#Britten paul bunyan johnny inkslinger full#

This is an ensemble piece with no weak links in the vital cast, but there are memorable standouts from Mark Wilde's astute Johnny Inkslinger, Ashley Catling's gentle Hot Biscuit Slim, Caryl Hughes's tender Tiny and Wyn Pencarreg's lofty Hel Helson, while Philip Sunderland's conducting displays Britten's inventive score to its best advantage.

#Britten paul bunyan johnny inkslinger full#

Steel presents Bunyan's tales as re-enacted by a traditional rural community, a device that works well: the piece is stuffed full of small roles that require good acting skills and good musicianship rather than great operatic voices, and is in effect Britten's nearest approach to the musical.Īnna Fleischle's set is a large barn-like structure, with the orchestra hidden behind it, and her costumes evoke the cast's singing birds and animals as imaginatively as the melting-pot residue of random humanity that washes up in Bunyan's camp. Prologue02 First ballad interlude03 Act I, Scene 1: Bunyan's greeting04 Act I, Scene 1: Lumberjacks' chorus05 Act I. As such, the benign, physically improbable creation is represented by an offstage speaking voice – here conveyed in the thoughtful, soft-grained recorded tones of Damian Lewis. Both text and music have a self-conscious quality that drifts towards sententiousness in the darker second half, when the American dream starts to go wrong almost before it has started.īunyan is a mythical figure from North American folklore, a giant logger who brings together a community of lumberjacks to clear away the virgin forests for cultivation and civilisation. 17, act 1, scene 1: hello mr inkslinger - bunyans goodnight. There is lots of eating and celebration, and two cats Moppet and Poppet. Lord Benjamin Britten : Britten: paul bunyan, op.

Hot Biscuit Slim the cook loves Bunyans daughter Tiny.His accountant Johnny Inkslinger goes off to work in the movies. Liam Steel's staging for English Touring Opera makes a good case for its viability, without entirely being able to paper over cracks in the piece itself. who belts out Johnny Inkslinger’s lonely aria as though he’s in the Coliseum, but who is clearly in possession of a classy voice. Also an early opera, or as much a musical or music theatre, by Benjamin Britten.The lyrics were by W.H. Narrator - Russell Smythe Paul Bunyan - Paul Maxwell Johnny Inkslinger. Since then, it has enjoyed a number of productions, including a couple during last year's Britten centenary celebrations. HTM There are 3 recordings of Paul Bunyan by Benjamin Britten on file (This. Character Johnny Inkslinger Show Paul Bunyan Gender Male Age Range Young Adult, Adult Role Size Supporting Voice Tenor Analysis The bookeeper.