Britten: Albert Herring

Albert Herring, Benjamin Britten's comic opera is gently laced with moments of farce and a jocular parody on life in East Suffolk at the turn of the 20th century. The libretto by Eric Crozier is based on Guy de Maupassant's story “Le Rosier de Madame Husson” and transposed entirely to an English setting. The opera was premiered in Glyndebourne on 20 June 1947, conducted by the composer. The text itself is genuinely funny and there are myriad musical quotations, but despite the light subject there are as well some complex forms. Like other works by Britten, this opera explores society's reaction to an odd individual – although in this case it is from a generally humorous and lighthearted perspective. Brunel chose to update the action to contemporary times, in a world with rows of little white houses, perfect mowed lawns and with Big-Brother-like video surveillance.