Peter Grimes

I love the 1995 ENO performance so as someone who admires Jon Vickers greatly I seeked this Peter Grimes from 1981. And I thought it was excellent. Musically it is spot on, this production is perhaps more brutal than the 1995 production which I loved and the music is brilliant and played and conducted just as well and as vividly. The performances are great. The choral work is wonderful, and I personally find it more animated than the ENO performance. Of the cast, Heather Harper and Norman Bailey come off best, and while I admire Vickers and found his acting and singing outstanding(as always) here, making him more tortured and quite terrifying too, I do think he is more suited to more heavier roles like Otello, Tristan, Florestan, Don Jose and Canio. Overall, this is excellent. 9/10 Bethany Cox

It's a wonderful performance with every little role in the perfect hands - but Jon Vickers ruins it. He acts like a Tristan who got accidentally thrown to another universe and tops it with some Boris in the mad scene. Way to theatrical, grad opera-is, cliché. Overdone gestures and all the "OMG I'm SO DRAMATIC!!!!111!!one!" When will all these big bearlike scenery-chewers understand that Grimes is not a Heldentenor role? That it needs someone with a true English voice and great psychological acting style? Even Brian Blessed would say Vickers to stop the overacting.

And I actually like Vickers otherwise. He's great in Wagner roles, but this one is just no. Too violent, no subtlety. It's hard to feel sorry for him.

Go watch the ENO DVD - Langridge moved me to tears.