con Acheloo at the Festival della Valle d’Itria.

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Opera

The Turn of the Screw