The Turn of the Screw

The last and most celebrated of Benjamin Britten’s three chamber operas has the smallest cast: much of the action is carried by a Governess and her two young charges, Flora and Miles, with two ghosts—of the manservant Peter Quint and the former governess Miss Jessel—plus a well-meaning but largely ineffectual housekeeper, Mrs. Grose. Yet with these few characters and a small ensemble of just 13 musicians, Britten conjures a remarkable range of atmosphere, ranging from the idyll of a garden on a summer’s day to a chilling sense of dread as the Governess becomes convinced that the children are under a malign influence. Britten had originally considered Henry James’ 1898 novella, The Turn of the Screw, as a basis for a filmed opera—perhaps similar in style to the celebrated 1948 ballet film The Red Shoes (with music by Brian Easdale)—in collaboration with Michael Balcon. Nothing came of the film idea, but then Britten’s partner, the tenor Peter Pears, re-read the book early in the 1950s and suggested it would still be a fine subject for an opera. David Hemmings, aged 11, auditioned for Miles and got the part, singing in the opera’s 1954 premiere in Venice, (his performance subsequently captured for posterity on a very fine mono recording conducted by Britten), so starting his career on stage and screen.