Opera Scotland

Peter Grimes 1994Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Peter Grimes

This new production was distinguished by the beautifully sung first performances by Anthony Rolfe Johnson in the title role - sweet-toned but with plenty of power when it was needed. It was a rare occasion when Joachim Herz worked in Scotland. He had previously enjoyed notable successes directing at ENO (Salome, Fidelio, Parsifal) and in Wales (Madama Butterfly, La forza del destino), but the Ariadne brought from Dresden to Edinburgh had been disappointing.

The stage-filling Suffolk village set now undoubtedly looked impressive, although the atmosphere was perhaps slightly sterile, emphasised by Richard Armstrong's fierce account of the score. Other notable performances included David Gwynne's grizzled Hobson, Russell Smythe's unusually youthful Balstrode and Anthony Roden as a particularly unhinged and nasty Boles.