A Royal Opera performance from the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, of Britten's operetta to a libretto by W.H. Auden. It was in 1939, when Britten was living in America, that his publisher Hans Heinsheimer suggested that Britten and Auden write something which could be performed by an American high school. The story they chose was that of the folkloric giant logger Paul Bunyan, and Auden used the story to deliver a stinging attack on American society. The work has all the appeal of a musical, as well as influences of spirituals, folk ballads and choral music. After the first performance and some cool reviews, Bunyan was put away until 1976, when the piece received a revival as a radio broadcast and then had its first European staging at Aldeburgh. Introduced by Piers Burton-Page .
Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, conductor Richard Hickox
Prologue; Act 1
8.30 Britten and Pears in the US
Paul Muldoon reads from his poem 7, Middagh Street , and Donald Mitchell considers what Britten and Pears's two years in America meant to them. (Repeat)
8.50 Act 2